# To an Insolent Attorney explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by Ambrose Bierce.

## What happens

The narrator launches a scathing poetic attack on Hall McAllister, a lawyer who has insulted the press. The poem contrasts the press's role in exposing corruption with the lawyer's willingness to lie for money, condemning the legal profession's hypocrisy and mercenary ethics.

## Themes in this chapter

### Hypocrisy and Corruption

The poem attacks the lawyer's hypocrisy in condemning the press while engaging in paid lies and corruption.

### Deception and Self-Deception

The lawyer's self-justification for lying as a trade is exposed as a form of self-deception.

## Character check-ins

### McAllister

The insolent attorney being addressed and condemned for his mercenary lies and attacks on the press.

### Unknown

The speaker who defends the press and excoriates the lawyer's hypocrisy.

## Key lines

> You whose profession ’tis to threaten, rail, Calumniate and libel at the will Of any villain who can pay the bill

Your job is to threaten, insult, and slander anyone who pays you, regardless of their guilt.

_Condemns the lawyer's willingness to serve any client for money._

> Happy the lawyer!⁠—at his favored hands Nor truth nor decency the world demands.

The lawyer is fortunate because society expects neither truth nor decency from him.

_Highlights the lawyer's immunity from moral expectations._

> Who serves however clean a plan By doing dirty work, he is a dirty man!

No matter how noble the cause, anyone who does dirty work becomes dirty themselves.

_Final moral condemnation of the lawyer's role._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_se/chapters/to-an-insolent-attorney
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_se/chapters