Stories of Scottsboro by James Goodman.
The novel Stories of Scottsboro by James Goodman reconstructs the famous Scottsboro case. In his novel Goodman uses a multitude of primary sources, including letters, transcripts, court records, newspapers articles, reports from investigators, and diaries of the nine men this case involves to create a narrated history of the Scottsboro case. Goodman portrays the story of the Scottsboro boys and trial from many different perspectives. One chapter is entirely quoted from Judge Horton's decision in Haywood Patterson's trial while the next is quoted from a prominent black newspaper of the time. Goodman allows his audience to understand the Scottsboro conflict from studying conflicting perspectives about the case. Stories of Scottsboro has two main points. The most obvious point is given by the title. Goodman conveys the facts about the Scottsboro case from beginning to end. Goodman describes the incident that took place on the train, the struggle of the ILD and the NAACP to gain representation rights for the nine boys, the outcome of several trials, and the significance of the case. Goodman not only describes the significance of the case for the nine men but of the entire nation as well. While recreating the story of Scottsboro Goodman brings in evidence from several sources and creates another main point. In the preface of the novel Goodman writes, "But I have tried hardest of all to convince readers that we cannot fully understand that conflict, or any other, without trying to understand it from many different points of view, without trying to understand even as we evaluate and cast judgment upon competing points of view, and by those judgments live our lives how and why other people make sense of their experience the way that they do." Goodman uses many sources to persuade his audience that it is necessary to study competing points of view to get a complete depiction of a story.
