The Firm

The line between right and wrong highlights the blurred morality in this novel. When Mitch looks for work as he approaches graduation from law school, he finds himself drawn to the firms that offer the most money and the best incentives. Nothing Mitch does at this point is questionable. It is only after he overlooks certain irregularities with Bendini, Lambert & Locke that Mitch’s ambition begins to blur his morality throughout the narrative.

Before he takes the job, Mitch becomes aware that there is a lack of diversity within the firm. He allows this fact to be explained away by the partners and his new friend, Lamar Quin, because he is excited. Abby notices that the firm takes an unusual interest in the lives of their employees’ wives, encouraging the quick delivery of children and discouraging work outside the home. Again, Mitch brushes these things away with the idea that his wife somehow misunderstood what she heard. Mitch is so determined to take this job that he does not care about these irregularities, dismissing them as small issues instead of examining the moral ground on which they stand.

On Mitch and Abby’s first day in Memphis, they learn about the deaths of two associates, Marty Kozinski and Joe Hodge. Mitch buys the company line that it was a tragic accident, but on the day a plaque is dedicated to the two men, Mitch notices that three other associates have also died while working for the firm. He begins to question the irregularities around the firm. It is also about this time that he meets with FBI Director F. Denton Voyles, and he learns that the Morolto crime family is closely involved with the firm and uses it to launder large sums of money.

Mitch is aware that if he provides testimony against a crime family, his life will forever be in danger as the crime family attempt to find him and exact revenge. However, he also realizes that if he remains at the firm, he will likely be inducted into the illegal aspects of their work and arrested alongside the other attorneys. For this reason, Mitch decides to cooperate with the FBI. However, the reader stops to wonder if Mitch is doing this because it is the right thing to do and he is guided by his sense of morality, or because it is the safest thing to do for himself and his family.

Mitch’s actions in turning over files to the FBI that will lead to criminal indictments against many at the firm is the right thing to do, but his motivation is less righteous and more selfish. He uses the FBI to get his brother released from prison and he uses the files he has collected to steal $10 million from the Morolto family. While he might have used a small amount of the money to provide for family members and Tammy Hemphill, the act of stealing it is still criminal and immoral even if he was stealing it corrupt people. At the same time, Mitch provides files to the FBI, but he runs away and refuses to fulfill his obligation to testify. Mitch is concerned the FBI cannot protect him and his family in witness protection, and he blurs his morality further in taking money for testifying without doing it. In the end, the characters choose actions that they believe are right for themselves and their situation, blurring the sense of morality throughout the narrative.