Outcast Analysis: Serial By Sarah Koenig

Serial, a podcast narrated by Sarah Koenig, explores the complexities of justice and truth to bring awareness about the trial of Adnan Syed. This trial is based on the murder of Hae Min Lee, with Adnan being the main accusation, mainly because he was Hae’s ex boyfriend. Throughout the podcast, Koenig discusses how the conviction within this trial was made without having any hard physical evidence. She brings this up to then evaluate the evidence the court uses, which tends to either be inconsistent or conflicting. This questions the credibility of the case and brings up the fact that bias could have played a role in the case. A large portion of this podcast is based on trying to find and assess missing evidence in an effort to try and uncover

The audience also knows how much time Koenig has spent looking into this case and for her to still be questioning it makes it hard to believe that the court made a decision in such a short amount of time, supporting the theory that bias played a factor. “I see many problems with the state's case. But I also see many problems with Adnan’s story too.” This antithesis explains how there simply were just too many holes in both sides of the case to make an accurate conviction (Koenig 150). These gray areas within the case are the sole reasons why nobody can confidently say who did it, making it very unlikely that the court's decision was made strictly from evidence. Koenig comes in contact with many lawyers during this podcast to get their professional opinions on the case. “Somehow I thought at least one or two of them would be on the fence” This Idiom was Koenig’s reaction to what a lawyer and her team said about whether or not there was enough evidence to support the conviction against Adnan, which all of them said that there was loads of reasonable doubt (Koenig 164). Judging from her reaction, Koenig seemed surprised most likely because a lawyer and her entire team said there was reasonable doubt but yet Adnan was still somehow convicted. Through both of these devices it

The fact that this could have been a reason that Adnan was convicted, highlights a key part of what is wrong in today’s criminal justice system.“Maybe anti-Muslimness crept in, contributing in some way to how the investigation and the prosecution operated.” this use of personification pinpoints the exact moment when Koenig started to wonder if racism played a part in this trial (Koenig 219). Looking back at how Koenig has heard and witnessed all of the evidence within the trial, the audience knows that she is not jumping to conclusions with this theory, making it a very legitimate argument. Not only has Koenig made accusations towards people, but she has also had conversations with them to get a real understanding of what their motives were. “But when we pressed them a little more, it seems stereotypes about Adnan’s culture were there lurking in the background.” This second use of personification refers to when Koenig was talking to the trial’s jury and by knowing that Koenig went as far as to talk to them, shows that she has a great passion for finding the answers behind this case (Koenig 223). This quote also captivates that something about this jury was hinting to Sarah that some sort of racial bias was apparent. Through multiple uses of personification, it expands the idea that Adnan’s race and