The Chamber (1994), a novel by John Grisham: Summary

The 676-page book was published in 1996 by Island Books in New York. This legal thriller book was in movie in 1996. Deep rooted hatred has driven a Klucker to bomb a Jewish lawyer. He was sent to death row – gas chamber. Seemingly Mr. Grisham throws his critical look at that capital punishment.

The Chamber, a novel by John Grisham

The radical Jew lawyer Marvin Kramer, a fourth generation Mississippi Jew whose family had prospered as merchants in the Delta. He practiced law because commerced bored him. He spent three years in law school at Columbia, and when he returned to Greenville in 1964 the civil rights movements had center stage in Mississippi. Less than a month after opening his little law office, he was arrested for attempting to register black voters. Later, there were rumors of Lawyer Kramers using his own money to post bail for Freedom Riders and civil rights workers. He paid for the reconstruction for black church bombed by the Klan. His father and family were furious and embarrassed but Marvin could not have cared less. He started carrying gun and bought pistol for his wife, a Memphis girl. He had twin five-year-old sons. He had been paying the guard for two years.  The Klan knew about the guard, then decision was made to bomb Marvin’s office, and not his home.

The actual planning of operation took very little time and that was only few people were involved in it. The man with the money, a flamboyant redneck prophet named Jeremiah Dogan, his predecessor had been loaded off to prison, and Jerry Dogan was quite effective a terrorist. The second member of the team was a Klansman by name Sam Cayhall from Clanton, Mississippi, in Forth County. The bombing of Kramer’s office began with a phone call at night of April 17, 1967. Suspecting, with good reason, that his phone was tapped by FBI. Jeremiah also suspected, he was being followed by FBI. The third member of the team walked into the crowded truck stop and sat across from Sam Cayhall. His name was Rollie Wedge, a young man of no more than twenty-two, but a trusted veteran civil rights war. Sam little knew about Rollie Wedge and he did not believe much of what he said. He never asked Dogan where he found the kid.

Ruth Kramer had flu. The maid woke the twins, Josh and John, now five years old.Marvin thought it best to take them to nursery school as plan get them out of the house and, he hoped, away from virus. He called a doctor friend for a prescription, and had the maid to pickup the medication at the pharmacy. Marvin spent a third of his time at the office working on family business. The twins loved his law office.  The bombed exploded and killed the Kramer twins was the crudest of sorts. The bombing campaign of Jeremiah Dogan and the Ku Klux Klan had now spilled Jewish blood in Mississippi.

The FBI was all over Dogan because of the green Pontiac. Sam Cayhall and Jeremiah Dogan were seized as symbols of white supremacy, and their beloved names were called a thousand times by their hooded admirers. On February 1981, Sam Cayhall was convicted on two counts of capital murder and one of capital murder and one count of attempted murder. Days later, the same jury in the same courtroom returned with a sentencing verdict of death. He was transported to the state penitentiary to begin waiting for his appointed with the gas chamber. He set foot on death row.

The Law Firm of Kravitz & Bane had almost three hundred lawyers peacefully coexisting under the same roof in Chicago. Adam Hall was one of them. Rookies usually kept chained in their desks for twelve months. Two days after the bombing, a shady lawyer named Clovis Brazelton made his first appearance in Greenville. He was a secret member of the Klan, and had become quite notorious around Jackson representing all sorts of thugs. He was sent by Jeremiah Dogan to defend Sam Cayhall, and more important, to make sure Cayhall kept mouth shut.

Both Sam Cayhall and Jeremiah Dogan were indicted capital murder on September 1967. Rollie Wedge was never mention. The police and FBI had no idea he existed. During a lunch break in the second trial, Dogan whispered to Cayhall, that he received a threat message from the kid. Wedge was nearby, in the woods, watching the trial, and if Dogan and Cayhall mentioned his name, their homes and family will be bombed.

Clovis Brazelton handed over to Sam to Kravits & Bane. The firm has handled it pro bono for, eight years. But Sam Cayhall has fired Firm Kravitz and Bane. Now he needed a lawyer. He would be dead in three months without one. Adam Hall chose Cayhall case,as his first case.  His boss, E. Garner Goodman, was wondering why Adam Cayhall chose those case since Sam Cayhall has terminated the Jewish-American lawyers’s services.

Adam admitted to him that Sam was his paternal grandfather. His father Eddie Cayhall fled to California and changed his name, and tried to forget his past. But he was tormented by his family’s legacy and he committed suicide shortly after his father was convicted in 1981. Eddie was Adam’s father. He found Sam was his grandfather after burying his father. Adam was almost seventeen when his aunt, Eddie’s sister. He dug up old newspaper and all the transcript of Sam Cayhall’s case. In law school, he began studying Kravitz and Bane’s representation of Sam Cayhall. Sam will be dead in three months. He never met his grandkids, even his only daughter Lee who married to rich guy. Adam’s sister, Carmen, was twenty-three. She studied Psychology at Berkeley. Lee Cayhall ran a nonprofit organization staffed with volunteers.

For the sake of image of the firm, Goodman agreed to send Adam Hall for Sam. He trusted Adam down to Mississippi. Long-Lost Grandson Returned to Save Gramps will be the headlines. It was 1967, twenty-three years ago. He was forty-six years old, Eddie was twenty-four, and Adam was almost three. Because the civil rights movement was viewed by this time as more of historical event, the third trial of Sam attracted more media than the first two. He was not in custody during his last trial. He was a free man. Sam hated lawyers but finally he agreed to allow his grandson to be his lawyer.

The Mississippi Legislature in 1984 passed a law giving a condemned man the choice of dying by lethal injection or in the gas chamber. But the new law applies only to those convicted after July 1, 1984. It did not apply to Sam. One of the reasons the legislature approved lethal injection was to make the killings more humane. Adam attacked the gas chamber as method of execution. Sam sit in his cells all day long and thought about death. He never thought about gas chamber and cyanide pellets, and last meals.

The eyewitnesses, a couples of guards, talked about the botched execution of two inmates. The executioner was drunk. He placed the placed the canister into the tube, pulled a lever, and everyone waited for the inmate to take a deep breath and died. Nothing happened. The drunk executioner went to his little room, fixed up another mix sulfuric acid. He pulled the second lever dropping the cyanide pellets, which also under the chair, hovering above the sulfuric acid. His eyes were rolled back, his lips were wide open, he was foaming at the mouth, and there he was beating the back of his head.

Sekapur Sirih

Novel berisi 676 halaman diterbitkan Island Book di New York pada tahun 1990. Buku ini telah saya baca enam tahun lalu, namun isinya sudah samar-samar di ingatan. Membaca kedua kalinya akan selalu lebih mudah, namun karena aktifitas cukup tinggi, buku ini dibaca dalam waktu lama. Menemani serangkaian perjalanan perjuangan kebenaran demi menyelamatkan nyawa berharga seseorang yang tidak bersalah, dan menikmati perjalanan di tiga pulau, lima kota dan tujuh penerbangan. 

Puluhan karya penulis ternama John Grisham telah akrab semenjak bangku kuliah dan hingga kini pun penulis masih tetap berkarya. Mengikuti beberapa kutipan wawancara dari berbagai elemen dengan penulis Grisham, semangat pun semakin terpacu. Dia adalah penulis hebat. The Chamber adalah salah satu dari karyanya yang mengangkat tema rasial dan perbudakan di tanah Amerika pada tahun enam puluhan disampaikan dalam bentuk dokumentari, memuat sejarah dan data statistik hukuman mati metode bilik gas.

Terjemahan dalam Bahasa Indonesia: The Chamber (Bilik Gas) karya John Grisham

Sebuah bom telah meledak di kantor pengacara Marvin Kramer pagi itu. Marvin sendiri terluka parah dan dua putranya mati di tempat. Pagi itu Ruth Kramer sang istri sedang flu, virus yang sedang melanda daerah Delta. Agar putranya tidak tertular flu, Kramer membawa si kembar berumur lima tahun ke ruang penitipan anak. Ia telah menelepon dokter yang juga sahabat, pembantunya disuruh membelikan obat resep yang dianjurkan. Si kembar sangat senang mampir ke kantor ayahnya, karena hari masih terlalu dini, tempat penitipan belum buka.

Tidak jauh dari kantor itu Sam Cayhall dan anak muda Wedge telah membawa bom rakitan untuk memberi pelajaran pada pengacara Kramer yang sering membela kulit hitam. Membela mereka dalam kasus, memberi bantuan dana memperbaiki gereja mereka yang dibakar oleh Ku Kux Klan (KKK). Marvin Kramer adalah keturunan Jahudi generasi ke empat yang tinggal di Clanton, Mississippi. Seperti kebanyakan Jahudi di sana adalah Jahudi Jerman yang makmur dalam dagang. Marvin memang berbeda, ia memutuskan kuliah hukum dan membuka praktek kantor pengacara di kampungnya. Ia dikenal pembrontak karena suka menolong dan berpihak pada kulit hitam. Karena sering mendapat ancaman, ia pun mempersenjatai dirinya dan istrinya dengan pistol. Bahkan menyewa mantan polisi tangguh menjadi ajudannya.

Jeremiah Dogan seorang kaya dan pengikut fanatik Ku Kux Klan membuat plot memberi pelajaran pada Marvin. Sam pun setuju agar bom diledakkan di kantornya saja dan pagi hari, untuk menghindari korban jiwa. Kalau bom dilempar di kediaman Kramer, Sam Cayhall kuatir Marvin, si kembar, dan istrinya terkena. Mereka tidak pernah menyangka kalau pagi itu Marvin dan putra kembarnya di telah di kantor. Si kembar mati di tempat dan Marvin akhirnya mati setelah melewati berbagai operasi. Pelaku Sam pun kembali ke TKP, mobil Pontiac yang dikendarainya dikenali, ia pun ditangkap.

Setelah serangkaian sidang panjang, Sam dan Jeremiah akhirnya divonis hukuman mati. Wedge, anak muda veteran perang yang meracik bom tidak terdengar kabarnya. FBI gagal menemukannya. Semasa rehat persidangan, Dogan menerima surat ancaman dari anak itu. Wedge tidak akan segan-segan membakar rumah Sam dan Jeremiah. Pemboman tahun 1967 dan vonis mati dijatuhkan tahun 1981.

Kantor Pengacara Kravits & Bane menempati sebuah gedung besar di kota Chicago yang beranggotakan 300-an pengacara. Kantor ini dimiliki oleh pengacara Jahudi. Pengacara pemula lebih banyak waktunya di kursi di kantor itu, termasuk pengacara ruki Adam Hall. Lelaki berusia dua puluh tiga tahun itu meminta ijin pada bosnya E. Goodman Garner untuk menangani kausu hukuman mati Sam Cayhall. Goodman pun terkaget karena ia tahu Sam sangat membenci pengacara, dan kasus itu pernah sorotan media nasional, mana mungkin seorang ruki mampu menyelesaikannya.

Sam telah memecat pengacaranya Clovis. Clovis memberinya pada kantor pengacara yang tengah mencari kasus untuk pro bono. Kravits dan Bane (K&B) telah menjadi pengacara Sam selama delapan tahun dengan pro bono; tidak menerima bayaran. K&B membutuhkan kasus pro bono untuk meningkatkan reputasi mereka. Awalnya Goodman dan pejabat lainnya ragu, namun setelah mendengar keterangan Adam mereka pun mengutus lelaki itu ke Mississippi.

Adam adalah cucu dari Sam Cayhall. Ia mengetahui tentang kakeknya ketika berusia tujuh belas tahun saat penguburan ayahnya. Bibinya Lee menceritakan bahwa mereka adalah keturunan fanatik empat generasi KKK. Dan ayahnya Sam Cayhall tengah menunggu hukuman gas di penjara Mississippi. Lee sangat malu dengan perbuatan ayahnya, begitu pun saudaranya Eddie yakni ayah Adam. Hanya beberapa hari bom meledak Eddie pindah ke California dan saat itu Adam masih berusia tiga tahun dan tentu saja adiknya Carmen belum lahir. Eddie mengganti namanya. Ia pun tak sanggup menaggung malu perbuatan ayahnya dan yang menjadi bulan-bulanan berita, Eddie pun bunuh diri. Lee juga menceritakan ayahnya pernah membunuh anak lelaki hitam kawan Eddie.

Lee menikahi lelaki bankir turunan kaya dan keturunan terhormat. Ia memiliki seorang putra hampir seusia Adam yang tinggal di negeri Belanda. Lee dan suaminya sangat kecewa mendapati putranya itu seorang gay. Walau sebagai istri orang kaya, Lee juga tidak bahagia. Suaminya tidak setia, tapi demi menjaga nama baik keluarga mereka tidak bercerai. Lee pun butuh status, apalagi menjadi putri dari pembunuh terpidana mati tidak mudah baginya. Adam pun mengambil sekolah hukum dan mempelajari semua berita tentang kakeknya Sam.

Tentu saja dengan cerita ini, Goodman dan rekanannya menyetujui karena tajuk berita akan berbunyi: “Cucu yang Hilang menyelamtakan Sang Kakek”. Rupanya Sam pun dengan begitu mudah mengenali penyamaran Adam Hall. Dia menolak cucunya yang dianggap anak hijau menjadi pengacaranya. Adam menginginkan agar kakeknya mati normal dengan hukuman seumur hidup atau paling tidak cara matinya tidak digas. Ia menuntut agar Sam dihukum suntik mati saja yang lebih manusiawi, namun ditolak pihak berwewenang. 

Mayoritas negara-negara bagian lainnya sudah tidak lagi menggunakan bilik gas, sekalipun Texas sendiri. Mississippi masih. Para pengacara memrotes hukuman bilik gas dan aturan baru pun diterbitkan yakni suntik mati, diberlakukan pada hukuman yang divonis sejak 1 July 1984. Tentu saja kasus Sam tidak termasuk. Sam sudah pasrah serta merasa layak dihukum mati, karena ia pernah membunuh pemuda berkulit hitam semasa muda. Hanya beberapa meter dari selnya, ruang isolasi, dua orang terpidana digas dan mati secara sadis.

Bilik gas adalah bilik kecil yang terbuat dari besi dan berpintukan kaca bening sehingga para saksi yakni petugas penjara, rohaniawan, keluarga, dan pengacara dapat menyaksikan proses hukuman mati. Terpidana mati duduk dalam posisi diikat tangan dan kakinya. Lalu petugas eksekusi melemparkan kaleng acid, pelet sianida ke bawah kursi terpidana. Salah satu dari mereka tidak mati-mati dan terpaksa dipukul di kepalanya. Petugas eksekusi dalam keadaan mabuk, ia melemparkan kaleng asam dan pelet sianida ke bawah kursi terpidana. Tapi terpidana tetap saja tidak mati. Ia melemparkan lagi racikan baru tidak mati juga, akhirnya kepala dipukul selama lima menit. Terpidana mati tersiksa, bola matanya terbalik, mulut menganga. Perjuangan Adam pun tidak berhasil, kakeknya tetap dihukum gas, namun dalam pengawasan ketat.