The Stranger

  

         When I began to read Sherman Alexies stanza i got the impression that a woman was going to be involved in some sort of trouble at the prison. He writes about a woman that switched her career from working in corporate law to teaching at a prison. Everyone thought that she was being foolish for making this decision but she was interested in educating those in need. People often have bad thinking on prisoners because of their past and how they tend to harm people. But many people have their own stories behind what they did, sometimes they even get falsely accused. People in jail have feelings just like everyone else in the world. They do appreciate and understand when someone is taking their time to try and educate them. Since people tend to be afraid of them because of their background, no one really tires to get to know them and help them find a better way in life. In the stanza it looks like the prisoners are about to do something quite horrible to the woman like rape, because they take her and put her in a box while telling her to remain quiet. In reality they are doing this to protect her because they know that a riot is about to occur. By putting her in there was the only way to protect her. Sometimes the people that come off as the most dangerous can be the ones that end up looking out for you the most. That was their way of showing her that they really do appreciate her giving her time up and teaching them poetry because not that many people believe in them or have the strength to try and help the prisoners improve their lifestyle. Teaching them poetry will help them be able to express their emotions, therefore they will release any bottled up anger they may have. I believe that she made a huge impact on the prisoners because not everyone is willing to teach them the beauty of poetry or take the time out and help people who have committed crimes to make something better of themselves.