Throughout the course of the book The Invention of Wings, Kidd gives us, the readers, elaborate details into the lives of both Hetty and Sarah Grimké, to the extent where we feel as if we know them personally by the end. But, there are many characters that appear in the novel that we never get to know, and whose stories are not revealed in full, such as Judge John Grimké. Knowing more about his early life and his experiences as a judge would allow the reader to understand the societal pressures in the legal system and justifications behind decisions at that time, which would make the context of this novel more comprehensive. Within the text, Judge Grinké’s actions and words help convey a lot about his character, but what we seldom learn about is his “story.” Almost nothing is said regarding his journey to becoming a judge and his experiences that shaped his career, both important for completely understanding the actions he takes over the course of the book. The only information revealed about his life is that he is a South Carolina judge, he has had multiple accusations over his incompetency, and that he does not like slavery, but will not publically admit that. That is all. There is a different path that his story could have taken, which would have added a lot of background and context to his life. One of the paths that would have been interesting to see develop would…show more content… Understanding this about the time of the story would really add a new layer because knowing about the politics of the world can help understand why some laws were in place, and why some types of injustice existed, but were not being fixed. Judge Grimké may have had an influence on Charleston, but what the reader really should understand is that Charleston had an influence on
