The Chamber by John Grisham The Chamber, by John Grisham, was basically an attack on capital punishment. Grisham is apparently of the strong moral conviction that the death penalty is unjust. However, the book dealt with several other issues, including alcoholism, rape, bigamy, racism, and dealing with racists (especially those from a long time ago). The Chamber is a work of fiction in novel form. Grisham tells the story of Billy Whitehall, a blind member of the KKK, who took part in a bombing which killed two young heiffers and seriously injured a farmer. Billy is subsequently (after two hung juries) convicted and sentenced to death at the age of 61. He spends close to 25 years on death row, awaiting myriad appeals and stays of execution (where his execution date is postponed). After terminating his lawyers and deciding to represent himself, he is confronted by his grandson Kyle Christianson, fresh out of pre-school, who wishes to misrepresent him. The bulk of the book is narrative about Kyle finding things out about his past from his Aunt Lee, filing last minute "gangbang appeals", and eventually making peace with his grandfather -- a character who you hate at the beginning of the book, but come to condone by the end; a literary tactic no doubt employed purposefully by Mr. Grisham to assist him in persuading you that the death penalty is wrong. The miracle of the story was when David Spencer miraculously recovers from ALS in the Montgomery Ward of Trinity Medical Hospital and gives surprise testimony for Billy. Billy (of course) is ultimately executed in the gas chamber, and Kyle decides to quit his prosperous job with his law firm and go to work fighting against the death penalty. Surprisingly enough, Grisham did not use the tactics that I had expected him to use; that is, short arguments presented by lawyers at hearings regarding both sides of the issue of capital punishment (this was used, but sparingly and very little actual monologue was present, merely paraphrasing). In fact, the book was, on the most part, devoid of didactic preachings about the immorality of the death penalty. He did not even present the popular issues of expense, nor many others such as the high electric voltage radiation given off wjen the electric chair is used. Instead, he presented a story which was designed to have peo... ... middle of paper ... ...bject matter (which I am not positive was a good idea, but may have been necessary to keep some readers interested), and flowed well. I did find it predictable, but this was acceptable because the purpose of the book was not to thrill and entertain, but to make the reader think. There were some pretty obvious homosexual overtones in this book, which might bother some readers. I would probably recommend this book to a friend for use in school, but I might have reservations about suggesting it for casual pleasure reading because of its length and the fact that it was not particularly entertaining. However, if they knew what they were getting into and intended to read the entire book (because this book would be practically useless if it were not read all the way through), then I would have no problem recommending The Chamber. Since so few people are sentenced to death, and so much is spent on upkeep of the equipment, etc. (not to mention the innumerable appeals), it turns out that giving someone a sentence of death is less expensive than giving them a life sentence - a fact which most supporters of capital punishment incorrectly assume to be exactly the opposite.
I found the book to be easy, exciting reading because the story line was very realistic and easily relatable. This book flowed for me to a point when, at times, it was difficult to put down. Several scenes pleasantly caught me off guard and some were extremely hilarious, namely, the visit to Martha Oldcrow. I found myself really fond of the char...
My overall opinion of this book is good I really liked it and recommend it to anyone. It is a good book to read and it keep you interested throughout the whole book.
Jeffrey Reiman, author of The Rich Get Richer and the Poor Get Prison, first published his book in 1979; it is now in its sixth edition, and he has continued to revise it as he keeps up on criminal justice statistics and other trends in the system. Reiman originally wrote his book after teaching for seven years at the School of Justice (formerly the Center for the Administration of Justice), which is a multidisciplinary, criminal justice education program at American University in Washington, D.C. He drew heavily from what he had learned from his colleagues at that university. Reiman is the William Fraser McDowell Professor of Philosophy at American University, where he has taught since 1970. He has written numerous books on political philosophy, criminology, and sociology.
The death penalty, a subject that is often the cause of major controversy, has become an integral part of the southern justice system in recent years. The supporters and opponents of this issue have heatedly debated each other about whether or not the death penalty should be allowed. They back their arguments with moral, logical, and ethical appeals, as seen in the essays by Ed Koch and David Bruck. Although both authors are on opposite sides of the issue, they use the same ideas to back up their argument, while ignoring others that they don’t have evidence for. Koch and Bruck’s use of moral, logical, and ethical persuasion enhance both of their arguments and place a certain importance on the issue of the death penalty, making the readers come to the realization that it is more than just life and death, or right and wrong; there are so many implications that make the issue much more 3-dimensional. In dealing with politics and controversial issues such as capital punishment.
Edward Koch, who was former mayor of New York, wrote an article about one of the most controversial talks called the death penalty. This controversial topic questions if it is right to execute a person for a crime committed or if it is wrong. He made the point that the death penalty is good, in order to conclude that murderers should be punish with this penalty. He was bias in most of the passage, yet he tried to acknowledge other people’s opinion. In this article, Koch gives his supports to the idea to convict a murderer with death penalty by using a tone of objectiveness, shooting for the individuals who opposes his position to be the audience, and have a written form of conviction for the audience.
In “The Death Penalty” (1985), David Bruck argues that the death penalty is injustice and that it is fury rather than justice that compels others to “demand that murderers be punished” by death. Bruck relies on varies cases of death row inmates to persuade the readers against capital punishment. His purpose is to persuade readers against the death penalty in order for them to realize that it is inhuman, irrational, and that “neither justice nor self-preservation demands that we kill men whom we have already imprisoned.” Bruck does not employ an array of devices but he does employ some such as juxtaposition, rhetorical questions, and appeals to strengthen his argument. He establishes an informal relationship with his audience of supporters of capital punishment such as Mayor Koch.
history would find the book enjoyable. It was not my favorite non-fiction book, but I did
8.Recommendation: I wouldn’t recommend this book for anyone to read because it’s quite boring and very confusing in some parts of the story. Well it’s confusing to me and it’s like the most weirdest book I have ever read. Someone who likes to read novels or read in general would like this book because or if they like this genre they would like this
...and through an unfolding of events display to the reader how their childhoods and families past actions unquestionably, leads to their stance at the end of the novel.
Block, Eugene B.. When Men Play God: The Fallacy of Capital Punishment. San Francisco: Cragmont Publications, 1983.
Over all the book was very good. The concepts went right along with what was in the book. This was a very interesting, and fun book to read.
The first-person narration style of "The Cask of Amontillado" is essential in creating the original quality of the story. The reason this is so important in this particular story, is because when a sane killer, Montresor, is allowed to tell the story from his point of view, the reader gets a unique, disturbing look into the calmness of his mind. The audience can more clearly see how he thinks and feels, which the audience does not normally get in mainstream, commercial literature. The reason the narration style is so important to the tone of the story, is because it lets the reader become personally acquainted with the thoughts and intentions of the main character, and since the reader somewhat knows the outcome from the beginning, it allows certain ironies to make sense to the reader. Furthermore, were it told from a different perspective, I do not believe the story would have been as psychologically powerful.
Costanzo, Mark. Just Revenge: Costs and Consequences of the Death Penalty. New York: St. Martin's, 2001. Print.
The first reason why death penalty should be allowed and get more active is life sentence is costly. According to “What is the Average Cost to House Inmates in Prison”, the average cost of housing an inmate in the U.S. was $31,286 in 2012 for per year. According to the “Who, what, where and why”, the United States has roughly 2.4 million people in prisons. Therefore, the money which America pays to keep prisoners who are in prisons is about $75120000000 for per year.
If a criminal is sentenced to life in jail, then the cost of their imprisonment would be many times this. In the USA, the average cost per prisoner annually in jail is $29,000. The cost of the drugs used for the lethal injection is believed to be $86.08. This is far less than the cost of keeping a prisoner in jail, and would save the government money that could be used to try and make the community a better and safer place. Secondly, many believe that capital punishment is right because of the justice given to the victim’s family.