C. Paul Phelps
As head of the Department of Corrections, C. Paul Phelps
embodies the moral ambiguity surrounding the death penalty. He is
a decent, compassionate man who does not believe in capital punishment
but who readily ignores his personal beliefs in order to do his
job. His decency and compassion are what make his acceptance of
capital punishment so difficult for Prejean to fathom. At the same
time, Prejean acknowledges that the penal system desperately needs
men like Phelps. If Phelps adhered to Prejean’s mandates concerning
individual responsibility, he would most likely leave his position
out of principle. His departure, while serving one moral purpose,
would also most likely be a blow to the prison system he has helped
reform for the better.
The Death House
The death house to which Patrick and Robert are moved
in the days preceding their executions is the first physical step
in the path to the electric chair. The death house, with its particular
rules and around-the-clock guard watch, is the last residence any
of these men will know. A holding pen for the condemned man, it
occupies the physical space between life and death. It is the place
where the inmate has his last meal and conversation, and where he
is strapped to a chair and killed. Its very existence strikes Prejean
as absurd. Death is supposed to be unexpected and unknown, but the
death house turns it into something quotidian and routine. The death
house makes the taking of a life an orchestrated, state-sponsored
event.
The Work of Albert Camus
Prejean frequently quotes Albert Camus, whose writings
on capital punishment are a philosophical model and source of moral
support. Camus, a philosopher, novelist, and playwright, is known
for the strong moral perspective that suffuses his work. Like Prejean, Camus
believed in the inviolable dignity of the human spirit and considered
capital punishment cruel. He also stressed the need for action in
the face of injustice and absurdity.
