A Time to Kill | Objects, Setting & Important Places

A Time to Kill Objects/Places

The Ford County Courthouse and Clanton Square

A symbol of local government and justice, the courthouse is the scene of all the novel's trials, preliminary and Circuit Court, as well as the site of the bond hearings, grand jury deliberations and trial jury deliberations. It is the gathering place of all citizens, both black and white, who come to see that justice, as they interpret it, is done. The grassy lawn of the square is the setting of the blacks' candlelight vigil on behalf of Carl Lee Hailey as well as of the bloody clashes between the black demonstrators and the Ku Klux Klan. Around this square, the imported black marchers parade. The square and its courthouse lie across the street from Jake Brigance's offices and are easily viewed from his second-story balcony.

Jake's Law Office

A spacious piece of Clanton's architectural history, the Wilbanks building symbolizes the wealth and gentility squandered by Lucien Wilbanks and sought by Jake Brigance....
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