In Bryan Stevenson’s book Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption, he uses methods of gothic language, partial language, biased facts and repetition to portray prisons in a negative light, allowing him to subtly persuade the reader, he often times does this through the negativity of prisons focusing on: prison guards, the structures themselves and the mistreatment of the prisoners. This method is a vital form in storytelling, but often times detracts from the overall message of Just Mercy and the injustices of the prison system.
Gothic language is, “a style of writing that describes strange or frightening events that take place in mysterious places.” Through a first person narrative, Stevenson uses gothic language, to invoke empathy for
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The main focus is the prisoner in the cage, but the indirect description of the guard as “brusque” portrays him as a no nonsense, insensitive human being. Stevenson purposely does this in order to introduce the antagonism of the guards, then once a preconceived notion is established he replaces insensitivity with cruelty, “but then the guards…started making fun of him and treating him more harshly than usual” (Stevenson 272). Stevenson subtle approach to the description of the guards through implicit descriptive language is what allows Stevenson to appear as a reliable source, thus giving him the ability to profess more of his opinions throughout the text. By the end of Just Mercy, countless passages of prison guard brutality are shared, but very rarely does Stevenson tell his actual thoughts, but instead he expresses himself through his word choice making the work appear more factual and less biased than it actually …show more content…
Throughout the story Stevenson portrays the prisons, prison guards and the prison system through his use of word choice. The structural style of the prison described through the use of gothic language, conjuring up dungeon type location, often times embellishing the actual conditions of the prison. He also used partial language describing the demeanors of the guards as harsh and uncaring. Stevenson also employed a series of shocking facts to appeal to the reader’s emotion, having them overlook his stylistic choices in language. These stylistic word choices retracts from Stevenson’s ideas of necessary reform, portraying him more as a story teller rather than an expert, which is detrimental to a his cause when an expert is clearly needed for a complicated subject like prison reform. His overuse of subtle prejudices, through his word choice was ineffective devaluing his argument as a
" With violence affecting so many lives, one can understand the desire driven by fear to lock away young male offenders. But considering their impoverished, danger-filled lives, I wonder whether the threat of being locked up for decades can really deter them from crime" (305). Hopkins is definitely not our stereotypical prisoner. Most generally, our view of prisoners is not that of someone who has this profound use of wording and this broad sense of knowledge.
Just Mercy touches on the idea of racial inequality and profiling the modern day american justice system by bringing us to a variety of cases that demonstrated this injustice. Bryan Stevenson also referenced an experience he personally had where he was being targeted by authorities for no good reason other than racial profiling. This theme of racial injustice and profiling connects Just Mercy to To Kill a Mockingbird. This idea is brought upon in To Kill a Mockingbird with Tom Robinson’s court case in which he is accused of committing rape. Many people judged Atticus Finch for defending Tom, not because of the allegations of committing rape, but rather the fact that he was defending a black man. Further proving the point that the contents in To Kill a Mockingbird can still be valuable today.
Lappin, H. G., & Greene, J. (2006). Are prisons just? In C. Hanrahan (Ed.), Opposing Viewpoints: America’s prisons (pp. 51-98). Detroit: Bonnie Szumski.
The sense of conflict being created through disapproval portrays duality that the Victorians had at the period; it is almost as if they were in a dilemma and confusion in deciding which element of sanity to maintain. Stevenson wrote the story to articulate his idea of the duality of human nature, sharing the mixture good and evil that lies within every human being. In the novel Mr Hyde represents the evil part of a person and of Dr Jekyll.
Stevenson wants the reader to feel enraged on behalf of the people about whom he wrote. Using that anger, he wants the readers to be motivated to change the outcome so similar bad situations are less likely to happen again. For example, Stevenson writes about Charlie, a 14-year-old boy who was sentenced as an adult and taken to the adult county jail (120). There, Charlie was sexually abused and raped by multiple people in three days (123, 124). Stevenson tells this story knowing that people will get angry on behalf of Charlie. Since Charlie was a child people become more upset because in society children are precious and should not have their innocence taken from them. Stevenson wants the anger to motivate people to make changes to the system so there will be no more
More of this bad treatment is brought to our attention when the writer talks about his visit to see his brother. His brother describes how things were in the prison. “Grown men treated like children by other grown men. Inmates yanked out of line and punished because a button is undone or hair uncombed.” (439) This was just an example of how they treated these men all the time in prison. Robby was even told by guards that they would get him next and he would soon join his friends in the hole. A man named Leon Patterson became another victim of these guards. The man appeared to be having an asthma attack. Him and the rest of the men tried to get the attention of the guards for help but the crude guards came to help after an hour later. Sadly the man was pronounced dead at the jail. These men are just few of the many African American who get this type of abusive treatment
While lawmakers try to structure a system to uphold fair punishments, some people within the system seem to taint the judicial pool. Just Mercy is a book that talks about injustice in the legal system. The author describes cases and clients that he’s worked with that were up against all odds. As seen within the book “Just Mercy” by Bryan Stevenson, some enforcers tend to prey on certain races and act more biased with others. This dilemma can lead to many cases of injustice, just based on people’s thought
The novel, Just Mercy, by Bryan Stevenson is an incredible read. In this book, Mr.
As one grows older, certain trends begin to appear that are difficult not to notice. Naivety begins to fade and the harsh realities people are faced with every day present themselves. These realities shape how people perceive and treat others. A certain theme, or rather lack of theme, that is extremely pertinent in today’s society is the notion of humanity. Humanity is defined, by Merriam-Webster, as the quality or state of being humane or having a compassionate disposition. Just Mercy, by Bryan Stevenson, is a book that perfectly embodies the theme of humanity. In this book, the reader follows the author throughout his journey from an idealistic, young lawyer to a revered attorney in his quest for justice for those deemed unfavorable by our
A common theme in many of the stories is that of self-preservation, because for most of the prisoners, focusing one oneself
the elements of a gothic novel as it is not set in a remote place or a
..., and also used subtle contrasts between characters and places to create in depth detail and to portray the popular secrecy that bound the Victorian era. His feelings and thoughts are cleverly wound into his writing. The morals of the story, it is thought that he wrote the books as an allegory, however discreet are very important. Stevenson believed that gentlemen were hypocrites with outward respectability and inward lust and greed, and in this novel there are several occasions where hypocrisy is brought into the lime light.
Penny Fielding highlights his point of view on Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde that the novel paints ‘a damning portrait of society defined by repression and its inevitable twin, hypocrisy’. Fielding also insists later that the relation between repression and hypocrisy is one theme of this novel that cannot be overlooked. This opinion can be approved of a truth after reading the novel. Repression and hypocrisy run through the whole story which reflect on descriptions of every character. In this essay, I will focus on the repression and hypocrisy that appear to be connected in the novel by analyzing the background and main characters. Especially, I will quote some fragments from the novel to discuss in details.
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’s representation in society through architecture is representative of how the ideas of innocence and corruption would have affected English society at the time and how they would have informed English cultural anxieties. For instance, in “Henry Jekyll’s Full Statement of the Case”, he outlines how he wants to be viewed in society and how that affected his actions. He admitted, “with even a deeper trench than in the majority of men, served in those provinces of good and ill which divide and compound man’s dual nature” (76). Dr. Jekyll means that due to how he wanted people to view him, he divided himself into two people so that people could judge him on just his façade and not his actual desires. The imagery he uses is profound because his identity is tied to geography and the idea of a province is used as a metaphor to describe this relationship he has with good and evil. He references a trench, which visually also creates an image of the split he experiences. The good and evil which he describes ‘divide and compound man’s dual nature’ mean that while he split himself in two, the pieces both add to this one composite whole where Dr. Jekyll is a façade to control Mr. Hyde. Architecture aids him in this transition from innocent to corrupt. Additionally, Wedgewood states that “It is a psychological curiosity that the same man should have written both, and if they were bound up together, the volume would form the most striking illustration of a warning necessary for others besides the critic-- the warning to judge no man by any single utterance” (136). Her statement seems hypocritical because she is praising him and adding to his good reputation as a person and author. Due to the fact that Stevenson is male and of a higher class, her argument states that it is the desire of the readers to trust him. This aspect of society is exactly what Stevenson critiques. He claims that people judge the façades of people and buildings instead of what goes on
There is a lot of parts that make a prison operate. From the generators to give out power to the building, to the janitors to keep the building clean and the mail room to sort and pass out the mail that’s comes through. But there is three key parts that make a prison function. One of those parts is; the outside fencing and barbwire that’s wrapped around the building. Without it inmates are able to come and go when they please. No boundaries are set making the jail pointless. A second key part is the commanding officer. His job is to control the inmates on what they do. The officer knows what the inmates are doing through the day, meaning if an inmate did something the officer knows about it. Lastly the holding cell.