Analysis: Hope is defined as a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen.
In my eyes, there is hope in people who have been sentenced with X amount of years in prison. It represents that to them, they would have something to look forward too when it is there time of release. Correlating to American society in a literal sense, people would be safe of a criminal who was sentenced, for 50 years. To the prisoner sentenced, it represents that in the 50 years, he would finally be free of prison and that by then, he would have changed to have become a different person; one that wouldn't commit crime anymore. This picture that I had selected shows that this is the place where the prisoner would stay for 50 years and he can one day hope for his timely release and that in there, he would rethink his actions so that he'd get good behavior to lower his sentence and a chance for release sooner than expected.
Image of Despair: Death Sentence
Analysis: By contrast, despair is defined as the complete loss or absence of hope. As opposed to a 50 year sentence, those who received the Death Penalty are, at that point, "destined" to die. There is no longer any hope for them which would fulfill the requirements as to what despair is: the complete loss of hope. How it affects American society is that of relevance as they had removed someone who has already proven to be a threat to society as a whole. This picture represents America's acceptance of the lethal injection to execute prisoners sentenced with death penalty. The despair I feel is basically the despair that the prisoner feels as he is waiting for the day they finally inject him with it to end his life.
Hey Henry,
ReplyDeleteYou looked at this assignment in a different way than I did. However, I find it very interesting that these are the opinions you have and how hopeful you are about the potential change that these criminals might experience after spending a long time in jail or prison. However, I must respectfully disagree with your opinion.
I work with a population of women that spend a lot of time in jail and often go back and forth most of their lives. I also spent a lot of time studying child molestation and serial killers. I believe, in some severe cases, mass murder, a serial killer who cannot feel guilt or shame, or a child rapist- are people that can not be rehabilitated and put back into society. Again, this is just my opinion and I used to feel the complete opposite- but after studying these topics and working in the field, I really believe that in some cases- the death penalty is warranted.