No Choirboy Post 3

Chapter three of No Choirboy takes a look in to Nanon Williams’ time in prison.  Here is a excerpt from what Nanon had to say. “ Few men survive here. Years ago, perhaps they did. Not anymore. The visitation area looks nice. When you enter this prison, it resembles a college campus. Never allow appearance to fool you- you are entering a killing camp. Back where I am, there is metal upon metal, concrete, and cage after cage lined up with less than the space animals are afforded at the zoon. They will never, not ever, allow you to see and hear the madness around me back in the cells. I have seen over 250 men executed. Men I knew. While most kids went to bars, clubs, school, I lived in a war zone. I have seen men raped, beaten to death, found hung in their cells, burned, cut. I have heard men scream so loud it feels like their voice is in your head. Death row is no place for a kid.” This passage really caught my attention. It shows the brutality of prisons and how horrible the conditions are. It really got me thinking about our prison system in general. I was wondering if this system actually punishes people. From all the information in the book, prison seems like an absolutely horrible place so is it in fact punishing people? Prison is supposed to be a place for rehabilitation and is supposed to change a person for the better. Personally, from what I have been reading, I don’t think prison does that. I think certain prisons, as well as death row, dehumanizes people. It goes to show how brutal our prison system is and it needs a change.