the street lawyer part three

Into this section of John Gresham’s The Street Lawyer we have gotten to know our main character Michael Brock and we have learned about his ideas and outlooks on life. However some of this seems to be getting quite foggy ever since the scene in the beginning of the story had occurred where Michael (and seven of the other lawyers at Drake and Sweeny law firm that he had been currently working with) was held captive by a suicide bomber. Fortunately (for Michael and the rest of the hostages) the man that played as the “suicide bomber” happened to be homeless and completely unarmed. Shocking right?! The homeless, psychotic, completely unarmed, and so called suicide bomber, demanded himself to be known to his hostages as Mister.

                Eventually the swat team came in and shot and killed Mister. End of the story? No, this is just the beginning. From those events Michael, being a lawyer, decided to investigate more on Mister and find out what the heck went on that day and what was running through his head. Along the way Michael’s relationship fell apart, he transferred jobs from his fancy well paying job as a “high class” lawyer to become a street lawyer to help the homeless and the needy, and he also found himself tied up in a crime that sent him to jail for a few hours.

                However Mister isn’t out of the story yet just because he’s dead, he impacted Michael’s life. So what do our protagonist Michael and Mister have in common? Well from my point of view, I see that both these characters are trying to make a difference for a certain cause and resolve an ongoing harsh conflict. And that is homelessness. Just before Mister got killed, he was making a speech to his hostages about what it’s like to be hungry and homeless and how much rich people are willing to spend on unneeded fancy things. Also, when Michael switched jobs and turned his life around, he did it because of the impact that Mister left on him and he himself decided to take Misters speech seriously and go out to help the homeless.

Ok so here’s my honesty, I didn’t finish The Street Lawyer on time, but I did however find it to be an extremely interesting story so far.

                In the story it starts off with eight lawyers being unfortunately held hostage by a “suicide bomber”, that demands to be referred to as Mister, that had the eight lawyers at Drake and Sweeny law firm at gun point. However, what looked like to be dynamite strapped to Misters waist, just happened to be chopped up broom handles. So what was Misters point in doing this and was the “attempted” murder/suicide really unfortunate or did it turn out to be something more, different, or even fortunate? However the swat team does eventually come into the scene and shoots and kills Mister and then afterwards realizing that he was actually entirely unarmed. Still, however, what were Misters intentions? I mean I’m pretty sure it’s not every day that some random person wanders into a big, high class law firm and hold eight lawyers hostage for no reason. Or at least I’d hope so. So again the question still is what were Misters intentions?

                Well it turned out that before the swat team came into the scene, Mister had given a speech stating he was homeless and asking his rich, high class hostages what they had done do help the needy/homeless people. Michael, the story’s protagonist, happened to be one of the hostages and was also the one that got blood splattered on him when the swat team came in to shoot Mister. Any ways, Michael and his wife don’t work out; they file for divorce, Michael found more out about Mister, helped out at a soup kitchen, and had a change of heart. Some may say that what Michael went through was a midlife crisis, but in my opinion, through the series of events, Michael wasn’t experiencing a midlife crisis but instead a change for the better. Michael eventually quits his well paying job at Drake and Sweeny and transfers over to the 14^th Street Legal Clinic that doesn’t even pay half as much as Drake and Sweeny and happened to be the legal clinic that was in support of the homeless and tried to provide food, shelter, and most of all a voice for the areas homeless population.

                So what do we think is in the future for Michael, will he find a good relationship, will he keep his job that he’s at now or will he transfer back to Drake and Sweeny, and what else might change in his life? Well Michael has found a woman named Ruby who Michael has hit it off pretty well with, so will they become something more? I hope so. However I also think that Michael will stay at the 14^th Street Legal Clinic instead of transferring back. I think this because Michael seems happy with his new job, he feels as if he is making a real difference and that’s what he wanted in the first place.

                The theme of this story is more then just the legal side of things, but it also deals with expressing the situations of homeless people and how much it means to them when somebody gives them a helping hand and another voice.

                Unfortunately however, homelessness isn’t just in novels or back in different time eras, its everywhere and going on right now. Fortunately there are groups and organizations that deal with this and reach out to help those in need. These groups are ones such as the Cleveland street Chronicle, a news paper established by homeless people to bring others to the reality of homelessness, and the Housing First Initiative that helps to provide shelter and homes for the homeless people. These things are a lot like the 14^th Street Legal Clinic because it provides needs for the needy.

In Michael’s case, in my opinion, he isn't going through a midlife crisis but instead completely rational reality check. For example, Michael and Clair split up got divorced. However that's not a bad thing, they are both being completely rational with how they feel about each other and they are both fully willing to face the reality that neither of them are in support of their marriage going any further and that they both agree on the fact that they feel they would be better off if they split up. That's not a midlife crisis, that's coming to reality and knowing what he wants out of life even though he isn't fully sure yet, he knows what a few of his barriers are and useless obstacles that he must rid of to get to where he wants to be in life and Clair happens to be one of them. Again that's not a "midlife crisis" that's learning, experience, and interests and in life, all of these things can change and in Michaels case, they are. However weather its fortunate or unfortunate changes; it's all a part of life.

Also, a week after being held hostage by a false suicide bomber, that also happened to be homeless, he decides to switch jobs to go help the homeless. However he’s not only going to help the homeless by helping to provide food, clothing, and shelter for them, he is also now a lawyer for them. So is it still a “midlife crisis”, or is it something more? And the next question is “does having someone’s life being put in jeopardy by a random homeless person really change someone’s outlook on their own life and others lives around them? Well apparently in Michaels case it did, however he wasn’t the only one that was held captive on that day, so why is he the only one that is really deciding to make a positive change in their own life and others? Maby the better question is ”what is causing Michael to have  a change of heart?