The Hour of Truth by Percival Wilde

Introduction

The title "The Hour of Truth" is a one-act play, which is written by the American writer Percival Wilde. There are five main characters in the play those are Robert Baldwin, Martha, John Gresham, Evie, and Mr. Marshall. In the play "The Hour of Truth," the writer has emblematized money as a powerful thing to change someone's mind. Although our main protagonist (Robert Baldwin) overcame this desire despite an offer of a hundred thousand dollars (1,00,000 $), the writer has no intention of showing family as greedy, but he intends to show us that greed can change any state of mind unless he/she is not strong enough to repel that desire, the writer also wants us to give a moral, so in this article, we have discussed the writer's introduction, the introduction of characters, explanation of the play and with the moral of the story in conclusion.

About Writer

The writer "Percival Wilde" was born in 1887 in New York City, USA, he graduated from Columbia University in 1906, and he also worked as a banker; his writing career began in 1912. His specialty was writing little theater dramas or movies, which he used to portray the value of life and highlight special aspects of an individual. In his creation "The Hour of Truth," he shows great craftsmanship in this play, where we can observe three classical unities of time, action, and place. He died in 1953.

Introduction of Characters

John Gresham: He owns a Bank in this play and going to be bankrupted due to his own mistakes.

Robert Baldwin: He works in that bank under the supervision of John Gresham. Robert Baldwin is a family guy; in his family, he has a wife, a daughter, and a son.

Martha: She is the wife of Robert Baldwin.

John Baldwin: He is the son of Robert and Martha. His name is similar to John Gresham because his father and John Gresham were best friends at the time of John Baldwin's baptism (John Gresham sponsored that baptism).

Evie: She is the daughter of Robert Baldwin and Martha.

Mr. Marshall: He is the President of the Third National.

Explanation

The play starts with a conversation between Baldwin's family members; they are talking about how the sky is dark (clouded) and it is expected that there will be rain outside. The family members did not know whether Robert had taken an umbrella or not; the family was waiting for the arrival of Robert Baldwin; they were talking about John Gresham, who owns a bank, and Robert Baldwin works in his bank, as due to financial crises, the bank got closed, and the owner got blamed and found delinquent for his actions, and now he is in custody, as they were taking we get to know that his trial in court will be on the upcoming next day and John Baldwin will give evidence against John Gresham in Court trial, John Gresham called Robert to a meet up so the family was very excited to know why he called Robert.

Evie was in a dilemma, after reading the news in the newspaper, about the closing of the bank and the involvement of his father in that case, and her father did not say anything about this in the family. As Robert has been working under the supervision of Gresham, the family has a doubt that Robert is involved in this wrecking bank or not. Martha tells Evie that the newspaper has been unjustifiable to his father; she also says to Evie that you know her father will never do this kind of work, and she does not remember any single moment that Robert has ever cheated or done any illegal work in his life, but Robert got the information about wrecking bank by accident.

John Baldwin suddenly interrupted and said that he saw Donovan (an assistant cashier in that bank) at Athletic Club, and he has been working there for eight years; John Baldwin also said that this news leaked "like a bolt out of a clear sky." So, John Baldwin also doubted his father, that he must have known something about this case 'because his father was the only witness who has gone against John Gresham; he also says that John Gresham has gained allots of wealth in the past twenty (20) years although his father is getting only sixty (60) dollars in a week, then Martha adds that his father has been very dedicated to his work from starting, whenever his boss (John Gresham) asks his father to do anything he obeys without revolution or revolting.

Then the entry of Robert Baldwin happens in-house; every family member wants to know about what happened in the bank, and why did John Gresham call Robert Baldwin? Robert tells them that he only got to know about the wreck of the bank one day before the bank was about to close; he told them that it was the order of John Gresham to close the bank; he also tells them why John Gresham called him, John Gresham wants him (Robert Baldwin) to tell a lie in court when John Gresham's trial will be conducted in court, he (John Gresham) told Robert to say he doesn't remember in court, when the court asks Robert about the crash of bank, for this John Gresham offered him (Robert Baldwin) hundred thousand dollars (1,00,000 $), but Robert was an honest man, he refused this offer.

But when the family members heard about the offered money, their thinking began to change, Robert Baldwin saw his family's reaction and thought that this reaction was because of the large amount they heard, but he did not know that his family members had become greedy. So Martha asked Robert if any depositor would lose his or her money, to which Robert replied that no one would lose their money. So all the family members were convinced that money was safe, and John Gresham's crime was to peculate the money.

The whole family started to decipher Robert Baldwin to tell a lie in court and not get John Gresham imprisoned, as this new expression of his family was in front of Robert, so his first reaction was shocking. Martha adds that we have named our son after John Gresham, so it will bring shame to his son's name; she also mentioned that it was John Gresham who held baptizing for his son, saying these words she was trying to force Robert Baldwin to help John Gresham and do not let him go to jail.

Evie tried to convince his father by saying that if John Gresham announced that he would return the money to their depositors and John Gresham went to jail, all depositors would hate and blame him (Robert) for sending John Gresham to jail. Then John Baldwin tries to support his sister, saying that nobody wants John Gresham to be imprisoned; he even tells his father to start a business with John Gresham in partnership if Robert will give false statements in court and save John Gresham. All arguments and support for a criminal angered Robert Baldwin. Martha tries to convince Robert Baldwin by saying that his son John is the only breadwinner (who earns) of the family and his income is not enough for this family to survive; if he (Robert) accepts the offered money from John Gresham, they all will be able to live a comfortable life.

This all was like a shock to Robert Baldwin; he could never believe that his family would suddenly support John Gresham after hearing that John Gresham would pay him a hundred thousand dollars to say he did not remember in court; it literally made him (Robert) sad, and started to call his family "shams, liars, thieves, and hypocrites," still his family was trying to convince Robert to accept that offer. Meanwhile, Mr. Marshall, who was the President of Third National, arrives at the house; he tells all the members of Robert Baldwin's family that a job is waiting for Robert Baldwin in Third National; he (Mr. Marshal) has taken confession from John Gresham for his crimes, and he also heard that Robert has refused to accept the offer of hundred thousand dollars that also made John Gresham confess his crimes. So Mr. Marshall is impressed by the honesty of Robert Baldwin, and the play ends with Mr. Marshall sincerely saying "how highly he is honoured and has respect for her (Martha) husband that he can only say to her what every person will be saying tomorrow."

Conclusion

Every person is aware that money can be very influential in altering someone's mind, but it cannot alter the mind of a person on his way of following the truth. The moral of this play is that when a person sticks to his morals and ethics in tempting offers, they will surely be a successful person and gets what they deserve; if they do bad things, they will suffer, and if they do right and good think they will surely be rewarded in the end.