Dynamic values are values that change over time, whereas static values remain the same. John Grisham uses his story of racism and vendetta killings in A Time To Kill to show that values certainly are dynamic.
Vendetta killings are a very morally complex issue. Though in general our society deems murder wrong, when it comes to matters of justice, the rightfulness or wrongfulness of murder falls into a shady gray area. After Carl Lee Haily's daughter is severely abused by two white men, Carl goes to see Jake Brigance, who is a good friend of his and a lawyer. Jake recalls a similar case in a similar town in which the two white men were released from prison, having been accused of a similar crime. Due to racism, knowing it is unlikely his daughter will receive deserved justice, Carl decides to take matters into his own hands by murdering the two white men. Though Jake warns Carl not to do anything foolish, Jake agrees he would have done the exact same thing in his situation and further agrees to defend him of his first-degree capital murder charge. Jake's reaction to Carl's vengeful actions to seek justice show us that our values certainly are dynamic. Our value of preserving life changes with respect to our perceptions of justice.
Jake decided to defend Carl based on a plea of temporary insanity because he knows the intense emotions Carl experienced due to the suffering of his daughter can be likened to insanity. In addition, he knows that a white man with a similar plea in a similar case would be acquitted. Jake further shows the evolution of values in the final line of his closing remarks to the jury in which he asks the jury to imagine the sufferings of Carl's daughter: "Now imagine she's white." Jake's statement indicates that Carl and his daughter are receiving unequal shares of justice simply because they are black; the inequality of justice indicates that people's values change as their perceptions change. Racial prejudices cloud our perceptions; therefore, what the racist person values on behalf of the white man, such as the just treatment of his daughter, is completely different from what the racist person values on behalf of the black man.
Harper Lee shows the exact same changes in values through Atticus's actions in To Kill a Mockingbird. Just like Jake, Atticus strives to defend Tom Robinson against injustice. Atticus also makes a very similar remark in his own closing statements that indicates justice is not equally distributed to all people. He informs the jury that "a court is only as sound as its jury, and a jury is only as sound as the men who make it up" (Ch. 20). In other words, so long as a jury is clouded by prejudices, justice will not be distributed evenly, and the prejudices of a jury reflects the values of the jury.
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