Judgement Day Pale Fire Journal Judgement Day Pale Fire Journal | Page 13

Juan stands up eagerly and nods to the judge is confirmation. He
walks avidly to the jury
speak.
and stands firm in front of them. He clears his throat preparing to
Juan: Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I come forth to present not a case
of death but of murder. My first indication towards this is in John Shade’s
own writing. In his poem, Pale Fire, that he careful wrote during his last
few days, he begins by mentioning a murder.[18] In fact, in that poem,
Shade was concerned with death itself and the truth about it. Canto 2 of
the poem begins by discussing the very nature of it.[19] This aspire to
know more about death urges us to see that John Shade did not die natu-
rally and was rather killed. Whether he was killed by him or someone else
is another matter.
My next piece of evidence suggests that others knew about his killing al-
so. Just before Shade died, his friend Charles kept muttering something
under his breath that proposed he was going to be killed.[20] [21] Not only
does Shade dabble with the idea of death but so do other people around
him which helps prove that he was murdered.
Finally, in this one observation made by his friend and neighbor Charles
Kinbote, it settles this case and proves that John Shade died of unnatural
means. Charles Kinbote accounts for seeing a bullet enter John Shade
write before he collapsed and died.[22] Although it could be confusing be-
cause it was his heart that was affected, however, he did not die from a
heart attack. Yes, he did have poor health, but the cause of his death was
unnatural and he was in fact killed.
Juan swiftly turns around in confidence and sits back at his table.
Very satisfied with his
presentation of evidence, he nods again to the judge and looks
ahead waiting for him to
speak. The jury sits in silence, confused and split.
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