Analysis and Summary of “Life in Prison” by Stanley “Tookie” Williams

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Other essays and articles in the Main Archives related to this topic include : Issues Surrounding the Rights of Prisoners  •   Capital Punishment, Ethics, and Public Opinion  •    An Argument in Favor of Capital Punishment

Much of Stanley “Tookie” Williams’ book, "Life in Prison" is committed to warning young people about the unglamorous life that will await them in prison. In order to achieve his goal of dissuading young people from thinking about prison as “gladiator school” as he did, Tookie Williams wishes to show them how privacy, homesickness, and a rough existence are all that will await a potential criminal. Instead of heavily preaching about how wrong gang warfare is or even how much he regrets his crimes, he rather details prison life itself and assumes that an honest description will be enough to put off any young person involved in crime. In order to make his descriptions more real, in “Life in Prison” Tookie Williams encourages his readers to put themselves in his position, telling them, in one of the important quotes from "Life in Prison" by Tookie Williams, “To get a feel for what it's like to live in a prison cell, test yourself. Spend ten hours--nonstop and alone--in your bathroom” (21). Through this method, it seems Williams is best able to relate his experiences. “Life in Prison” by Tookie Williams also has a number of black and white photos which make it even easier for the reader imagine the grim life behind bars and these photographs, which were taking by Tookie’s family and inmates, show the real conditions in a penitentiary (as opposed to those a young person might see on television or in movies). By asking young people to imagine life in prison through blunt descriptions and creative envisioning, it is Tookie’s overall goal to scare kids away from the idea of prison.

With its graphic descriptions of life in prison, which are highlighted by the photographs, the book does an excellent job of painting a picture of what life is like behind bars. It is stripped of any glamour and the hard facts, such as not being able to shower or use the bathroom in private are discussed. Even though, as this summary of "Life in Prison" by Tookie Williams suggests does depict its subject clearly and without any romantic notions, there are a few issues that revolve around authenticity in another sense. Throughout a preliminary reading of this text, it was impossible to ignore a few elements about Tookie’s purpose. On the one hand, one couldn’t help but feel as though part of his goal in writing the book was to gain sympathy. This was not particularly an issue when he discussed prison life in general, but when he stated more personal difficulties such as having to roll up his mattress to use a desk or having to get into his cell by turning his body sideways, it was hard not think he was attempting to gain personal sympathy instead of simply warning kids about what they would face. One cannot help but think this might be an effort to question publicly the issue of his lack of rights as a prisoner. This point could certainly not be ignored since he was facing death for the murder of four people and did not want to be executed. While this may be a slightly cynical outlook, it is impossible not to think about his more personal motivations for writing all the books he did. While this is not to suggest that he did not have a genuine interest in helping youth at risk, one cannot read this text blindly as solely an altruistic effort.

The introduction of "Life in Prison" by Tookie Williams named a number of people he wished to dedicate his text to and almost all of them were (or are) controversial political figures. While Nelson Mandela was an admirable choice, he also named a number of interesting choices including Angela Davis who was nearly convicted of murder herself. One might think that if he were gearing this book toward young people at risk he might have chosen more age-appropriate role models to name. He might have mentioned less subversive people and the fact that he did not makes one think that he is wishing to align his case with hard political action rather than what the case actually is—a punishment for multiple murders of innocent people. It is difficult, in this review, to curb entirely one’s beliefs about crime and punishment, so this section should simply conclude with the thought that some of his choices in this text as suspect since they do not seem aligned with the interests of young people but rather the interests of his own case and perhaps the potential of getting out of his death sentence if he were to “do enough good” before the execution date.

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Article by Nicole Smith  ~   All Content Copyright 2008 Article Myriad. All Rights Reserved.

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