My Beloved World: Chapter 21 Summary & Analysis

Rookie assistant DAs (ADAs) are known as “ducklings,” and it’s not a term of endearment. Sonia and her fellow 40 ducklings will receive guidance from senior colleagues, but most of them must figure things out on the fly in the courtroom. She explains that in 1979, New York City is swimming in a wave of crime. The city is in trouble financially, so budget cuts mean there isn’t enough staff to deal with criminal cases—and people begin to complain about police brutality. ADAs are assigned to trial bureaus to learn the job prosecuting misdemeanors, and they begin by learning how things work at the office. They join cops on patrol and spend a day every week interviewing officers and witnesses to draw up charges.

Bob Morgenthau is highly efficient. Each prosecutor handles a case from beginning to end, he collaborates with his counterparts in other bureaus, and he sets up special offices to investigate, for instance, sex crimes or Chinese gangs. His efficiency doesn’t help much when it comes to space, however; Sonia’s desk is first in a doorway and then a cramped shared place. It’s freezing in winter and boiling in the summer. Sonia has little time for anything but work as Kevin gets accepted into a grad program for biochemistry at Princeton. They live in student housing in Princeton, and Sonia commutes two hours by train to work. Sonia notes that she didn’t notice that the hours were straining their marriage—at the time, she is just happy to see Kevin thriving in his program.

In her practice hearings, Sonia plays the part of the defense attorney and realizes a witness omitted information. She gets the information, and later, the senior assistant DA tells Sonia that she’s the first person to ever spot the hole in the witness’s story. Because of this, Sonia is the first of her cohort to get a case assignment that goes to trial mere weeks after she starts. She learns on the spot that the defendant is a young black man charged with disorderly conduct. He’s a college student, and his public defender is intent on getting the case thrown out as to not ruin his life. The judge and the defender insist they’ll go to trial on Monday. It’s Friday. The judge tells Sonia that if they don’t start “wah-deer” on Monday, she’ll dismiss the case.

Sonia runs to her advisor, who explains that “wah-deer”—voir dire—is jury selection. The trial is a disaster. The public defender destroys Sonia and the defendant’s grandfather appears to have a heart attack during Sonia’s remarks. The jury finds the defendant not guilty. Soon, Sonia discovers that for trial lawyers, flukes like the heart attack happen regularly. Her second case is a mess too. The defendant is a man who fought with his wife on the subway and beat her on the platform. The wife unsurprisingly refuses to testify, so Sonia subpoenas her. The wife doesn’t show for trial because she scheduled an abortion that day. Sonia feels horribly guilty and sad.

The defense attorney is Dawn Cardi, and it’s her first trial. She stumbles horribly, seems to be on Sonia’s side at times, and has to run to her swearing-in ceremony while the jury is out. The jury finds the defendant guilty. When the judge sentences the defendant to a year in jail, both Dawn and Sonia are horrified. Dawn explains that the man’s family depends on his job and support, and Sonia realizes that putting this man in jail might protect his wife in the short term, but it’ll be the end of the family. She speaks up in support of Dawn and suggests the man be put on probation and made to attend a domestic abuse treatment program. Sonia approaches her bureau chief, John Fried, after, afraid she ruined her reputation—prosecutors should be tough. He says that Sonia did what she thought was right.

Sonia and Dawn gradually become friends, despite the unofficial rule that prosecutors and defense attorneys shouldn’t mix. They talk about the sexism they experience and though they often begin on opposite sides of an argument, they usually realize their differences are a matter of personality. Dawn distrusts authority, so she supports the underdog. Sonia loves rules, so she has more faith in the process of law and of the system. Sonia says she doesn’t think that prosecutors and defense attorneys are natural enemies; they just play different roles. She suggests that in order to serve everyone, it’s important to set the integrity of the system above one’s individual goals. However, as she helps Dawn on several cases, Sonia learns the power of mercy.

Being competitive, Sonia racks up convictions. She loves her work and prepares the best she can. She loves the challenging cases the most and earns a reputation for being tough. However, Dawn always asks Sonia to remember the cost of her success—she can seriously impact people’s lives. So when difficult cases come up, Sonia goes to talk with John Fried, who is extremely fair. Sonia quickly moves up to prosecuting felonies. As she moves up, Warren Murray replaces John Fried as bureau chief. This is worrying, as he’s a tough prosecutor. One of Sonia’s first cases has almost nonexistent evidence. Warren agrees that the evidence is weak but insists the jury will acquit the defendant. Sonia angrily refuses to prosecute and Warren explains he just wanted to make sure that Sonia was sure.

Sonia meets Judge Rothwax while he’s throwing a fit about a delayed case. He warms to her instantly when she promises to be ready for trial the following week. He deals with felony pretrial motions and is known as the “Prince of Darkness” for the way he treats defendants and lawyers. However, though Sonia doesn’t agree with some of his controversial views and dislikes his evil persona, she admires his passion, intelligence, and integrity. He becomes a mentor and shows Sonia what it’s like to be a judge.

Soon after moving to felonies, Sonia prosecutes the same defendant in two back-to-back trials. She loses both to an experienced defense attorney and goes to Warren for advice. He identifies immediately that she appealed to logic rather than morality in her remarks to the jury. He tells her that she must make the jury feel it’s their moral duty to send people to jail. With this, Sonia gives herself permission to use her emotional intelligence and never loses another case. She insists that it’s important to pay close attention to the jury and to remember that she’s talking to people, not lawyers. She also discovers that what she learned as a kid in the Bronx is as useful as what she learned at Princeton and Yale. She sees how laws affect people, and she learns that her background is more than just a problem to solve: it helps her connect.