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“This vast amphitheater, with its encircling galleries, its mysterious vaults, and its unseen passages, was an agent of poetic justice, in which crime was punished, or virtue rewarded, by the decrees of an impartial and incorruptible chance.”

This quote, narrated near the outset of the story, sets the stage for a bizarre form of justice reliant only on chance. Each accused person is meant to enter the arena and be deemed innocent or guilty purely by chance. This form of justice is decreed by the king, who abides by the ruling of chance in all instances, giving it absolute power. In viewing chance as equitable and blameless, the king also equates the power of chance with his own power within his kingdom.

“Thus, the masses were entertained and pleased, and the thinking part of the community could bring no charge of unfairness against this plan, for did not the accused person have the whole matter in his own hands?”

Here the fairness of the justice system is defended by the populace of the kingdom: Since fate is left to the choice of the accused, how can any charge of unfairness be levied against the system? While this thinking may seem insane to a modern sensibility, in the world of the story, it prevents any tampering by anyone involved. Even the king has no power to sway the outcome of each trial. Chance alone determines guilt or innocence in the king’s arena.

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