Spoon River Anthology · Chapter
Judge Selah Lively explained
Judge Selah Lively reflects on his rise from a small-statured grocery clerk and self-taught lawyer to County Judge, taking satisfaction in making the powerful men who once mocked him now address him as 'Your Honor.'
What happens
Judge Selah Lively reflects on his rise from a small-statured grocery clerk and self-taught lawyer to County Judge, taking satisfaction in making the powerful men who once mocked him now address him as 'Your Honor.'
Themes in this chapter
Class and Power
Lively's ascent from a mocked grocery clerk to a judge who commands respect from former tormentors illustrates the shifting dynamics of class and authority.
Hypocrisy and Corruption
Lively admits to deliberately making it hard for those who once sneered at him, suggesting a petty use of judicial power.
Characters to notice
- Thomas Rhodes
Selah Lively became his attorney, collecting notes and mortgages and representing widows in Probate Court.
- Kinsey Keene
One of the 'giants' who sneered at Lively and was later forced to address him as 'Your Honor.'
Key passages
“Suppose you stood just five feet two, And had worked your way as a grocery clerk, Studying law by candle light Until you became an attorney at law?”
Imagine being only five feet two inches tall, starting out as a grocery clerk, and teaching yourself law by candlelight until you qualified as an attorney.
Lively sets up his humble origins and physical disadvantage.
“And through it all They jeered at your size, and laughed at your clothes And your polished boots?”
Throughout your struggle, people mocked your height and made fun of your attire and shiny boots.
Highlights the ridicule Lively endured from his peers.
“And Jefferson Howard and Kinsey Keene, And Harmon Whitney, and all the giants Who had sneered at you, were forced to stand Before the bar and say 'Your Honor'— Well, don’t you think it was natural That I made it hard for them?”
When the very men who had looked down on you had to appear in your courtroom and call you 'Your Honor,' wasn't it only natural that I made their lives difficult?
Lively openly admits to using his judicial authority to retaliate against those who belittled him.