preview

Analysis Of The Book ' Inside Rikers '

Better Essays

Utricia Jones Inside Rikers Chap 1-4 From “Inside Rikers”, written by Jennifer Wynn, Wynn shares the lives from the “world’s largest penal colony” the inmates from Rikers Island. She really humanizes criminals by giving them faces and names because she does what most American are unwilling to do because they are afraid, that is forgiving people and giving them second chances. She really does see the good in the hearts of some staunch criminals. At the same time, she is a clear sighted humanist on how hard it is to leave the criminal lifestyle. Drawing all the difficulties and complications that our society has placed in the way of the newly released inmate. Not to mention the persuasions of the criminal lifestyle itself. The first chapter is Welcome to the Rock, where Wynn introduces the narratives of Angel, Kenny, Charlie, Alfonso, and Benjamin. Chapter two is titled, From the Belly of the Beast to New York Streets where both Frank and Mike are introduced here. In Chapter Three, the Captain and Harry tell the stories of Keepers Of The Kept, Convicted At Birth with Rico, Napoleon, Hilton, and James in Chapter 4. What I found to be interesting is that she goes into the former inmates ' neighborhoods and mixes herself in their lives as if she were them and actually takes ` it in. She sees immediately the differences between the white and the minority neighborhoods, and she also works with the realities of the situation. For example, in Convicted at Birth chapter four, Wynn

Get Access