A district attorney learns the emotional dichotomy of revenge from an Amish family he is representing as he makes a dangerous choice to take the law into his own hands when he hires a hitman to murder the man that killed his daughter after being released from jail.

SYNOPSIS:

Obie Road is a story about whether it is better to forgive or seek revenge. A man kills an Amish school girl and a district attorney by the name of Charles Yoder is set to represent the girl’s family. It just so happens that Charles is working through his own pain as the man that killed his daughter is getting out of jail on parole. The Amish school girl’s family is a prominent member of the Amish church, and their last name is Obie. The Obie’s have an estranged son that broke away from the church and is also a gay. Charles learns about this estranged family member after finding out the Obies are trying to move on from the murder and trusts in God to handle the killer. The patriarch of the Obie family’s name is John and is slowly starting to realize the hypocrisy of forgiving the killer of his daughter but not forgiving his son for leaving the church. John is put into a bind because he is a leader of the Amish church and would lose face in his community for accepting his son back into his family. Meanwhile, Charles seeks justice outside of the law by setting up a meeting with a hitman to kill Adam Figueroa, who is the man that killed his daughter in a drive-by shooting that missed its intended target. At the end of the second act, Charles realizes that John has forgiven the killer of his daughter and his son for leaving the church right before the trial of the Amish school girl’s murderer. Charles begins to question the way that he has been dealing with his daughter’s death and realizes that killing Adam Figueroa is not the answer. Forgiveness will set him free of the emotions of hurt, anger, and blame that has overcome his life. Charles realizes that he is on trial at the end of the second act, but it is too late. The hitman has already killed Adam Figueroa. Charles continues to stay in his own constructed cell in his mind. Lewis B. Smedes states, “to forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.”

Symbolism:

A man’s duty to take care of the Earth and manage it and how he does not own it. Ownership belongs to God. And at the end of man’s life, he will have to give an account of his actions. The main character Charles Yoder keeps a garden in his home that is perfect. Tending a garden can be as delicate as managing one’s life. Charles can handle the pressure of dealing with everything outside of his inner self and his relationship with his family.

A willow tree is a powerful symbol in this story. CHARLES often finds himself staring at the one in his yard that is off in the distance. The Celts believed that the tree is a conduit of psychic visions. His daughter appears to him under the tree. The willow tree in this story represents sadness and strength through adversity. It represents flexibility and the ability to be bent without breaking. This flexibility is a symbol of adjusting to life rather than fighting it. It can survive under terrible conditions and grow under tremendous loss. The trunk is strong, but the branches are flexible surrendering to the elements without being destroyed. These lessons are always present for Charles to learn, but they go ignored. In the end of the story, a heavy wind catches CHARLES’ willow tree branches as it weeps its connection between human’s life, death, chance, and choice as its lessons of flexibility and growing through tremendous adversity remain ignored.

The name Adam in this story represents a belief that we all come from the same ancestor. As we know Adam committed the first sin in the bible. Adam Figueroa has committed the first sin in this story. Adam Figueroa is also paying for the sins of someone else as he committed his crime for someone else and paid the consequence by being cast out of his garden.

The garden needs light. Light represents hope in this story. When Adam Figueroa is about to get out of jail, there is a crack of light that bleeds into his jail cell from the communal area. The lawyer that is defending Gary Grant, who is the man that killed the Amish schoolgirl explains why he defends the wretched. His name is Stewart Gilmore, and he says, “How do you know if a person has no remorse? People grieve in different ways. Different cultures grieve in different ways. People deal with things differently. You know why I do what I do? For those times down the road when the person does change it around. When he does right. That moment when they realize the error of their ways and find the path. I like saving a man’s life, and there isn’t anything wrong with that. That’s why I do it. That’s why I defend the wretched. Because even with one small crack, light can shine.”