Silas receives credit for the most important moment

I genuinely believe that the single most important moment in the novel Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter written by Tom Franklin can be found within the first 150 pages of the book. The moment which I value as the most significant transpires as Silas Jones’s implication of what truly happened on the widely-debated night that Larry Ott allegedly took Cindy Walker on a date. To begin, the novel commences introducing the two protagonists: Larry and Silas. The two, despite their racial differences, became great friends. However, gradually, they both became synechdoches for people feeling that they do not belong in their surroundings. In their case, their surroundings were the conservative and often racist townspeople of Chabot, Mississippi in the 1970’s. As Silas’s race prevented him from completely segregating into society, Larry’s personality and weak respiratory system became his obstacle to fitting in. The most important moment takes place following the disappearance of Tina Rutherford present day, which evokes questions regarding Larry’s innocence regarding both this case as well as another one when he was just a junior in high school. Silas, now the town’s sheriff, finds himself searching for answers about the shooting of Larry. It is believed by the town that the shooting came as a result of his guiltiness for the two crimes. However, Silas remains unbiased and professional, as well as helpful to Larry’s case, saying, “I just don’t think he’s got it in him” (141). This one, mere, statement sums up an entire novel. The reflective tone used by Silas helps him to acknowledge the fact that Larry in fact had no part in either mysterious vanishing. Franklin portrays Larry as a gentle and sensitive man, who only wanted one thing in life: approval. That is, approval from his peers as well as from his father. Franklin consistently depicted Larry as “alone” and at odds with his father’s expectations of him (1). For example, he illustrates Larry’s longing for any type of affection from his father with his pleasant goodbyes and terms of endearment like “daddy”(43). Then, he juxtaposes Larry’s jubilance with his father’s reaction, in which Larry received “barely a glance” (43). By indirectly characterizing his father as cold and mean, Franklin evokes sympathy from readers for Larry with pathos. A person who already has a sensitive personality cannot possibly live happily with a father such as Carl Ott. Thus, by portraying him as a feeble person who could do no harm to anyone, he is indirectly characterized as someone who “doesn’t got it in him” to kill (141). This claim exposes the townspeople’s ignorance in believing that Larry could have actually had part in the disappearances. In addition to characterization, Franklin’s use of dramatic irony highlights the fault in those who judge. As readers, we know what happened that night between Larry and Cindy, and how she “[went] someplace else [that] night” instead of a date with Larry (128). Thus, this particular moment provides insight to readers which will allow them to infer that Larry did no harm to Cindy nor Tina, and further highlights the ignorance of the townspeople who judge Larry. Silas’s quote sums up the fact that Larry, contrary to what the townspeople of Chabot thought, was not capable of harming anyone which exposes Franklin’s purpose for writing. Franklin encourages those with judgmental tendencies to value the old cliché “one is innocent until proven guilty”.