In John Berendt’s Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, we tag along with the author in his
adventures in the historic city of Savannah. Along the way, we meet a wonderfully eccentric cast
of real “characters” – Danny Hansford (the walking streak of sex), Joe Odom (the homeless man
known for hosting the best house-parties in town), Emma Kelly (the lady of six thousand songs),
Luther Driggers (the frustrated inventor), Minerva (the local Voodoo queen), and The Lady
Chablis (whom I won’t attempt to describe here). These and many other colorful characters
make up the population of Savannah. And trust me, you will seriously enjoy meeting this kooky
bunch.
Among the cast of Savannians you’ll meet is the central character of this novel, Jim Williams.
And it’s Williams you’ll be writing about for this essay. Jim Williams is a nouveau riche
millionaire in Savannah – and Savannians prefer their millionaires to come from ‘old money’.
Williams is from the distant city of Gordon, GA – and Savannians are fairly partial to natives of
their own city. Williams once objected to the way that Hollywood film companies bullied the
citizens of Savannah around as they shot their films in the historic neighborhoods, so he flew a
Nazi flag in front of his house just to spoil a location for a film crew – and Savannians (like all
decent white southerners) want to disassociate themselves from white supremacist groups like
the Nazis and the Klan. Finally, Jim Williams is gay – and Savannians, at least the upper-crust
Savannians, will not allow gays to join the ranks of their most socially elite citizens.
Jim Williams does all that he can to be accepted into the elite circles of Savannah society. To a
certain extent – but only to a certain extent – he succeeds in overcoming the phobias and
prejudices of Savannah’s people. And he does this by way of a carefully crafted appeal to ethos.
That is, he demonstrates all of the qualities Aristotle associated with good character in general,
AND he goes out of his way to demonstrate that he shares the desires, the ideals, the anxieties,
and the prejudices of Savannah’s native population. This is what you’ll be analyzing in this
essay. You’ll focus on Aristotle’s first and second theories of ethos in order to analyze the
specific tactics Williams uses to make his character more and more appealing to the Savannians
he chooses to live amongst.

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