Leonard Tells Sir Wilfrid His Story, Explained：in the hands of

What's really going on

Leonard's version of events is exactly what an innocent man would say, which is also what makes it so dangerous. He trusts the system — "This is England! You don't get arrested or convicted for crimes you haven't done" — and Sir Wilfrid's answer, "We try not to make a habit of it," is the film's first warning that good intentions and good law are not the same thing. The Beck case they discuss is there to prove the lawyer's point: courts do convict the innocent, and a pardon does not undo a hanging. Leonard's later account of himself — drifting through jobs, inventing an eggbeater, hoping a rich acquaintance would fund it — makes him both sympathetic and plausible as a suspect. The scene turns into a character study of a man who may be telling the whole truth and still lose.

Theme

このチャプターで学べること

• Vole's faith in English justice is the scene's irony.
• The eggbeater reveals more about him than any answer.
• Sir Wilfrid refuses the case while clearly taking it.
• A scattered work history reads as honesty here.

発音のポイント

• don't get arrested — The t in don't drops and get arrested links together.
• in the hands of — In the links and hands of runs together.
• a bit of a — A bit of a blurs together with of almost silent.
• settle down now — The t in settle flaps to a d, and down now joins on the n.