The Life of Harrison's "How It Feels To Be Falsely Accused
Josh Green, the author of "How It Feels To Be Falsely Accused"(2014), is a narrative essay that explains how Clarence Harrison was wrongfully accused of rape, robbery, and kidnapping. Green explains this by giving examples of Harrison's life before and after prison. His purpose is to give advise to others that is wrongfully accused in order to obtain justice. His intended audience is those seeking justice, or those trying to help seek justice for someone who has been falsely accused.
In his narrative essay, Green explores the loss of
freedom experienced when falsely accused. I can’t possibly imagine how
difficult it must have been to lose all personal freedoms under the pretext of
a crime you didn’t commit. Green’s description of the events as they took place
gave me further insight to the injustice of the legal system and how its attempt
at remedying failures through financial restitution does little to replace the
time lost or pain suffered. I also found the line “when they took my youth from
me, they also took my future away” to hold much validity in not only its power
but its truth. How good is one’s future without a past, a foundation to build
it from? I could also feel the speaker’s gratification over just being free as
well as a variety of other emotions, such as grief over loss time in regards to
his family. Though his language is simple, Green’s diction helps to convey the
emotions of the speaker to the reader effectively.
Josh Green begins this excerpt
by informing the audience of the background beyond the following passage. The
italicized information is clearly Green being the informant; however, the un-italicized
passage is not very clear on if Green is participating in a form of persona
writing or if Clarence Harrison (the accused) is giving his own account of the
injustice against himself. The voice of Harrison starts with the moment of the
jurisdiction, relaying the inner turmoil and the disappointment of the women
who raised him. He continues to say, “Fighting in there was like recreation, something
to do, entertainment (Green 221).” The way the experience is relayed is very
personal and as if Green had recorded an interview with Harrison—almost like
Green took the words right from Harrison’s mouth without any editing for
propriety. Before Harrison was accused, “[he] knew Atlanta very well.” But while
he was incarcerated, the cars—once big, boxy Cadillacs—evolved into smaller,
sleeker cars that were similar to “little flying saucers (Green 222).” The
world seems to become almost alien to him as all familiarity has been snatched
unjustly. Harrison claims, “You’re out here physically, but mentally you’re
still in prison (Green 222).” Prison is what Clarence Harrison has learned to
survive for seventeen years and it will be hard to get out of that mindset.
Being accused falsely is a flaw of the American justice system as many innocent
people are blamed due to carelessness on the part of our criminal justice investigators.
Harrison states that “when they took [his] youth from [him], they took [his]
future away (Green 222).” As Harrison was incarcerated, life went one while all
he knew remained at a standstill.
Precis by Pernida Freeman.
Opinion by Jensine Maxis.
Analysis by Aja Taylor.
No comments:
Post a Comment