Judgement Day Pale Fire Journal Judgement Day Pale Fire Journal | Page 57

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, my client is being charged of two felo-
nies. The first being that he murdered John Shade. After I have finished
my defense state you will vote on whether he is guilty or not guilty of the
murder. We will reconvene after the vote has been made, and then the
prosecutor will give his second statement. After his statement has been
made, I will give my second defense statement. After that you will vote
again. The prosecutor will try to convince you that John Shade, the neigh-
bor was murdered. He will try to convince you by using evidence. He will
say that John Shade was being watched. He will tell you that Sybil Shade,
John’s wife, knew he was being watched because she was constantly
closing curtains because she thought he was being watched but this could
have been because she did not like the sound of the wind. He will state
that someone verbally said “[he] will kill him” (Nabokov 293) but how many
times have you said you will kill someone and actually gone through with
it. The cause of John Shade’s death was not murder. John Shade died of
a heart attack.
John Shade had previously had a heart attack. It is very common
for a person who has had a heart attack to experience another one espe-
cially if they are not following the guidelines given to them by their doctors.
John Shade was one of those people who did not follow their doctor’s
guidelines. The diet for someone who has had a heart attack consists of
eating vegetables, whole grains, and
fruits every day, eating seafood at least
two times a week, avoiding added sodi-
um, and drinking mostly water. John
Shade was not good at following these
guidelines. He was constantly eating red
meat, which is not what one should be
eating after a heart attack, and would
never eat a vegetable. John Shade’s
drink of choice was not water. He was
constantly drinking alcohol, which one
should not be drinking after experiencing
a heart attack. John and Sybil had taken
a vacation to the mountains. The altitude
would have been “much too high for
John’s heart” (182). This could have
caused complications with Shade’s heart
because the high attitude can restrict the
amount of oxygen that is given to the
heart. These factors all led up to John
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