# Judge Selah Lively explained — Spoon River Anthology

> Chapter companion for Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters.

## 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.

## Character check-ins

### 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 lines

> 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._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/spoon_river_anthology_se/chapters/judge-selah-lively
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/spoon_river_anthology_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/spoon_river_anthology_se/chapters