The Death penalty Debate

The magazine Upfront has many interesting articles.  One of these articles, written by Diann Rust- Tierney and Joshua Marquis, is called “Should the Death Penalty be Abolished?” In this article these two debate about the fate of an important capital punishment.

       Ms. Tierney argues that the death penalty should be abolished. She says that 142 people have been freed from death row because of human error of putting those people in jail in the first place. But several of unknown innocents may have died because of human error. Also that 2/3 of the world’s countries has also ended the death penalty. The death penalty discriminates race because death penalties seemed issued when the victim is white. It also discriminates the non wealthy who can’t afford good lawyers. I agree with her. Death penalties shouldn’t be given out. I think it’s better if a criminal was sentenced to be jailed for the rest of their lives. Though killers have done the worst imaginable, I think killing them makes us killers as well. And if they are executed, I feel that we are more below them than we were above.

     

     Mr. Marquis disagrees with Ms. Tierney. He says that a death penalty is “reserved for the worst of the worst.” That as many have been executed, the murder rate in the U.S has decreased by 24%. Also, that now a test of DNA can reveal if one is guilty or not. He justifies it with saying that taking precautions won’t hurt if the killer wont be released and kill again. I disagree with him, because killing someone anyone won’t solve anything. There has to be compromise, isn’t that what trials are for?; to come to a compromise between the public and the defendant. There has to be equality between everyone.

    This article challenges readers to see that how harsh government rule is. There is a quote that says “an eye for an eye” I think that’s not right. Killing one is not right but executing the killer isn't right either. Its always better to better than someone else, no matter what. Because that’s what really counts.

      

Persepolis by Marjane Satarpi

                   The autobiography Persepolis by Marjane Satarpi is about her childhood and later, adulthood in Iran in the 1980’s when a war was going on. This is unique book because she chose to tell it in a comic. Really, Marjane had been through a lot in her childhood, faced so many issues especially when she was a Muslim girl in a not really religious family.

                   In the book, when a war is going in Tehran, Iran, Marjane’s family is super cautious of the rules. Because Marjane’s family is not very religious its hard for her to act like a proper woman. For example, wearing a hijab to school, or not wearing skirts and other things which break dress code. Her family protests against the government, especially her mother who once was almost raped. Once her father’s car had been stopped by a policeman stopped because he smelled like he had drunk alcohol. So her father devised a plan to get rid of all the alcohol in the house. On page 109 her father says “Grandma! Marj! When we get home, get out first. I’ll try to stall him. Flush all the alcohol; down the toilet.” And they do just that. And Marjane’s father is safe from being arrested.

                   Later in the book, Marjane gets married to her boyfriend. At first their marriage is all happy, but she soon realizes she is not herself with him. They fought on every little thing. Marjane blames this on rules of Iran. Couples who were not married in Iran were not allowed to be near one another out in the streets. Marjane only knew him inside her house or his. To her, married life was very different. But her friend had divorced and she was hit on by multiple men. Marjane didn’t want that for herself but with encouragement her family convinced her to divorce him. One night the couple had a talk and she told him “when I was in love with you, you didn’t let me in. Now it’s too late Reza. I don’t love you anymore.” And so they divorced and Marjane lived happy by herself

                     Persepolis reflects how a young girl’s (Marjane’s) perception of life must have been growing up in Iran. How cruel life and government were. How people criticize what gender you were or what social class you were from. In this book most took Islam to the extreme. Islam is extreme (I’ve had experience). I can see how it unfair it seemed to Marjane, especially since her family was so modern. I’ve had boys tell me to put a hijab on my head because they didn’t want to see my hair. Or tell me what to wear because I was a girl. I am devoted feminist in Islam. I’m the one who tells boys to back off when they are being sexist.. I can tell Marjane was much like me. She came from a modern Muslim family but was surrounded by religious rules that didn’t satisfy her. And like me, she was devoted to Allah. I don’t think its fair how sexist people are, especially in Islam. Everyone is supposed to be equal, female/male, lower/middle/upper class, and white/Asian/black/Hispanic.