"'Lucas,' I whispered. I ducked down to see under the stall door. Lucas was curled up like a shrimp with a blanket. I looked over my shoulder, then opened the door. 'What happened?' He closed his eyes and pulled back the blanket. He was naked. His legs had been mauled as if a pit bull had caught him from behind. He had been raped, and when he finished telling me what had happened- how many guys got him after dark, how the first man held his throat and mouth, more got his legs and arms and then they flipped him over on his belly and started, and only stopped once everyone finished their turn- I didn't know what to say"(Gantos 137). This quote vividly describes the horrid conditions of state prisons in The United States of America during the near turn of the century, Gantos being selfish yet smart and avoiding being raped, and all of Gantos's fears turning into reality. First off, the stereotype of "dropping the soap" is completely true to a certain degree. Most prisoners serving in a state prison have committed a serious crime and have at least ten years if not life imprisonment. Ten years is a long time, even a year is a long time, especially for a man. Most of these men in prisons have no mercy and need to fulfill their sexual urges, so they rape other inmates, usually the young and small ones who cannot defend themselves. This is a serious problem in prisons even today, and it is portrayed so professionally that it cannot be ignored. Alas problems like these are just minor to the eyes of wardens and politicians, because even if an inmate witnesses a rape occurring and tells a guard, he is unfortunately next. This autobiography is extremely informative not only about the life of Jack Gantos, but the life of inmates in population or isolation in prisons. On another point, if it weren't for Gantos's clever thinking and luck, instead of his friend being raped, it would have been him. Gantos luckily got off the bus before his friend Lucas and had the choice between the bunk in the middle or the bunk on top in a room with eighteen other inmates. Gantos picked the top bunk, because he would be in the corner where nobody can get him from behind after dark. Unfortunately, Lucas got the middle bunk, and just that night when the lights went out, Lucas got raped. Finally, this whole experience in prison was a wake up call for Gantos. He realized that transporting the drugs was a horrible thing and all he wanted was to get out, even if it meant giving away all the money he had received from he deal and not going to college. Luckily for him, he was transported to a federal prison, where he became a x-ray specialist assistant and stayed away from population and had lived in isolation until his release. Overall, with this one quote, Gantos portrayed the image of prison behind the bars, his clever and sharp mind, and his nightmares becoming reality.
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