Millennium Approaches 1.6
Summary
Joe, Roy and Martin are in a restaurant in Manhattan. Martin tells them how things are going in Washington, how the Republicans are going to gain full control of the Supreme Court, then the White House and finally the Senate and the whole Congress. After the talk changes to comradeship, Roy and Martin renew their question if Joe accepts the job and agrees to go to Washington. When Joe starts to hesitate, Roy pulls out a letter from the New York State Bar Association with a notice that Roy is going to be tried and disbar. He tells Joe that he needs somebody in the Justice Department to prevent his disbarment and that Joe is the best person for that job. Joe reacts to the plan saying it is unethical and he cannot do it. Only after Roy burst out with anger shouting that he is going to be a lawyer until he dies does Joe promises to think more about this proposal.
Notes
- Meese, Edwin III – U.S. attorney general under the Reagan’s administration.
- Bolsheviks – political group led by Vladimir Lenin which seized power in Russia in 1917 after a revolution and started the Soviet Union.
- Marx, Karl – nineteenth-century thinker and philosopher who became the father of communism after his writings and ideologies became the foundations of many political systems in Europe in the 20th century.
- Engels, Friedrich – German political philosopher and partner of Marx, with whom he created the foundations for communism.
- Trotsky, Leon – key figure in the post-revolution Russia.
- Stalin, Joseph – powerful and murderous dictator of the Soviet Union after the death of Lenin.
Commentary
Study Questions
- Who is Mr. Martin Heller and where does he work?
- What does Roy ask him to do in the restaurant in front of Joe?
- Why does New York State Bar Association want to disbar Roy?
- How is Joe expected to help Roy once he starts working in the Justice Department?
- What does Roy say he wants to do until the last day of his life?