# The Judge — Erewhon character guide

> The Judge in Erewhon by Samuel Butler.

**Role:** minor

**Also known as:** the judge

**First appearance:** 0015-xi-some-erewhonian-trials

## Who they are

A magistrate who presides over Erewhonian trials for illness and misfortune.

## In the story

### [Erewhon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/erewhon_se/chapters/erewhon)

Presides over the trial of a consumptive man, illustrating Erewhonian legal attitudes toward illness.

### [VII: First Impressions](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/erewhon_se/chapters/vii-first-impressions)

The magistrate (judge) examines the narrator, confiscates his watch, and places it in the museum; he relents after the narrator shows no fear and has fair hair.

### [VIII: In Prison](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/erewhon_se/chapters/viii-in-prison)

Mentioned in context of the trial of the consumptive and the imprisonment of the ill.

### [XI: Some Erewhonian Trials](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/erewhon_se/chapters/xi-some-erewhonian-trials)

Presides over the trials, delivering harsh sentences and moralizing speeches that invert conventional ethics.

### [XII: Malcontents](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/erewhon_se/chapters/xii-malcontents)

Presides over the trial of the consumptive man, delivering harsh truisms despite his kind nature.

### [XXVI: The Views of an Erewhonian Prophet Concerning the Rights of Animals](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/erewhon_se/chapters/xxvi-the-views-of-an-erewhonian-prophet-concerning-the-rights-of-animals)

A judge ruled that killing an animal in self-defense was lawful, which led to widespread evasion of the meat laws.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/erewhon_se/characters/judge
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/erewhon_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/erewhon_se/characters