Group SF/A should answer TWO of the following:
Q1: Which of the justice systems in the story is the most
perfect or utopian (in your opinion)? Do you think Prell (the author) is
suggesting that one is more ideal than another? Or are they all ‘wrong’ in some
way?
Q2: In one system all criminals are considered mentally ill,
and in another, almost everyone is a criminal. While it seems a little too
convenient to say “all criminals are nuts,” or “everyone is a criminal,”
why might people come to these conclusions? What might be ‘better’ about
looking at the world this way?
Q3: In one of the most interesting systems, the victim(s) of
the criminal get to decide his or her fate in the justice system. The narrator
asks, “Should one person have so much power over another? Even if they were
wronged?” (53). What do you think about this? Should a criminal become a ‘slave’
to someone else’s will in the name of justice? Or is any abuse of power wrong?
Q4: The last lines of this story are chilling: “What system
are we in?” “The only system there is,” one of the officers says carefully, and
guides Cole down the hall” (56). Why does Prell end the story with only one
system, after introducing us to so many? And why don’t we learn which one this
is?
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