4. Do you agree that “public flogging and amputation may be more barbaric forms of punishment than imprisonment” (376)? Explain your answer using information from Chapman’s essay.
More barbaric...not necessarily. On the outside and in the movies, prison violence equals lunch room fights, yard riots, and the occasional stabbing, but in real life you would not believe what goes on behind bars. One newer way of attacking an enemy (or more commonly a prison guard) is called gassing. I'm not sure if I'm the only one that's ever heard of it but this is when inmates urinate and deficate (yes, pee and poop) in a bucket, even getting others to help them fill this waste basket of doom, let it ferment, then, you guessed it...SPLASH. They throw the contents of the bucket into the face of their target. And its usually not just feces and urine, sometimes crushed lightbulbs get thrown into the mix so that when the other inmate or gurad tries to wipe his face, the glass shards will cut him and the mixture will seep into the wounds. Now i understand that this is not the intention of our justice system. This is not the guards brutalizing the inmates. This is not a means of punishment but I guarentee you, there is nothing more barbaric than flinging poo at another person. And this is not the only example of the mayhem that goes on in our prisons. So, to answer the question is it more barbaric to cut off hands and flog people? I don't really think so...
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You make some valid points, Tommy. Humiliation by throwing feces at someone is disgusting but serves a purpose. Don't forget to back up your opinion with reference to Chapman or others.
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