140). Much of the book is realistic, but any good work of fiction takes license in some areas, and this work does, as well. A lawyer getting so involved with a client that he kills an abusive husband would probably be disbarred just about anywhere in the country, and yet Rudy looks like a hero when the story is finished. That is certainly not realistic. Grisham supports his thesis against insurance companies throughout the work, by portraying the company and its representatives as greedy, uncaring, and only out for one thing - profits. Grisham writes, "So this is how the uninsured die. In a society filled with wealthy doctors and gleaming hospitals and state-of-the-art medical gadgetry and the bulk of the world's Nobel winners, it seems outrageous to allow Donny Ray Black to wither away and die without proper medical care" (Grisham, 1996, p. 261). Throughout the book, it is clear the insurance company...

Donny Ray and his family suffered far too much for that to happen, and Grisham has painted far too grim a picture of the insurance industry to allow them to win. As Rudy struggles to find evidence and overcome obstacles, he learns even more about the greed and corruption of the industry. Grisham's thesis concerns the greed of these agencies, and his portrayal makes the reader dislike them so much, they have to lose in the courtroom. Even with the subplots, quirky characters, and other distractions, the main theme of this book is fraud and malpractice in the insurance industry, and Grisham makes that them vividly clear in this novel.