A Calamity of Souls

Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses racism and racist violence.

David Baldacci explores different biases and the strength required to overcome them in the interest of what is fair and just. At the center of these biases is the conflict between what has traditionally been done—the lives the characters have lived up to this point and their personal experiences—and the way that things are changing in the 1960s as racist legislation is overturned.

At the start of the novel, Jack has his own biases and hesitates to take on Jerome’s case. He acknowledges that he knows racism and segregation are wrong, yet he repeatedly tells himself that he is not a “risk-taker.” However, a threatening phone call compels him to recognize the violence and danger that Jerome and other Black people have faced their entire lives. He notes that “James Washington needed a legal advocate more than anyone he knew” (59), ultimately convincing himself to put aside his bias and take the case.

Even characters in the story who become sympathetic exhibit racism. Jack’s parents grew up in the age of Jim Crow and legislation. Although they interact with Black people, such as Miss Jessup, they keep largely separate. When the reader first meets Hilly, she is angry at Miss Jessup for coming into her home without an invitation, revealing her racism and her belief in the inferiority of Black people and the need for segregation. Frank does little to stop her, choosing to ignore the situation. However, Hilly and Frank change as they feel the impact of the trial on their family.

After Daniel confronts Frank and Frank and Hilly lose Lucy, both Frank and Hilly are forced to confront their personal bias. Frank realizes that he understands Daniel’s hate toward him: “He could understand Daniel not wanting him to come around. Tuxedo Boulevard was all he had. Folks, like Frank, had everything else. Why should they get that, too?” (113). This realization is Frank’s window into understanding his Black neighbors and the first step in overcoming his bias. After Hilly loses Lucy, she realizes that the racism others have faced for so long is finally impacting her. Recognizing the men perpetrating racist violence are “bullies,” she encourages Jack to continue his fight in court—something she had previously been adamantly against.

DuBose and Miss Jessup also battle with their own bias. Miss Jessup admits to Jack that she had never really tried to get to know him or his family, and that suffering years of mistreatment from white people engendered her own prejudice against them. She compares herself to Hilly, stating that the two of them existed in their segregated worlds because it was easier than changing. Similarly, DuBose acknowledges that she has bias toward Jack, unsure if he has what it takes professionally for the trial; she is hesitant to get to know him because of her history battling ignorant white people. Like Miss Jessup, she is able to acknowledge her own bias, giving Jack a chance romantically and in starting a new law firm with him at the novel’s conclusion.

Baldacci presents education of youth as a solution to fighting bias, ensuring that bias is not allowed to grow to begin with. In her conversation with Preacher Matthews, DuBose discovers that religion—something she had convinced herself was largely useless—actually serves a bigger purpose in the hands of someone like Matthews. He explains that he uses his faith to educate people, especially the younger generation, on the importance of the Golden Rule, love and respect for others. When Jack gives his speech at the conclusion of the trial, he notes how the youth in the crowd are actually listening—despite their parents’ anger and the hate around them. Ultimately, DuBose and Jack agree that they hope “for a day when this country moves forward together” (346), and that the steps they are taking now ensure that is a possibility.