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Death Penalty

Sonzogni

Chris Sonzogni

Ms Robinson

AP English 3

July 31, 2007

Death Penalty:

Right or Wrong?

The stage is set: A frightening and obviously malicious quadruple murder leaves a rural Kansan family dead and an entire town on edge, while two killers flee to Mexico. After an exhaustive search, and the capture of the alleged killers, Richard Hickock and Perry Smith, the subject of capital punishment is established. During the trial of the killers, death by hanging is introduced, and eventually carried out as the punishment of choice by the jury. Such an ending evokes age-old discussions of capitol punishment: “Is it right, legally or morally, especially for characters such as those in the book, who have a possibility of mental illness?”
The purpose of the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States is partially to prohibit “punishment which is deemed to be cruel and unusual (http://usinfo.state.gov/),” more specifically, it has been translated by the Supreme Court to include corporal punishment. However, the term corpora punishment describes “physical punishment, as flogging, inflicted on the body of one convicted of a crime(http://dictionary.reference.com/).” What is the death penalty if not such a punishment?
Additionally, and perhaps with more weight in such a “touchy” debate is the fact that, since childhood, most people are taught that to take another’s life is wrong. The question, then, is not whether or not the killing itself is wrong, but if it is excusable due to the severity of the crime committed by the accused.
With the aforementioned facts taken into consideration, along with the fact that it was completely impossible for either man, Hickock or Smith, to receive a fair jury trial anywhere in Kansas (due to public opinion already being formed), the death penalty was, in actuality, a completely hypocritical and unjust punishment. During the trial, little was mentioned pertaining to the mental instability of either client, due to the prosecution being able to object on the grounds of opinionated statements (pages 294-296) before the psychiatric witnesses could clarify their statements in any way. Such legal limits, as well as the obvious moral and legal implications make the death penalty a completely ancient and useless punishment.

Response to “Left behind: Man lives painful life in shadow of brother’s crime”

Sonzogni

Chris Sonzogni
Ms. Robinson
AP English 3
July 27, 2007

A Response to “Left behind: Man lives painful life in shadow of brother’s crime”
(from http://www.ljworld.com/specials/incoldblood/)

It is one of the many downfalls of human nature: the remarkable ability to cast judgment on someone without the slightest idea of who they are. No one is as familiar with this dreadful , yet innate tendency than Walter Hickock, brother of Richard Hickock, who was tried and hung for a quadruple murder of a family in rural Kansas. Walter, who says that “he and his family were declared guilty the same day Dick was,” with an entire nation left to talk and mutter about the childhood and family of a notorious killer.

One is left to wonder, after reading such an article, about what the family of such a killer is forced to face. The obvious doubt in their own ability to raise a child, coupled with public scorn is enough to tear even the most tight-knit families apart: a fact that Walter can attest to. Walter was forced to leave his first wife, Nora, after she secretly blamed Richard (who was Walter’s “childhood hero”, as well as his close friend and brother) unquestioningly. The difference in opinion between her and Walter (who still questions his brother’s guilt) was enough to sever the ties of their 12 year marriage.

Such facts leave one to ponder the lasting effects of such a grisly murder on not only the family of the victims (as the public generally does), but also on the “unseen victims,” the family of the murderer(s). Repercussions, including difficulty obtaining work and the never-ending stigma of and infamous surname, are rarely, if ever healed. As Walter said, he doesn’t know how to help the families of criminals, “sympathy usually is saved for the families of victims.”

“In Cold Blood”– Setting

Sonzogni

Chris Sonzogni
Ms. Robinson
AP English 3
July 26, 2007

Setting: It’s Importance and Affect on the Reader

        Holcomb is, by many counts, a stereotypical “western” Kansas town. Located in what one would refer to as “the middle of nowhere’” the town features the staples of small-town life: one or two boarded-up shops, a scattering of apartments, a few local businesses, and fields as far as the eye can see. In fact, the rural Kansan town seems like the completely wrong place for a horrific and shocking murder to occur — part of the reason that Truman Capote spends so much time describing Holcomb.

Indeed, the lengthy and vivid description of the town almost makes the reader feel at home in the new and unknown setting. If it weren’t for such abrupt and mood altering sentences such as, “Then, touching the brim of his cap, he headed for home and the day’s work, unaware that it would be his last” (page 13), Holcomb could be almost any other down, even in Carteret County. The community feel familiar, it is close-knit and amiable (if not altogether friendly); and a sense of blissful comfort and ease drapes the setting.

Of course, the abject simplicity and ease felt throughout the town also causes the reader to feel the polar opposite — a sense of mounting dread and near-terror (which is not helped in any way by the title or premise of the book itself). Spurned on by such feelings, one looks to find subtle differences between Truman Capote’s sleepy village and his own residence. For example, I quickly found myself concluding that though much of Carteret County parallels Holcomb in the aforementioned ways, Holcomb is a distinctly desert-like town, while all of Carteret County is on the coast. Additionally, Carteret County relies very little on agriculture whilst Holcomb is almost completely agriculturally based, as referenced when its citizens are referred to as “gamblers” due to the fact that very little rain ever fell on Holcomb, and irrigation was a constant battle (pages 4-5).

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