Love, Poverty, and War: Journeys and Essays by Christopher Hitchens

Author:Christopher Hitchens
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Non-fiction, Travel, Writing, Anthologies, Politics, War, History
ISBN: 9780786740062
Publisher: Nation
Published: 2004-11-01T00:00:00+00:00

SCENES FROM AN EXECUTION

Last May 22, Larry Wayne White was executed by lethal injection in Huntsville, Texas. As a celebrated double murderer, he attracted few mourners and only a thinly attended vigil of death-penalty opponents. I’ve been spending a fair amount of time in and around death row in the past few years, and two aspects of White’s terminal experience caught my attention. First, he was turned off at six P.M. so that the event was more within the manageable compass of business and working hours. No midnight dramas. Strictly routine. Second, he asked for a last cigarette and was refused it by the prison authorities. (This, sir, is a nonsmoking facility. Our policy is one of zero tolerance.)

They call it gallows humor for a reason. You may laugh at death all you like, but only on the recognized condition that you allow death the concluding cackle. Kingsley Amis, a man of a deep, awed respect for the Grim Reaper, once wrote:

Death has got something to be said for it:

There’s no need to get out of bed for it;

Wherever you may be,

They bring it to you, free!

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