Food of the Death Row and its Significance

"Do you like fruit, Jefferson?" [Grant] asked him. "I can pick up some fruit---and some pecans. Ice cream? Funny books? Things like that."

"I want me a whole gallona ice cream," he said, still looking out the window. I saw a slight smile come on his face, and it was not a bitter smile. Not bitter at all. "A whole gallona vanilla ice cream. Eat it with a pot spoon. My last supper. A whole gallona ice cream."

Now I don't like getting emotional at movies or books, but this scene, this scene really touched me. Something about the simplicity of the request and the happiness that Jefferson shows after he makes that request (a happiness we didn't seem to have access to before) really made this scene stand out for me. As it should, since this scene really does help show that progress is *finally* being made! Grant certainly sees it: "...it was not a bitter smile. Not bitter at all." Grant seems surprised by this, since only a few visits before Grant was talking about being exposed to Jefferson's "painful, cynical grin on his face."

Another important distinction between this scene and some of the previous ones is that he CARES ABOUT FOOD. Until now he's been very adamant about trying his best to eat nothing, and that's really significant cause food is a huge part of this community. There's a meme on the internet out there of grandmothers always trying to shove food down your throat to show their hospitality, and this story seems to agree with that meme. Tante Lou and Miss Emma are always trying to get Grant and Jefferson to eat their food, whether it be gumbo, pralines, or that good old fried chicken. The ladies also take much offense if Grant and Jefferson don't eat their food, and the boys know it. When Jefferson impersonates eating like a hog on page 83, Grant says himself that "I won't tell her what you did. She is already sick and that would kill her." Another instance of Jefferson's refusal of food is during his first visit in the dayroom, where Miss Emma tries to spoonfeed Jefferson some mustard greens and he doesn't open his mouth. This obviously devastated Miss Emma quite a bit seeing as that you could "see all the hurt on her face." But no, this time Jefferson does not turn his head to the sight of food. He doesn't day food is for "youmans" or kick food all over the floor when it's offered to him. This time, he earnestly seems to wants some nourishment. Food is a key part of this story, so Jefferson finally saying he wants that ice cream shows that he's finally come more to terms with his sentence and is opening up, arguably becoming more of a "man" because of it.

Besides the progress shown, there is also a part of me that's interested by seeing what the ideal meal of a death row inmate is. I think it's really well articulated in an interview between Giorgia Zardetto and photographer Henry Hargreaves. Henry had made a series called No Seconds, based on different last meals of famous/ infamous inmates. In the interview, Henry said that this process made it so he "began to imagine these prisoners as people and not just numbers." He continues to say that "Our culinary choices often say something about us that we sometimes cannot articulate easily." Something about Jefferson's choice to eat something as simple as vanilla ice cream really does show us a glimpse of his character in some ways. We could perhaps make the connection that he's a simple or straightforward person. After all, its a pretty stark contrast from some of the more extravagant death row meals out there.

For example, John Wayne Gacy, convicted of rape and 33 counts of murder, chose for his final meal to be 12 fried shrimp, a bucket of the original recipe KFC, french fries, and 1 pound of strawberries. Instead, Jefferson's choice is much, much closer to that of Timothy McVeigh, who after being charged with 168 counts of murder, chose for his final meal to be two pints of mint and chocolate chip ice cream. Nice and simple.

And yet, that still pales in comparison to the final meal of Victor Feguer. Convicted of kidnap and murder, he asked for his final meal to be a single olive with the pit still inside. His reasoning? He apparently believed that the olive might grow into an olive tree from inside his body, and hoped it would help make him a symbol of peace.

When someone is convicted to death row, it's really easy to distance ourselves and call them monsters. But its touching and at times heartbreaking to realize that these supposed "monsters" still have some humanity left in them. In the end they're still human. Perhaps horribly flawed humans, or possibly even wrongly convicted humans, but humans nonetheless. As Henry puts it, "I think it's a subject that people can relate to and are curious about. We all eat and we will all die."

Original article is right here incase you're curious: https://www.buzzfeed.com/alanwhite/12-pictures-of-death-row-prisoners-last-meals?utm_term=.vq3j2ZaBx#.ngKZedOBo

Taming the Untamable and Childhood Nostalgia

While we were talking about Jewel's special relationship with his prized horse, I couldn't help but think back to a very old cartoon I watched when I was younger, called Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron. It was made in 2002 by Dreamworks, and I absolutely loved it. Evidently I wasn't the only one to feel that way: it was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and earned $122.6 million on a $80 million dollar budget. But enough of its achievements for now, back on why Spirit and As I lay Dying have some super similar scenes/ motifs.

So, the idea of "taming the beast" is a very classic action in a hero's journey. Sometimes it's relatively easy, but more often than not it's quite difficult. It can range from taming giant monsters or tending to fearsome/ unruly animals. Lots of examples come to mind: Owen Grady taming the pack of velociraptors in the most recent Jurassic Park, Belle teaching manners to the Beast in The Beauty and the Beast, or Hiccup taming Toothless in How to Tame your Dragon. In our particular cases however, the fearsome beast that's trying to be tamed is a little bit more down to Earth: the horse.

Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron is an animated American western film that follows the adventures of a young mustang stallion living in the 19th century wild west. At this time, the U.S. army is fighting the indian wars and taking over the soon-to-be western united states. There's a lot of plot I could get into, but for the sake of not spoiling the movie in case you haven't seen it/ keeping things relevant to the taming of horses, I'll jump around. Spirit is captured by the U.S. army, who happen to be the antagonists in this movie, to be used in the U.S. calvary. "The Colonel", one of the head honchos of the calvary, tries to tame him but fails *miserably*, since Spirit is a very violent and very rebellious horse. Meanwhile, a Lakota Native American named Little Creek has also been captured and has been brought to the same calvary post as Spirit. A series of events occur, and with Little Creek's help, Spirit is able to escape the post with a bunch of other horses. Here's where the actual taming begins.

Back at the Lakota village, Little Creek first tries to tame Spirit with kindness. Spirit, being the fiercely independent soul he is, still refuses to be ridden. Little Creek tries a large variety of tactics: bribery with massive amounts of apples (which spirit loves), trickery with a fancy quilt, and even wooing Spirit with a mare. However, all of these tactics prove to be relatively useless and Spirit remains as rough and rowdy as ever, until through a series of very interesting events Spirit finally yields and allows Little Creek to ride him. These taming scenes feel astonishingly similar to Jewel and his horse; both horses are unruly and very untamed until much later on, forced through many unpleasant situations. Both of the tamers of these "beasts" have an affinity for animals, sometimes treating them even better than the humans around them. Overall I just think it's pretty neat to see such a similar kind of relationship in two completely different story arcs. Highly recommend watching Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron if you haven't seen it btw! It might be 14 years old now but I still really like it!