Blog #3

This past night I attended “Stories From Maximum Security” where I was enlightened about the reality of people who are imprisoned all over the United States.  “The Cask Of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe, “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke, and “Cincinnati” by Mitsuye Yamada address negative topics that can be related to the topics talked about in the session, such as abuse of power,  abandonment, and rejection.

In “The Cask Of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe, Montresor plans revenge against Fortunato because he was made a fool. Montresor tricks Fortunato into a catacomb where he then murders him. This ongoing subject of trickery can be compared to how prisoners often times feel towards guards. Carlucci talked about how prison guards thrive off of control. This type of malicious power is seen with Montresor.  Additionally,  in “Cincinnati” by Mitsuye Yamada we find that the unseen become seen. In the session, Father Brown notes that it is important that the “invisible, become visible.” Meaning, that as abiding citizens, we should not overlook the imprisoned and view them as less than human beings. “Cincinnati” discusses a similar adjustment throughout the poem. We first see the speaker state, “ in a real city no one knew me”. This is then followed by the conclusion of the poem to state, “ everyone knew me”. This lack of abandonment is what we need to have towards people who are held in prisons. Finally, “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke shows a plea for a sons' love from his drunken father. His father is clearly abusive and yet, the son still craves his love, “ then waltzed me off to bed stilling clinging to your shirt” (lines 14-15). We as people in society should have a similar approach as the son does with his father in the poem. Despite the father's drunkenness the son still loves his father. So we learn that despite the prisoners' flaws it is important to still value their humanity.

This week's readings perfectly encapsulated the topics of abuse of power, abandonment, and reject which were all addressed in “Stories From Maximum Security”.