While Justice Sleeps

While Justice Sleeps highlights and critiques the pervasive nature of corruption. It’s apparent in politics (as exemplified by President Stokes’s character) and in the business sector (as seen in Nigel’s and Indira’s characters). It’s also apparent in the media, as when President Stokes’s people get the Washington Gazette to publish a headline designed to discredit Avery: “JUSTICE’S MISTRESS, SON’S GIRLFRIEND, JUNKIE’S DAUGHTER—WHO IS AVERY KEENE?” (236). This exemplifies the trickle-down effect corruption often has. For example, Castillo and Phillips act unethically on the behalf of Major Vance, who acts unethically on behalf of the president. The book underscores the rampant nature of corruption while also highlighting the common human traits that often contribute to that corruption, such as a desire for power (President Stokes) and greed (Nigel).

Justice Wynn is the voice that articulates the troubling nature of this corruption. This is introduced immediately in the Prologue when he considers his repugnance toward both the media, which he describes as “willful” ignorance, and politicians, whom he characterizes as “smug stupidity” (1). He considers them all “vapid and arrogant thugs” contributing to the downward spiral of society (1). His critique of the corrupt nature of society is rearticulated in the letter that he leaves Avery and Jared: “I stumbled into a labyrinth of lies told by carpetbaggers and Frankensteins and lesser kings” (214).