Christian Goicoechea
Mrs. Wrabel
Honors English III
25 May 2023
Justice Is Blind We all make choices in life. Good and bad. Right and wrong. It makes us human. Our experiences in life shape us for better or for worse. Conceptually, true justice ensures that we are treated equitably and fairly based on these choices that we make. Though, justice in practice isn’t as fair nor even humane. The “justice” in literature such as Arthur Miller’s The Crucible and in modern society with the reactions to the death penalty repeal in Connecticut, show just how misunderstood the concept of justice really is. Notably, The Crucible depicts the twisted, more accepted interpretation of justice, vengeance. The Crucible is a tale based on the Salem witch
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The reaction received from Dr. Petit, a victim of injustice, shows the inner longing for vengeance during the search for justice. Through a vote of 86-62, the death penalty was repealed in Connecticut. I see it as a giant step forward towards the path of justice. Whereas, Dr. Petit sees this as a painful experience because of his constant painful reminder. Two men on death row, who are not going to die because of the repeal, made Dr. Petit listen as they murdered his family. As to why he wants capital punishment is explained when Petit says, “We believe in the death penalty because we believe it is really the only true punishment for certain heinous and depraved murders” (Applebome). Clearly, Dr. Petit is in search of vengeance and no one can blame him for that. However, justice would be to let them rot in a prison cell for the rest of their lives. Whether Dr. Petit wants the killers to die should be irrelevant to the actual justice system. The killing of those men will not bring back his family and it will not bring him peace. We can’t run a society where we tell people to not kill people and then kill them for killing people because it is improper and immoral. Widely accepted as it is, vengeance is not justice and it doesn’t represent any of the core values of the term justice. As mentioned with The Crucible, the accusers aren’t always telling the truth and the accused aren’t always guilty. That’s what our justice system is based on. Innocent until proven guilty. Within Dr. Petit’s vulnerability, I see that he wants justice. That he wants a way to forget what happened and to move on. What about the murderer’s family? The murderer has loved