21st Century Literature discussion

This thread is for discussion of the book as a whole. Spoilers allowed.

Here are a few questions to consider, but please feel free to post any questions, insights, criticisms etc. related to the book.

What did you think of Arden as a narrator? How does the title reflect the way he perceives the prison? Why does he think of so many people as labels (“The Lady”, “The white-haired boy”), and why does he think of himself in the third person? Why do you think Denfeld chose him as her narrator?

There are many details Arden tells us that he couldn’t have known about. Is he telling us a true story, or is he telling us a fable? Does it matter?

I was fooled until the end. Telling it through him showed his aching vulnerability, and humanized someone who had been hurt so profoundly that,as he described of others. his soul had "flown away." I believe that in that dehumanized state he was alienated from all, and removed from himself. In such a state, he was able not only to distance himself from others with labels, but to commit atrocities. His self-alienation prevented any true remorse.
So what changed? The grace of words? And the grace of caring from one who said she would save "even Arden"? And what about those horses?

Whitney wrote: "...What did you think of Arden as a narrator? ..."

Doesn't the story move back and forth between Arden as narrator and author as third person omniscient narrator? At least that has been my sense of the story-telling, with transitions done very smoothly and well. Or, should we consider Arden as always the narrator, given special powers of omniscience at times?

Help! In the first ninety pages there is a reference to "church women" who visit the prison. I have tried at least three times now to find that passage again, without success. (I'd rather be finishing the reading! lol) If someone is reading with a Kindle or knows where it is, would they please pass along that information? (One of the people to whom I will recommend the novel is such a woman -- but not one to be put off by the way Denfeld includes the reference. Do want to be able to point it out in context, however.)

I don't read a lot of this sort of novel -- whatever that is. I hope others here will share some of their points of comparison with other books et al. I do have a couple in mind that I will relate once I've finished reading.

Lily wrote: "Help! In the first ninety pages there is a reference to "church women" who visit the prison. I have tried at least three times now to find that passage again, without success. (I'd rather be fi..."

Is this the passage?

"They supply endless dime bags of heroin to the prison addicts, the tiny blobs of black tar wrapped in the crinkled wrappers from the candies left by the church women who come to pray and sob through their hands at the plight of these poor men—as a result, the heroin sold in here has been nicknamed starlight candy."

If so, it's about 1/3 of the way through the book, in the section that starts "The guard Conroy has deliberately guileless eyes".

Lily wrote: "Or, should we consider Arden as always the narrator, given special powers of omniscience at times?..."

My reading was that Arden was the sole narrator, with said powers of omniscience. Or perhaps of imagination. The interview I posted before with Denfeld seems to confirm that the book is narrated by Arden.

Whitney wrote: "If so, it's about 1/3 of the way through the book, in the section that starts "The guard Conroy has deliberately guileless eyes"...."

Thx, much, Whitney. I should be able to find it now.

Whitney wrote: "My reading was that Arden was the sole narrator, with said powers of omniscience. Or perhaps of imagination. The interview I posted before with Denfeld seems to confirm that the book is narrated by Arden...."

And it is not the way it read to me -- it felt as if narrator voice shifted. But Denfeld should certainly know what she was attempting. I listened to the short interview -- haven't gotten to the other one. Will have to think if or what difference it makes to the story telling -- and what it says to Denfeld's skills as a writer.

I also read it as the same voice throughout.

Lily wrote:
how you would characterize "redemption" as it appears as a theme in The Enchanted?

This theme is suggested by a number of passages, including the following --

In chapter 5, the fallen priest asks the lady if she would "save them all?" She "knows he is asking about himself" and responds that she would. When he presses her by asking if that even includes someone like Arden, she recalls with horror what Arden has done, but then responds, "I would save Arden."

Then in chapter 6, speaking of the horses, the narrator says "I do not know the name of the place they come from. It could be hell or heaven or the gate to either--it defies me as much as their names. But I know the golden horses gallop there, their manes like tongues of fire, their legs stretched out with the pure joy of running, their hooves unafraid of damning the dirt.

In another place, Arden notes "This enchanted place comes with its own vision. My eyes are not the eyes of the Lord. My eyes are not the eyes of the lizards among us."

Perhaps most telling for the vision of redemption, however, are these passages in chapter 7:

"She wants this and cannot have it: The peace of being known. She is afraid if she shares her soul with him, he will reject it. Then she will be lost forever."

And again,

Arden: "What is it like to feel love? What is it like to be known? The lady is like me in many ways."

Thoughts from others?

Karen wrote: "Perhaps most telling for the vision of redemption, however, are these passages in chapter 7:

"She wants this and cannot have it: The peace of being known. She is afraid if she shares her soul with him, he will reject it. Then she will be lost forever."..."

I think you've picked out some really relevant passages as far as the type of redemption that's being found in this story. Denfeld is too familiar with the realities of people like this to offer an unrealistic picture of healing and wholeness. The idea of being known, of being understood, seems to be the redemption that these people most need and most deserve.

Arden's own childhood acknowledgment of how unredeemable he is was one of the passages in the book I found most touching:

' “I wonder if we can help you,” he said.
I shook my head.
His eyes met mine for a long time. Then we both looked out the window to the freedom we both knew I should never have.'

Lily wrote: "I don't read a lot of this sort of novel -- whatever that is. I hope others here will share some of their points of comparison with other books et al. I do have a couple in mind that I will relat..."

Lily, I'm also finding this novel rather sui generis , I'll be interested in what books you have in mind for comparison. One thing this book did bring to my mind was the underrated Jennifer Lopez film "The Cell". That movie had a rare compassion to it, and is one of the only 'serial killer' movies I know that recognized having compassion for the child who was warped into a murderer by experience is not the same thing as excusing the acts of the murderer.

Whitney writes,
Arden's own childhood acknowledgment of how unredeemable he is was one of the passages in the book I found most touching:

' “I wonder if we can help you,” he said.
I shook my head.
His eyes met mine for a long time. Then we both looked out the window to the freedom we both knew I should never have.

It is not the redemption of freedom that is for Arden, but the saving grace of feeling both love and remorse. (Goodness! I sound positively orthodox! I'm not!) In the end, he shows his capacity for both: By sending the one word note to The Lady, and by feeling remorse for the mother of his victim during his own execution. I believe these changes in him were made possible because of the acceptance he felt under the steady, compassionate gaze of the The Lady, and also, perhaps, because of the books.

Karen wrote: "It is not the redemption of freedom that is for Arden, but the saving grace of feeling both love and remorse. (Goodness! I sound positively orthodox! I'm not!) In the end, he shows his capacity for both: ...."

Do you think that the understanding being offered the death row inmates is really conditional on their feeling remorse? In the quote you posted above, the lady says she would "save them all", many of whom she knows are incapable of what we would consider love or remorse.

This from Arden:

"When a man like York says he feels no remorse, I believe him. How can men like us really know what that word means? We hunt around inside ourselves like squirrels trying to find nuts, picking up each emotion and asking ourselves, “Is this remorse? Is this guilt?”

Do you think Arden feels remorse for his acts, or does he feel his own lack of remorse?

Karen wrote: "And what about those horses?..."

I came to conclude that those were earth quakes of varying degrees of magnitude.

As to the narrator -- While I thought mostly it was Arden, I had the sense that a couple of times we were hearing from the Lady herself and a couple of times from the Warden. I thought Arden was a good choice for narrator. I thought the empathy he showed was pretty amazing - he wanted the Lady to connect with the former priest so she would have a chance of acceptance.

As to redemption -- I don't think this book was about redemption, certainly not for ones who had committed the horrible acts, as there is no way they could make up for what they did, as Arden recognized. However, I think Arden, despite his statement that he could not know what remorse was, did feel remorse, not only with his thoughts for Donald's mother but also his action after killing the man in prison - the Warden found him crying on the step next to the man he had killed. I think Arden grew to understand himself while in prison, especially while on death row, and know that, as a child, he had been damaged beyond redemption. I think that happened not only through the Lady but even more directly, throuogh the Warden. The Warden seemed to understand that Arden was not evil but broken.

What do people think of the three characters of Arden, Striker, and York taken together? Did they illuminate different aspects of death row inmates? Is there a reason they all have names, when so many of the other characters are designations?

Whitney wrote: "...finding this novel rather sui generis , I'll be interested in what books you have in mind for comparison. One thing this book did bring to my mind was the underrated Jennifer Lopez film "The Cell". That movie had a rare compassion to it, and is one of the only 'serial killer' movies I know that recognized having compassion for the child who was warped into a murderer by experience is not the same thing as excusing the acts of the murderer."

Whitney -- I don't know "The Cell," but from your description, it sounds directly comparable. (At the very heart of Denfeld's intentions for the story?)

My points of comparison are not ones of overall scope and theme, but of specific aspects. Ironically, I had just read The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh within hours of The Enchanted. The books couldn't be more different in terms of quality of writing and hopeful, upbeat closure, but both do deal with adults who have been foster children and badly injured in the process. (The comparison and the contrast still rather stuns me, or perhaps appalls is the closer description. I cannot recommend spending one's time on TLoF, although I applaud Diffenbaugh's work for foster care transition. See the Camellia Network she supports.)

The second is a book read several years ago as a Barnes and Noble "First Look" from the Scandinavian team of Roslund and Hellström: Three Seconds. I felt it dealt realistically with drugs and corruption within penal facilities (there, in Europe). It also had a message of redemption for the protagonist, but a very different path than the one of this novel. (Although such a book is not my usual read, so I don't have good points of comparison, images and forcefulness, if not details of the plot, have stayed with me and I can recommend the book for consideration and a decent read in a world with lots of alternatives for one's time available.)

The third book with which I find myself drawing comparisons is Teju Cole's Open City, another recent read for me. Here, the comparison is two-fold, first, the use of bird imagery -- both for flight and freedom and for tragic devastation. The second is more complicated. My read of OC includes one of contrasting social evil (e.g., Rwanda atrocities) with personal evil (rape) -- and the coping mechanisms that follow. My feeling at the moment is that Denfeld handles "personal evil" -- the atrocities these men have committed -- and what follows thereupon quite well. Although she makes jabs at the broader society, I have no sense what to do with them, if other than to acknowledge or question their specific reality. I also haven't yet figured how to deal with the magical elements in The Enchanted, beyond to say I am indeed enchanted by their presence and did find them integral to any redemptive mode that may be suggested. (I'm still playing with that one, ala Karen's so thoughtful and useful comments.)

Sorry this got so long.

Whitney wrote: "What do people think of the three characters of Arden, Striker, and York taken together? Did they illuminate different aspects of death row inmates? Is there a reason they all have names, when so m..."

To me, Striker represented evil. He was just plain mean and evil. York, on the other hand, was created -- he was born with syphillis and horridly abused as a child by those who abused his mother. As a result of the syphillis, York had little chance of rising above the abuse, especially when the one man who had showed an interest in him, abandoned him, at least in York's damaged mind. Arden, like York but in a different way, had a horrid youth. But in prison, he developed the ability to read and lose himself in books, especially fantasy. We learn little of Arden's story but it seems everyone but the Warden is wary of him. The Warden seems to know that Arden, while having done horrid things, is not evil. So indeed they do show a range of types of personalities. Having no experience with death row prisoners, I do not know whether the different aspects they highlight are ones common on death row, but it seems likely.

It is interssting that the death row prisoner get names, as well as Connolly and Rish, and others so not (the Lady, the Priest, the Warden, the Lighthaired Prisoner. Maybe it's to highlight that often the occupants of death row and the general prison population, as well as their guards, are so often nameless. Those unnamed in the book were known, at least to someone.

I wonder if the author left those characters nameless so we would picture them in our own way. Sometimes when I'm reading a book, I will picture a character based on their name, e.g., Bambi as a woman's name--lol.

I also like Linda's explanation. Perhaps those without a name in the story did have a name outside the prison, while the prisoners probably only had a name inside the prison. Very likely they were unnamed outside, just labeled.

Since we're free to throw out questions, I was wondering if this book changed anyone's opinion about the death penalty?

Anita wrote: "Since we're free to throw out questions, I was wondering if this book changed anyone's opinion about the death penalty? ..."

No. (My particular response to your survey. No speculation meant regarding for others.) Is there something about the book makes you think that it might? Do you think Denfeld wrote it with any such intent?

Lost some questions. Will try again. Is anyone willing to help understanding the fantasy imagery in this novel? Obviously, "golden" refers to something bright, luminous, shiny ... perhaps even hopeful? Are the horses allusions to the Book of Revelations? Or some other myth/story? Or unique to this story? What about the other fantastical creatures? The symbolism has largely escaped me -- may have to go looking for clues, but will start with "help!" here.

(Galloping, pounding horse hooves suggest freedom to me. The horses of Revelations have always seemed complex to interpret.)

Lily, I felt the warden's musings were a way to make the reader think about the death penalty. And, York and Arden's childhoods lead me to wonder if the author is questioning the death penalty for the mentally ill.

Anita wrote: "Lily, I felt the warden's musings were a way to make the reader think about the death penalty. And, York and Arden's childhoods lead me to wonder if the author is questioning the death penalty for..."

Thx for your response, Anita. Very possible as you suggest.

Local story today, slightly related: http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2014...

I feel I have to say up front that this book is hard for me to discuss. I didn't know that when I nominated it here. I loved this book because it is filled with compassion... for the prisoners and those not incarcerated. Each element of the book worked for me on a deep level, without struggle. I hope I can share some of that with the group.

Lily wrote: "Is anyone willing to help understanding the fantasy imagery in this novel? "

For me I did not attribute the elements in the novel to be fantasy. I saw them more as mystical. I see fantasy as outside the realm of reality. I see mysticism as a different way of seeing reality. This plays a major role in the narration of the book as well. I see Arden as a mystic. He looks very closely at his world in the prison and the people he encounters. From there he interprets his world for us, the reader. The devilish little men that torture Arden are his take on anxiety and fear. The horses are earthquakes that Arden sees as a representation of divine and other-worldly power. In giving her narrator, a heinous murderer, the gift to see the world in a mystical way, I believe Denfeld has added a powerful element of God’s grace, even in the unlikeliest of places.

Angie wrote: "...In giving her narrator, a heinous murderer, the gift to see the world in a mystical way, I believe Denfeld has added a powerful element of God’s grace, even in the unlikeliest of places...."

Thank you so very much for your response, Angie. A lovely interpretation -- not certain I got there, perhaps less about lack of doubt about grace, more about skepticism towards mysticism, without denying its insistent "reality" throughout human history. I'll have to ponder labeling/considering Arden a mystic.

Whitney wrote: "...the three characters of Arden, Striker, and York..."

Wish I could figure out why/if the name/character "Striker" reminds me of Caryl Churchill's The Skriker beyond the overlap of letters. The Skriker is a drama of an ancient fairy who transforms into a plethora of objects and people as it befriends, manipulates, seduces and entraps.

"York" is easy to transmute into Hamlet's Yorick and a symbol of death. "Arden" is trickier -- Adam, everyman figure? Longfellow's John Arden, who cannot speak for himself? Other?

Yes, I'm mostly just playing, rather than analyzing.

Ardent?

As to the horses, I think it highly significant that it is surrounding the time of the executions they run. They may represent the freed spirit.

The earlier quote is relevant here. (Roughly): I do not know the name of the place they come from. It could be heaven or hell or the gates to either one.

Karen wrote: "Ardent?"

Like that possibility.

Karen wrote: "The earlier quote is relevant here. (Roughly): I do not know the name of the place they come from. It could be heaven or hell or the gates to either one."

Certainly neither Cerberus nor St. Peter imagery.

(Some depictions of Cerberus could be said to resemble stampeding horses, but hardly golden ones. On the other hand, Revelations has fairly extensive horse imagery.)

Linda wrote: "To me, Striker represented evil. He was just plain mean and evil. York, on the other hand, was created -- he was born with syphillis and horridly abused as a child by those who abused his mother..."

It seems to me that the main difference between Striker and York is not necessarily that one was born bad and the other wasn't, but that one has the lady investigating his past, and the other one doesn't. Do you think it's reasonable to assume that if you scratch Striker's past, you would also likely have a string of childhood abuse? And possibly also organic brain damage?

As the lady says, and I keep coming back to, she would save them all; not just ones who somehow prove they deserve it.

How did people think the white-haired boy fit into this milieu? After he kills Conroy (and if we're pointing fingers at who's evil in this story, Conroy would be my first pick), he thinks the following:

"I will walk carefully in the halls, minding my back and watching at all times. I will no longer go down any dark halls and especially not down any silent stairs. I will find the places here that are safe for a boy—for a man—like me.
Another yawn cracks his jaw. Maybe, he thinks, I will start with the library."

The parallels to Arden's early days in jail are apparent. Is the boy on the road to being another Arden / Striker / York? Or has he found a compromise between hard man and psychopath by ridding the prison of Conroy, and thereby ending his primary torment? Or does someone have another interpretation?

Linda wrote: "Maybe it's to highlight that often the occupants of death row and the general prison population, as well as their guards, are so often nameless. Those unnamed in the book were known, at least to someone ..."

I love this observation. The normally named and the normally nameless have reversed places, in a sense.

Whitney wrote: "...The normally named and the normally nameless have reversed places, in a sense...."

I found the "fallen priest" designation both linguistically useful and culturally/organizationally a little weird. While we are eventually given a bit of his story, I missed how he came to the prison job with the designation of "priest" rather than perhaps "chaplain." Maybe simply Arden's designation and "naming"?

Whitney wrote: "...Or has he found a compromise between hard man and psychopath..."

An Amazon reviewer wrote:

"My only quibble, and probably because of my own criminal law experience, is that it would be extremely unlikely to have some prisoners- especially a certain 16 year old young white-haired boy - end up in an adult heavy-duty prison like this one with a first-offense relatively minor crime. There is even one inmate who was supposedly put there for a petty theft. I do believe and understand that it's possible that people like this end up in a prison like that - but it's extremely unlikely and felt their predicament and incarceration in a place like that was meant to have us empathize with them more and see them as true innocents." -- sb-lynn (Santa Barbara)

This kind of "reality-check" makes it difficult for me to speculate about the future of a character included for symbolic reasons, e.g., cruel, gruesome prison corruption of the innocent. The context of the novel hardly promotes much (any?) sense of prison as a corrective system, leaving it much more as punishment of the convicted (rightly or wrongly) and perhaps some elements of protection for external society. All of which is deeply troubling for a country that has one of the highest incarceration rates of any in the world.

Anita wrote: "Lily, I felt the warden's musings were a way to make the reader think about the death penalty. And, York and Arden's childhoods lead me to wonder if the author is questioning the death penalty for..."

Anita -- these Amazon reviewer's comments took me back to our discussion about Denfeld's intent:

"THE ENCHANTED is a novel that shows a truly gifted author who can amazingly show the reader new thoughts, new ideas without in any way being preachy or guiding the reader to a particular conclusion of thought. I highly recommend this novel.... It very gently shows that there are many ways to look at things no matter how dark." -- barry

I'm not sure Denfeld shows "many ways," but I do think she does "gently show" without being preachy or didactic.

Lily wrote: "The context of the novel hardly promotes much sense of prison as a corrective system, leaving it much more as punishment of the convicted (rightly or wrongly) and perhaps some elements of protection for external society. All of which is deeply troubling for a country that has one of the highest incarceration rates of any in the world. "

I agree Lily, but perhaps this will ease your mind... I've participated in prison ministry in the past (the program I was involved with is not available where I currently live) and the thing I heard over and over again from the inmates I dealt with was that the biggest change/correction that prison offered them was structure. Many of the women that I had contact with had little to no structure in their home life. Many had addiction and violence in there past. Prison offered a respise from this, a space to put aside this chaos.

I know that things may be very difference in a male prison, and they certainly are in this novel, but I do believe that our prisons offer time... time to reflect and change. In the case of death row, which The Enchanted is focused on, it is hard to see a death sentence as anything but punishment, although Denfeld does offer another interpretation here.

Lily wrote: "An Amazon reviewer who identifies as having criminal law experience wrote:

"My only quibble, and probably because of my own criminal law experience, is that it would be extremely unlikely to have some prisoners- especially a certain 16 year old young white-haired boy - end up in an adult heavy-duty prison like this one with a first-offense relatively minor crime.."

I'm not a prison expert, but I know that there are thousands of teenagers in adult jails for non-violent crimes, and that teenagers in jail are common victims of sexual abuse. The Amazon reviewer likely had experience based on the state they practice in, and the laws of states regarding juveniles vary widely. Also, to his claim to expertise, I'd counter that Denfeld is also no slouch when it comes to prison experience.

But I did get that idea that Denfeld took a lot of existing but worst case situations and put them all in her one, mythical prison (the extremely corrupt Conroy and a warden too distracted to notice, the constant meals of rotten food, the crumbling building, etc.). And wouldn't you say that, to some extent, ALL of the characters are used for 'symbolic' reasons, not just the boy? This a novel that is essentially a fable, albeit one that draws on the realities of prison and prisoners.

Lily wrote: "The context of the novel hardly promotes much (any?) sense of prison as a corrective system, leaving it much more as punishment of the convicted (rightly or wrongly) and perhaps some elements of protection for external society. All of which is deeply troubling for a country that has one of the highest incarceration rates of any in the world. .."

I believe that's actually THE highest incarceration rate of any country. And I think that many prison activists, and undoubtedly Denfeld herself, would agree with you that the "warehouse and punishment" aspect of US prisons is deeply troubling.

Whitney wrote: "I believe that's actually THE highest incarceration rate of any country...."

I'm not in a soap-box mode on the subject and I do think there are differences in what incarceration entails in different countries, but I have little doubt it is a major issue for the U.S. about which many (most?) of us have little understanding. I am coming away from this novel with mixed feelings about or how Denfeld has contributed to that understanding in any general way -- mostly because I'm not at all certain that was her intent, but rather to portray specific aspects of bleak but human humanity.

Whitney wrote: "...This a novel that is essentially a fable, albeit one that draws on the realities of prison and prisoners...."

I like that characterization of The Enchanted. Not sure what that implies for it as a piece of writing for today's readers.

(I didn't get a sense that sb-lynn was denigrating Denfeld's expertise. I suspect from the tenor of the overall review he/she would concur with your comments on Denfeld's created dungeon/fable. I quoted it to suggest the ambiguity I feel about the white-haired boy being able to reach a stable or "healthy" outcome given his experiences -- and an environment such as the one depicted here.)

Angie wrote: "...although Denfeld does offer another interpretation here...."

And can you say a few words, Angie, on what you consider that other interpretation to be that Denfeld offers? Redemption, of some sort? Or am I being thick-headed here?

Anita wrote: "Lily, I felt the warden's musings were a way to make the reader think about the death penalty. And, York and Arden's childhoods lead me to wonder if the author is questioning the death penalty for..."

Sorry there are two Angies here, but I'm going to go ahead and comment.

I thought one of the most beautiful things in the book was the relationship between the warden and Arden. The warden resents the lady a little for freeing criminals -- there's no question he believes that some of the inmates must die. But he shows such compassion for Arden, something none of the other characters can do, not even the lady. It adds a glimmering, complex dimension to the piece of death penalty debate discussed in the book (debate is really the wrong word here, but I can't come up with a better one). It's so easy to villify those on the other side of any debate, and the author here resists that temptation.

Lily wrote: "Angie wrote: "...although Denfeld does offer another interpretation here...."

And can you say a few words, Angie, on what you consider that other interpretation to be that Denfeld offers? Redemption?"

Not redemption as much as freedom, freedom from the pain, and struggle, and shame of this life through death. The Lady honors York's wish to to be executed, dying at the hands of the state, releasing him from the damage done to him and the damage he has done.

Angie wrote: "Not redemption as much as freedom, freedom from the pain, and struggle, and shame of this life through death. The Lady honors York's wish to to be executed, dying at the hands of the state, releasing him from the damage done to him and the damage he has done...."

Ahh... thank you, Angie, for that clarification and interpretation; one dignified way of thinking about death.

A sidebar on other nonfiction writings of Denfeld: (view spoiler)[ I came across this today with Denfeld's name associated with it, as a contributor according to Amazon:

The Abortion Myth: Feminism, Morality, and the Hard Choices Women Make by Leslie Cannold and Rene Denfeld (Nov 29, 2001)

"Cannold, an American bioethicist working in Australia, seeks to forge a new ethics of abortion in her groundbreaking book. Drawing on her own study of women's actual experiences of and attitudes toward abortion, she documents the difficult choices women make and the moral and ethical reasoning they bring to bear on the question of abortion, whether they are pro- or anti-choice. In the lived experience of women, she finds a practical ethics of abortion in which termination is not only a moral response to an unplanned pregnancy, it may be the only moral response."

May or may not be relevant to your comments @46, i.e., when, if ever, is choosing death a moral choice. I placed a loan request within our library system. The topic is "hot", even if the book dates to ~2000.

(hide spoiler)]

Angie wrote, "Not redepption so musch as freedom.. release."

The horses to me suggest just such freedom. And how Arden cheered them. "Run, horses! Run!" Their hooves would pound each time a soul was finally freed. The image may not make any allusions, but be purely, lyrically poetical in nature.

The little men, on the other hand, I see as a kind of craziness -- both the result of and the image of the torments of his mind.

The flibber-jibbets, which eat the dead, seem a personification (though "person" is not right) of Arden's terror of death. He says nothing scares him more than they do, and that they are like nothing human. He describes death coiling around in their bellies. The passages in the book describing them are striking and chilling.

Sorry about the typos, Angie.

Angie wrote: "I thought one of the most beautiful things in the book was the relationship between the warden and Arden. The warden resents the lady a little for freeing criminals -- there's no question he believes that some of the inmates must die. But he shows such compassion for Arden, something none of the other characters can do, not even the lady..."

I found their relationship to be one of the examples of grace in this book as well. I thought this quote regarding the warden summed his attitude up:

"He can chat with a man like York, he can even show kindness to a man like Arden, but he knows in his heart that they deserve to die. Such men are like diseased dogs or demented animals. You can bemoan what made them killers, but once they are, the best thing is to put them down with mercy."

Regarding the death penalty, the book (or at least Arden) seemed a little disdainful of the people who showed up to protest, not really bothering to distinguish sides. Did anyone else read it that way?