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Redemption In Bryan Stevenson's 'Just Mercy'

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Recommended: Social judgement theory

In Bryan Stevenson’s book Just Mercy, he writes “Each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done” (17). I believe the quote is a way to encourage us to seek self-redemption and to not define a person by his faults. In our society today, people are easily judged by their appearance. The same goes with our past experiences that have become labels used to define us. We allowed our blemishes to become a poison to our body and have developed this mindset that we are a “bad person”. However, we are more than the labels used against us, because there are so much more to a person’s character. We should seek out the goodness in someone’s heart rather than the blemishes. Bryan Stevenson describes that private prisons “… has corrupted incentives
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Implications for this book include Santos’s desire to help fix the prison system and the mass incarceration issue the U.S is facing. Santos is also helping other that are being prosecuted by the failing system. Upon being released and piecing his life back together, Santos started his own foundation called the Michael G Santos foundation. Through this foundation, Santos is helping bring awareness to the socials issues that result from mass incarceration while also helping former prisoner transition and integrate successfully back into the work force. Through Santos’s hard work and commitment, Santos successfully helped Maine’s department of corrections enhance their prison system by the virtue of his own programs that he has developed post

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Moore exhibits how, “… few lives hinge on any single moment or decision or circumstance,” and that there was not defining difference between him and the incarcerated man who shares his name (182). The main difference between him and the other Wes Moore is the collection of family, culture, and experience that Moore had in his upbringing. His mother and grandparents, by providing structure and the opportunity to go to private and military school, “… made it clear that they cared if [he] succeeded, and eventually so did [he]” (115). His mother and grandparents, through their constant attempts to keep Moore looking beyond his seemingly hopeless future, created expectations for him that he would ultimately want for himself. On the other hand, the other Wes Moore never seemed to have any meaningful expectations that he could seek.

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Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption. By Bryan Stevenson. Spiegel & Grau, 2015. Pp. 368.

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If people don’t have a sense of hope, or something to believe in, their life falls apart. This is proven in the novel Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson which is a story about an African American man named Walter McMillian, a death row inmate, who was falsely accused by a white man of a federal crime but still paid the price. Walter’s lawyer, Bryan Stevenson, didn't stop working until Walter, and over 2,000 other falsely accused death row inmates were released. In Just Mercy hope is a necessity for the overall success in the case, because it reduces the feeling of worthlessness, improves the quality of life, and provides a sense of happiness.

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After working with these men for months, you begin to look past the societal mask they are forced to wear due to their past mistakes, and begin to see them as real genuine people. [Thesis and Preview] Life after prison affects all realms of a community. Through the process of leaving prison, to jobs, and to living conditions, I hope we have a better understanding on life after incarceration from this speech.

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His experience has educated him to something more significant than the acknowledgement of the somewhat unrefined announcement that "Trustworthiness is the best strategy"— which is frequently deciphered to imply that it is an error to go to correctional facility. Anyway true equity must go a long ways past an insignificant trepidation of the law, or even an acknowledgment that it does not pay to enjoy sharp practice ready to go. It must be a mental propensity an altered proposition to be reasonable in managing cash or legislative issues,

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