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Sheldon Perhacs
One of the antagonists of the book, Bob McGregor is the racist prosecutor for the state of Alabama in Ray’s trial. McGregor states several times that he can tell Ray is guilty just from looking at him and that he an evil, cold-blooded killer. Throughout the trial, McGregor tries to manipulate evidence to show that Ray is guilty even though there’s an overwhelming amount of evidence that points to Ray’s innocence. For example, McGregor disallows a polygraph test that proves that Ray is innocent. Ray later learns that McGregor has a history of racial bias and that he’s friends with Ray’s defense lawyer, Sheldon Perhacs, raising the question of if the two men were conspiring together against Ray.
Prosecutor Bob McGregor Quotes in The Sun Does Shine
The The Sun Does Shine quotes below are all either spoken by Prosecutor Bob McGregor or refer to Prosecutor Bob McGregor. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 1 Quotes
Hell, as far as the police and the prosecutor and the judge and even my own defense attorney were concerned, I was born guilty. Black, poor, without a father most of my life, one of ten children—it was actually pretty amazing I had made it to the age of twenty-nine without a noose around my neck. But justice is a funny thing, and in Alabama, justice isn’t blind. She knows the color of your skin, your education level, and how much money you have in the bank. I may not have had any money, but I had enough education to understand exactly how justice was working in this trial and exactly how it was going to turn out. The good old boys had traded in their white robes for black robes, but it was still a lynching.
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Prosecutor Bob McGregor Character Timeline in The Sun Does Shine
The timeline below shows where the character Prosecutor Bob McGregor appears in The Sun Does Shine. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
...judged him guilty from the second he was arrested, as did the police. Prosecutor Bob McGregor stares at Ray with hatred and would probably execute him at that moment. The judge,...
(full context)
...if he dies in the electric chair, he is going to heaven; he looks at McGregor, the bailiff, the district attorney, and the police, and asks where they’re going when they...
(full context)
Chapter 6
...the $350 for the test, but he hopes this will vindicate him. Perhacs and Bob McGregor, the prosecutor, agreed that whatever happened with the polygraph, either side could use it to...
(full context)
Chapter 8
...called him, confessing he was the real killer, but no one hunted the man down. McGregor told the jury that Ray was evil and a cold-blooded killer. Ray doesn’t know why...
(full context)
...on his face. He wants his freedom, he wants justice, and he wants to kill McGregor. This knowledge hits him hard and scares him: he doesn’t want to turn into the...
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Chapter 9
...rage in the early months of his imprisonment, continuing to imagine how he would kill McGregor. He tries to figure out ways he might escape, and wonders if it would be...
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Chapter 11
...a cell very close to Ray. Ray tries to tune it out, thinking again about McGregor and Perhacs. He wishes that the state tried harder to find the guy who called...
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Chapter 18
...lineup that had Ray’s initials on his picture. Bryan also tells Ray that Perhacs and McGregor were friends, and that McGregor has a history of racial bias. Ray can feel his...
(full context)
Chapter 19
...Ray is glad to see his mom, Lester, and Phoebe. Perhacs barely acknowledges Ray, and McGregor isn’t at the hearing. Judge Garrett never looks at Ray.
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Chapter 20
...hearing, which takes place in November 2005, an article comes out quoting both Ray and McGregor. McGregor states that he’d be standing outside the prison with a gun if Ray were...
(full context)
