The Night Thoreau Spent In Jail: Act Two

Irony, you say? Well, an aspects of irony I see in this part of the book is how Henry sees Bailey as this kind of genius, when he's really not. I think he just seems like a genius to Henry because he's so honest and simple. Like a child even. Since he's not so educated and have so many things clouding his thoughts, his reactions are pure and come from the heart. And I guess, in his own way, Bailey is a genius.

The main three characters I believe are Henry David, Bailey and John. I think these guys are pretty important to the story because they all influence Henry a bit. John's death deeply impacts Henry's view on the world, and Bailey sort of let's Henry just spew out all of his feelings and thoughts on him. Henry seems to really have an attachment with his brother, John, and by the end of the book, he has made one with Bailey too.

As for actors who would make good characters.......I don't know, really. For Henry, I sort of see the guy who plays Mr. Tumnus in The Chronicles of Narnia, James McAvoy. He seems like a wise person, but still young. For John, I think James Franco would fit the part. He also seems like someone's playful brother. As for dear Bailey, he's rather difficult to find an actor. The authors really don't dwell on what he looks like, but I imagines him being rather old, around his 30-40. So my conclusion is that Sean Penn would make a good Bailey, from around the era when he did 'I Am Sam'. Though he plays a father with development disabilities, sort of like that but not quite to the extent of him acting like a 7 year old. In the movie, Sean Penn does a great job of acting a simple and honest dad who just wants to be with his daughter, this sort of reminds me of how Bailey also seems honest and simple. He just wants to get out of jail, and calmly sits and listens to Henry talk.

I think in the end, Henry's protest didn't fulfill Henry's hopes and expectations. He seemed to expect an uproar, whether it was against him or with him. But people just turned their heads and didn't listen to him. Maybe if he had talked about his opinions sooner, there might of been more of a reaction. I mean, in the end, his aunt got him out of jail! So staying in jail for that time truly made him reflect on what he had done, and what he should do next.