The Chamber Essay, Research Paper

A Question of Life or Death

The novel The Chamber, by John Grisham, is an emotional account of a lawyer’s struggle to liberate his racist grandfather from death row. This attorney not only battles to save a life but skirmishes against of the most debated topics of modern society: capital punishment. Along with other controversial issues such as euthanasia and abortion, capital punishment has raised much turmoil amongst many institutions both political and religious. Yet, the underlining question is: Is it valid?

In sentencing an individual to capital punishment, society is ending the life of a person. In ending this life do we find justice or a quenching of our thirst for revenge? Does a mortal crime such as murder justify the need for capital punishment? These questions and many more are constantly asked and discussed when determining the morality of capital punishment. Are we not committing the same crime of murder in ending a sentenced life? Why is society so violent that even our forms of justice involve violence? Society is constantly yearning for peace and tranquility, a nation where crime and sin are nonexisting, yet in an attempt to extinguish the immoral, man restores society by carrying out suitable punishment of the same or of even magnitude. Logically, if we consider murder or killing immoral then capital punishment must also be immoral. On other hand. Maybe this form of punishment must be an essential part of society. Maybe, we must eliminate any threat to society by any means including the ending of their life.

In conclusion, capital punishment may or not be a valid form of reprimand. In justifying and determining its validity, society must take views from both sides, the victims of the murdered and the victims of the condemned. Finally, does man have the right, by nature, to determine whether or not another man deserves to live?