Jason Rodrigues
Mr. Merrick
Lit/Writing Per. 4
24 November 2017
Prison Break!
All was quiet in Tongass National Forest, a remote region nestled in Southeast Alaska. The silence was abruptly shattered with the appearance of a helicopter; its metal blades slicing through the air and propelling it forward. A hail of bullets rained down, supersonic rounds whistling by the battered cabin. A man emerged stumbling and gripping onto another man as the smoke cleared. Al Kelly led a remarkably peaceful life as a gunsmith in Pinedale, Wyoming. This peace was soon to be disintegrated. It was a day like no other. Humming to himself, Al made his way home from work, tapping his foot along to the beat. He heard sirens in the distance, but he did not think much of it until the police lights flashed onto him. Guns were pointed at him, surrounding him from all directions, police officers yelling at him to drop his weapons. Handcuffs were latched onto his wrists, as his Miranda rights were read.
* * *
“Mr. Kelly?”, the judge asked.
“Yes?”, he replied.
“I find you guilty for 3 counts of murder in the 1st degree and sentence you to life in prison and not eligible for parole.”
“I swear it wasn’t me! Why would I kill my own family?!”, he cried out but it was to no avail. Two cops took him away.
* * *
“I need to get out of here,” Al complained to his friend Arthur. “I’m innocent”
“We all are”. his friend scoffed, “That's why I’m locked up for life”.
Al rolled his eyes and heaved a
brother, did the actually killing, but his mother in father aided in the coverup of the crime.
There were too many to count. What was only a few dozen hours earlier, became hundreds – no thousands. The Grant County sheriff was grossly outnumbered. As he stood on the porch leading to the jail, a few steps from the door to his home, the mob shuffled forward menacingly. The glare of the porch lamp likely darkened their faces, contrasting the men of the law with the people of the land. The on-lookers who watched from afar seemed to be closer every second. He presumably considered what to do as the mob grew before his eyes. What did he fail to account for? Had he made any mistakes? He had arrested the suspects of the shooting almost immediately after it happened. The prosecutor promised anyone who asked him that these boys would end up in
The Alabama State Senate reacted quickly by passing a resolution that supported the State Troopers action in Marion and insisted that the claim that troopers did not protect people was “baseless and irresponsible” (p.86). While Jackson was dying in his bed at Good Samaritan, Col. Al Lingo serves him with a warrant that charges him with “assault and battery with intent to murder one of his officers”
Week three I wrote about a shooting that took place in Dallas, Texas when gunshots were fired killing five police officers. It concluded with the gunman, 25 year-old Micah Xavier Johnson of Mesquite, Texas, being shot dead by the Dallas police after attempted negotiations failed. Videos showing two men shot by police in both Louisiana and Minnesota created protests in Dallas and lead to erupting fire. The gunman's house was warranted to search; bomb-making materials, ballistic vests, rifles, ammunition, and a personal journal of combat tactics were all found. The amount of shooters were unknown, but when the shooting started twenty protesters that had been carrying rifles scattered the area. It was a very well thought-out attack that took
The room was filled with chatter and arguments. The mass murder that was happening in the states of the New England region was the center of the discussion in the Boston FBI field office building. Officer Alecia Harrison was sitting silently in the room while the roars of the others burdened her ears. It was a late night and the agents were talking all at once about their opinions on the situation. She sighed, looked around the room and shouted over the silence for everyone to be quiet. The individuals in the room grew silent as they looked at the young woman who had just interrupted their banter.
Have you ever had this feeling of being so stressed out that you would escape to hopeless dreams, causing you to withdraw yourself from others? Among many themes that J.D. Salinger expresses in his novel, The Catcher in the Rye, there is one that fits that type of feeling perfectly. That theme is: isolation is a product of the individual's reaction to the environment and often leads to downfalls and other negative consequences. This is clearly demonstrated through the influence of the allusions and symbols that Salinger uses to subtly apply the theme mentioned above.
Jumping back into the past, Gregory Orr tells the incident when he and a group of five hundred of men, women, teenagers, and old folks assemble in Jackson, Mississippi. In Jackson for a peaceful demonstration, Gregory Orr and the rest of the group were arrested and taken away “to the county fairgrounds” (128, 1). Where they was beaten by officers of the law, Orr stated, “I emerged into the outdoors and the bright sunlight and saw them-two lines of about fifteen highway patrolmen on either side. I was ordered to walk, not run, between them. Again I was beaten with nightsticks, but this time more thoroughly, as I was the only target” (129, 2). Once freed from his captors, Gregory Orr gets in his car to head back north, but on his way back he was pulled over by flashing lights. Thinking it was the police; Gregory Orr pulled over and was approached by two white men. One of the white men said, “Get out, you son of a bitch, or I’ll blow your head off” (133, 3). The two white men takes Gregory Orr’s wallet and tell him to follow them, Scared for his life, Gregory Orr did exactly what the two men told him to do. After following the two men, Gregory Orr is back in jail in Hayneville. “Already depressed and disoriented by the ten days in jail in Jackson, I was even more frightened in Hayneville,” (136, 1) stated by Gregory Orr.
Holden is in a cab on his way to Ernie’s and after he asks the driver with Holden. When Holden asks why he is “sore” about it, the cab driver denies being upset. Holden seems to constantly anger people throughout the story due to his blunt way of addressing topics and his inability to see the positive side of things. The cab driver on the other hand, is clearly upset, but is instead choosing to be passive aggressive by denying his anger. I do not like when people are passive aggressive. I would much rather someone talk to me directly and maturely if they are upset.
"Catcher in the Rye" written by J.D. Salinger, is a novel in which the author creates much irony in the way he presents the loss of innocence or the fall from innocence in his main character, Holden Caulfield. While Holden clearly believes in protecting the innocence of children in society, he himself cannot seem to hang onto his own innocence. Throughout the novel Holden shows his love and protection for childhood innocence, the irony that he in fact himself may be losing his own childhood innocence mainly due to the responsibilities which he has taken on, and also shows that he may be more innocent than the reader first thinks as his simplified view of a complex world is much like an innocent child would see.
The novel "Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger is very interesting novel in which the main character, Holden, intrigues the reader with his unpredictable actions and upfront judgments of his surroundings. Holden alienates himself to try and help protect him from the outside world and conserve his innocence. He constantly proves this to reader many in times in the novel by, telling characters he feels different, wearing clothing that makes him stand out even though it may make him look stupid, and failing to come through in relationships with characters in the story.
To compare to the Rodney King beating, a New York 22 year old resident born in West Africa, was shot at 42 times by four New York City uncover police officers. Unfortunately, 19 of those bullets hit Amadou Diallo killing him. Diallo was returning home in the Bronx, from his job in Manhattan. From his doorway the four police officers open fire when Diallo went to get his wallet out of his back pocket. The officers believed he was pulling out a gun. All four officers, who were in plainclothes, said they approached Mr. Diallo because they thought he fit the description of a man wanted in a rape case. The officers faced prosecution on second-degree murder and other charges but were acquitted by a jury in Albany. The trial had been moved because of concerns over pretrial publicity. (Buckley, 5)
For this assignment we had to watch the film From Prison to Home. This film is about people in prison getting out and being on parole. Not only are these people on parole they are trying to live life with obstacles and stay out of trouble. Now this movie in particular follows four men who have been released and are going through a special program, this program is called the African American Program. This program in particular is supposed to be able to help out African Americans get the help they need so they can stay out of trouble. The four men that this movie follows are; Richard, Arthur, Calvin, Randy.
San Quentin state prison is in San Francisco, California, which is the only prison in California that still executes prisoners. The prison has housed several famous prisoners over the years; however, it has a big problem with gangs inside the prison. I will discover the background of the warden that is in charge, the history of the prison, and the problems that circulate within the prison.
At 1:30 in the morning on 30 March I was awakened by sharp, unfriendly knocks at my door, the unmistakable signature of the police. ‘The time has come,’ I said to myself as I opened the door to find half-a-dozen armed security policemen. They turned the house upside down, taking virtually every piece of paper they could find. I was then arrested without a warrant, and given no opportunity to call my lawyer. They refused to inform my wife as to where I was being taken. I simply nodded at Winnie; it was no time for words of comfort.(pg.239)
In Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, Salinger creates a unique narration through the way Holden speaks. In The Catcher in the Rye, Salinger reveals the inner Holden Caufield through the style of Salinger's writing. Salinger writes the book as if Holden Caulfield speaks directly through the reader, like a kid telling a story to his friends. Like with most conversations, there is more to infer from not only the speaker says, but also how the speaker says it. In the book, readers can infer that Holden is much more than a cynical kid. In reality, he is "too affectionate" and "very emotional" (76), much like his little sister Phoebe.