The Great Escape From Alcatraz: Frank Morris And The Anglin Brothers

The word “Cult” has not always had such a negative connotation attached to it. Many religions would’ve been considered cults when they first began. By the end of the 19th century many visionaries had revealed radically new religious systems, claiming immunity to the impurities of the old ones (Powers, 1997). These were no more than a group of people organizing themselves in worship and devotion for a person, object, or movement. They practiced rituals different to other “mainstream” religions, and were therefore considered cults.

The experimental study that I chose to write about is the Stanford Prison Experiment, which was run by Phillip Zimbardo. More than seventy applicants answered an ad looking for volunteers to participate in a study that tested the physiological effects of prison life. The volunteers were all given interviews and personality tests. The study was left with twenty-four male college students. For the experiment, eighteen volunteers took part, with the other volunteers being on call. The volunteers were then divided into two groups, guards and prisoners, randomly assigned by coin flips. The experiment began on August 14th, 1971 in the basement of Stanford’s psychology building. To create the prison cells for the prisoners, the doors were taken

The treacherous life at Alcatraz led many men to snap. Alcatraz was a death trap for some, on an island just miles away from San Francisco, with the freezing currents of San Francisco Bay surrounding it. Over the years there had been many escape attempts, but none as mysterious as the one that Frank Morris, Allen West, and brothers Clarence and John Anglin had been plotting for months. Numerous people believe that they died during this escape “attempt,” but evidence has shown that they most likely escaped Alcatraz successfully and survived. This evidence includes no bodies were found, a lot of people have claimed to have seen them, and a family friend later shared a picture of the brothers after their escape with the

After listening to and or reading the transcripts of Locked Down: Gangs in the Supermax by Michael Montgomery, one gets a glimpse of prison life, sociological issues inmates and staff face, and the subculture of prison life faced by staff and prisoners alike on a daily basis. However, instead of delving completely in to the situational circumstances of prisoner life, it is more important to understand the history of this Supermax prison and why it was constructed to begin with. Further, it is important to understand the philosophy of the need for the Secure Housing Unit, which is the most secure and isolated portion of Pelican Bay Prison.

In Robert Perkinson’s book, Texas Tough: The Rise of America’s Prison Empire, a remarkable amount of a decade’s worth of in-depth research is given regarding Texas and it’s astounding past regarding racism, prisons, and penitentiaries. Perkinson’s finding lead to how the only way to escape what could be the continuation of tragedy in this nation is to examine the history of this nation’s most severe prison state, Texas.

The last time they were seen, was on their home security camera footage. They looked dazed as if something weird was happening, they were also packing their truck with their belongings. After they were done packing, they left and were never seen alive again.

These are some of the most infamous names in the history of murder, but they hid in plain sight, and Manson did not even commit murder. He was so manipulative he could convince others to do his bidding for him. How is that even possible? Surely one would be able to recognize someone who is such a dangerous threat or would they? One of the reasons these killers can be so successful is their ability to blend into their surroundings and at times even be considered a stand up member of the communities they live in, but what is going on inside their brains?

To begin with," The most notorious could not beat Alcatraz not even gangsters like Al ‘Scarface’ Capone could escape,” Scope pg. 9 December 2017 to January 2018. To add on to that, 33 other prisoners attempted to escape Alcatraz yet none of them got away with it. If 33 of some of America's most infamous prisoners failed to escape, how could Morris and the Anglin brothers do it?

Prisoner B-3087 is about a boy named Jack Gruener. He lived in Krakow, Poland. Jack was ten when the nazis invaded his home town, and made his neighborhood into a ghetto. While he was was in the ghetto the nazis raided the apartments in the ghetto for valuables. Those who gave nothing were killed, or sent of to concentration camps. Jack and his family survived by live on the roof of their apartment in a pigeon coop. Jack saw his family deported and was alone in the pigeon coop for a while.

Malcolm X would find himself in prison by being self-educated. The first prison that Malcolm X was in was built in the early 1800’s with little ventilation, no plumbing systems, no running water, and they have to defecate in buckets. The prison conditions at the time were horrendous, there were no dining rooms and the prisoners had to eat in their cells, which increased the growth of mice. Malcom X half-sister Ella would send Malcolm money where he would then use the money to get drugs from corrupt guards. According to Alex Haley, and Sam Sloan in the book, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, they narrate for Malcolm X, “I got reefers, Nembutal, and Benzedrine. Smuggling to Prisoners was the guards’ sideling; every prison’s inmates know that’s how guards make most of their living” (167). What this shows is how the prison systems were unaware that the guards were giving drugs to inmates while the inmates were receiving money. In Malcolm X perspective, this can show how the prison system was not a place for rehabilitation, but a place where criminals can stay criminals and do drugs to pass time. After Ella when to the courts and convinced the judge to have Malcom X moved to the new prison called the Concord Prison. This would allow Malcolm to have better living standards where he can be better focused and start his early development in self-education.

Robert Franklin Stroud is know as “The Birdman.” He became “The Birdman” at Leavenworth Federal Prison, that is where his ornithology(the scientific study of birds) interest sparked. He wrote two books about canaries and about 51 years after his death there was a movie released about him and his years in prison.

As the cold waters rush into the San Francisco Bay, they crash up against an island standing in the strait. This rock is hidden by the fog and isolated by the chilling waters of the Pacific that flow in and out every day. It has a gloom that hangs about its rocky face most know it as Alcatraz but the men who experienced this island, referred to her as “The Rock”. To the men confined there, it is not only the ultimate in isolation but the most ironic because they are there in the midst of the activity of a busy harbor with small craft darting to and from San Francisco, Oakland, Alameda, Berkeley, Richmond, and Sausalito; within sound of the honking horns of a ceaseless procession of automobiles crossing the bridges; within sight of ocean

This hubris that kept pushing them forward to the top and to the vault got them through and ultimately a lot of them drown within the vault’s sealed waters. This can also be seen in Hillalum’s thoughts as he is nearly drowning in the waters, “He would die closer to Heaven than any man before.” (Chiang 25) Even in his presumed last moments, it was a competition of sorts to be the closest to Heaven’s gates. These instances are minor compared to what could have happened because of their greed.

In 1979, Edward Hope Smith and Alfred Evans were both 14 and disappeared four days apart. It was said that they were the first victims with the last victim being a 27 year old named Nathaniel Cater.

The audience of prison television shows and films is able to sympathize with the prisoner, or anti-hero, on screen. In order to fully grasp this statement, the words sympathize and anti-hero need to be defined. According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, to sympathize with is “to feel or show pity or care and understanding for.” In addition, an anti-hero is a protagonist who lacks the traditional hero’s qualities, and instead possesses imperfect characteristics—which are present in human beings. A few examples of imperfect characteristics are selfishness, rebelliousness, immorality, and a lack of honesty. Some of these realistic, flawed traits are projected on screen when the producers of prison shows and films create an anti-hero—thus easily