Dead Man Walking Reading Response

Reading log: Dead Man Walking, Helen Prejean, 9/3 2 hours, 9/4 30 mins., 9/5 45 mins., 9/6 15 mins. 9/7 1 hour, 9/8 30 mins. 9/9 20 mins.

Dead Man Walking Reading Response

Dead Man Walking is an excellent nonfiction book about a Louisiana convict scheduled for execution in the electric chair. He has almost no legal help, and no one fighting for him except a nun who is very passionate but lacks the resources or legal expertise to argue against his sentence. Even though I think I know what is going to happen, this book is riveting and thought provoking.  I have spent much time thinking about the death penalty, and I have very conflicting thoughts on whether or not it is morally just.

            The way that this book is written allows the reader to get to know Pat Sonnier.  Instead of just hearing the gruesome facts about the murders he supposedly committed, I got to know his inner thoughts and feelings.  I understand that while he was involved in the harassment and murder of two teenagers, he was also very much a human being.  Having this understanding of the man really made me think about whether he should die, or if another punishment may be a better option.  I still haven’t decided.

            On one hand, I can see why the Louisiana government sentenced this man to death. His crime was horrible. The lives of two innocent teenagers were taken in a traumatic way, and their families were destroyed.  There is no question that he should be severely punished.  The question is whether the death penalty is the right punishment.  Allowing this man to have even the slightest possibility of returning to society because of parole would be unacceptable.  It is possible that he could commit more crimes and destroy more lives.  The state also received a great deal of pressure from bitter family members of the victims who wanted to see this man dead.  He killed their children, and he should be made to suffer and pay the price.

On the other hand, some people believe that it is not a human being’s right to decide when another’s life should end.   God created man, and God alone should decide when a man’s life should end.  Some people don’t believe that “an eye for an eye…” in the Bible should be taken literally, and that if the state invokes the death penalty, they are essentially doing the same thing that the killer did…killing someone in cold blood.  Another issue I have with Pat Sonnier being executed is that I wasn’t convinced that he was guilty of actually committing the crime.  In fact, there was evidence that Pat was just a bystander, and his brother committed the crime.  This evidence was not was not admitted into court based on legal technicalities.  This was one effect of a poor man not being able to defend himself.  Statistics show that most of the people sentenced to death cannot afford a good lawyer to defend themselves. They have to take the court appointed lawyer rather than a high quality one.  A rich man may commit the same crime as a poor man, but in many cases in our judicial system, the rich man is more likely to receive a punishment less harsh than that of the poor man simply because he has more resources and can afford a high quality lawyer.

All in all, this book leaves me with lots of questions about the values of society and the fairness of our judicial system.

Dune Reading Response #2

 Dune ended as most books do, with good winning out over evil. Duke Leto was killed, but his son, Paul, kept his legacy alive and eventually regained control of Dune. However, as I was reading this book, I wondered what it would have been like if Frank Herbert had strayed from the well-trodden path of endings favoring good, and made the outcome of Dune favor evil.

            This thought led me to several different alternative endings to Dune. For example, what if Paul had died before killing the Baron? What if Paul and the Baron had died? This would have lead to the Baron or his descendants gaining complete control over Dune, and eventually, the entire galaxy. Evil would have taken over, and everyone’s hopes would have died along with Paul.

I wonder why authors always choose to make good win out over evil.  It could be because in our world, good does win out, and maybe authors can’t imagine (or don’t want to imagine) what it would be like in the world if evil overcame good.  Maybe it is because authors want people to always have hope and to strive for good.  These are noble objectives, but it is an interesting thought to imagine what it would be like for an author to choose the less traveled path.

"Hurricaning"

I love hurricanes. Yes, they cause a lot of panic with everyone running around frantically trying to prepare by getting food, water, and ice from Walmart, trying to get gas in the car, and moving outdoor furniture to a safe spot. But after all the work is done, and the hurricane hits, there is almost nothing to except hang out with your family.  We have a tradition that we always enjoy during hurricanes.  My grandmother lives across the street from me, and she has a huge front porch.  We always all sit on the porch and watch as the storm comes in.  I know it sounds crazy, but it is really awesome to watch a hurricane!

            The best part of my day…and the worst part of the hurricane…was right around lunchtime.  As usual, we were all on the porch:  my mom and Brock, my four siblings and me, my grandmother, my aunt and uncle, and my two cousins.  This time, we were celebrating my twin cousins’ birthday and eating lunch.  Some of us were sitting in the rocking chairs, and some were sitting on the steps, but we were all entranced by the storm.  We literally watched the storm come in.  Within an hour, the weather went from slightly cloudy and drizzling rain to pouring rain, raging winds, howling trees, and flying branches.  All the while, we were enjoying delicious, piping hot, homemade chicken and dumplings, a dish that my grandmother is famous for.  She had spent the morning hand rolling dumplings and boiling chicken as fast as she could while we still had power.  Just as the meal got heated up, the power went out.  We were served lunch on flimsy paper plates and ate with plastic forks that could hardly hold the weight of the chicken, but it was still one of the best meals that I can recall.   My plate was full of big chunks of juicy chicken, gooey dumplings and crunchy ones, and a salty broth, all resting on a bed of steamy rice.  For dessert, we had birthday cake.  But it was not a normal birthday cake.  It was a melted mess of Baskin Robbins mint chocolate chip ice cream and chocolate cake that was flowing off of the cake plate because the freezer was no longer on.

I loved the cozy feeling of being with my family, eating a hot meal, and watching a hurricane come in.  It doesn’t get much better than that.  And it’s a good thing we enjoyed it so much, as it was our last hot meal for awhile!

Dune Reading Response

Reading Log: Dune, Frank Herbert 8/20- 15 mins., 8/21- 45 mins., 8/22- 30 mins., 8/23- 20 mins., 8/24- 30 mins., 8/25- 40 mins. TOTAL: 180 mins., pp. 1-236

Dune Book Response

            Dune by Frank Herbert is one of the greatest works of science fiction ever written. It won the Hugo award and the Nebula award in 1996 and is the first in a series of six science fiction novels. It takes place in the distant future on the desert planet of Dune, where the main way to make money is mining for a spice that the people of Dune are addicted to. Dune is a story of politics, assassins, and particularly, differing styles of leadership. There are two factions that rule the planet of Dune that are in constant conflict with each other. One is lead by Duke Leto, and the other is lead by the Baron.

Dune seems to be a political commentary on the effectiveness of different types of leaders. The Duke, the main protagonist, is a strict but understanding man who puts his subjects before himself. On the other hand, the Baron is the main antagonist and is a tyrant. Their styles of leadership are very different.  Duke Leto is a ruler much loved by his people. The Duke is the kind of man that people are willing to follow without questioning his motives because they know he is a worried about the well being of his people, rather than just acquiring territory and power for his nation. In contrast, the Baron is not looking out for his subjects but for himself. His main desire is to rule all of Dune because of the valuable spices.  He rules his territory with an iron fist. He enslaves his subjects and forces them to mine for his own personal gain. People follow the Baron only because he has the military might to punish those who do not follow him. The Baron is a very cunning politician as well.  Both the Duke and the Baron have avid followers but for differing reasons.  The Baron brings to mind Adolph Hitler in the way people follow him out of fear.  I predict that the Duke will be outsmarted by the Baron and probably killed, but that in the end, good will win over evil as it usually does, and the people will rise up against the Baron because he is a tyrant.

I have thoroughly enjoyed this book.  One of my goals for this class was to diversify my genres and read more science fiction.  I’m sure I’ll read the next five books in the series as I have enjoyed this one immensely so far.