“Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil”

Reflection #4/Chapters 18–23

Up to this point in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil I have had very few grievances with Author, John Berendt’s style of writing or his ability to tell a story. His use of language is poignant and sharp and his descriptions of the diverse crowd in Savannah are intricate and highly detailed. I find his writing as unique as it is distinguishable from other authors. While there are many notable characteristics of John Berendt’s writing, the one suggestion I have would be to narrow down the cast. The plethora of diverse characters is what I believe truly makes this book the literary masterpiece that it is, however with the sheer amount of side characters that are introduced makes the reading feel somewhat congested. Such congestion is exhibited when Williams introduces Berendt to the countless amounts of guests at possibly his final Christmas party. I slowly found myself becoming disinterested in the text. If Berendt were to focus on developing the main characters rather than briefly introducing background characters for the sake of keeping the story going, I believe his piece’s flow would greatly improve and the readers would be more engrossed in it.

Berendt has a tendency to invent extremely intriguing and charismatic characters that function more like background individuals. Many of these characters, such as the mysterious Luther Driggers, the flamboyant Chablis, the sly Joe Odom, and the newest addition to the bunch, the frivolous voodoo queen Minerva, are placeholders. It seems like their purpose is meant to expand upon their relationship with the main character, Jim Williams. But, then the characters are set aside and left in the dust to return in a minor role nearing the climax of the novel. Along these lines, the reversal of William’s conviction, as well as the second trial were a bit lackluster. I feel as if Berendt tirelessly worked building up to this moment in the narrative, with the in-depth character analysis, exploration of the city of Savannah, as well as a great deal of research pertaining to the history of Savannah itself. Although the attorneys, Sonny Seiler and Spencer Lawton, are reoccurring characters and work tirelessly to defend their case, they are essentially un-relatable to the average reader. I found this difficult, as my mother is a lawyer and I should have immediately understood their purpose and role in the book. When I am able to truly connect to a character, understand their flaws, strengths and other oddities, is when I am able to define them as a well written and simply human character. This has not happened very often for me at this point in the book. In conclusion, I believe the standout characters in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil are deserving of their own literary work that is able to elaborate more upon their character.