"Last Suppers" - An Artistic Perspective

The macabre tradition of allowing a condemned man to choose his last meal is as fascinating as it is bizarre. The idea of one show of mercy or compassion before an act of intolerable cruelty creates a sad and complex dichotomy, but it is one that is employed in nearly every instance where the death penalty is used. It's difficult to pin down any definite reason behind why this tradition still exists, but it is certainly deeply rooted in history. There's no doubt that it is intended as an act of compassion, one that is meant to comfort both the condemned man and to appease the conscience of the executioner. It almost seems that by accepting this act of generosity the condmned man is absolving the executioners by accepting the act of generosity.

An artist by the name of James Reynolds from Kingston University has researched "last supper" requests from men on death row, and photographed them on a standard prison issue tray. He has not stated any political or moral point of view, it is purely for your own interpretation. What do you make of it? Here are my thoughts -

The sentiments that accompany the imagining of ones last moments before being executed, to me, is a sort of foray into an emotional abyss. Like that existential feeling that envelopes you when you stare at the stars for hours on end, totally overwhelmed by the infinite universe right before your eyes, but at the same time so totally aware of your own mortality and insignificance. Would this meal actually give them any comfort at all? Would you even be able to contemplate eating? I lose my appetite simply imagining the situation. How consumed you would be with the thought of your fast approaching death. Imagining the final steps towards the gallows, imagining the shock of coming in to full view of the place of execution, the helplessness upon being blindfolded and shackled. All of these imaginings are tortures that act as a sort of prolonged execution for the accused. It's almost like the hands of death are reaching back through time and grasping at your conscious, pulling you towards it long before your time has come. This extended suffering is cruel beyond all measure.

I've talked about the suffering experienced by those close to someone who is executed. The best way to get any sort of idea on the suffering that must be experienced by a condemned person on death row is from people who experienced it themselves and have survived due to exoneration or a permanent reprieve.

Sakai Menda, a Japanese man who spent 34 years on death row in Japan, put it in this way:

"It’s strange when they near your cell. You lose all your strength and you are like this. You lose all your strength as if a rope is dragging it out of you. Then the footsteps stop in front of another solitary confinement cell and when you hear the sound of the key turning you feel relieved." 

It's particularly topical considering that at the moment the system of capital punishment in Japan is under scrutiny at the moment as inmates languish on death row and their mental state is seriously deteriorating. What a perfect example of the incredible tortures that one undergoes in such a situation.

Darby Tillis was sentenced to death and eventually exonerated, and described his time on death row as such:

"Whether a death sentence is carried out in six minutes, six weeks or six years, the person set for death begins to suffer the most cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and punishment. Death row is segregated from the rest of the general inmate prison population. You’re warehoused for death, treated like contaminated meat to be disposed of. You sit there and await death, and the pain you know will come to you one day" 

As I said earlier, if accepting a last meal is an act of tacit forgiveness from the condemned man towards his executioner, then clearly some of the accused use this gesture to make a statement that speaks louder than words.

  

Taking the time to really appreciate the meaning behind these photos would no doubt reveal different meanings to different people. To me it's an image of loneliness and of humanity. Our need to eat in order to survive is an instinct we all share, even with a man who is condemned to die. But in this situation you have a person with no hope of surviving more than a day, yet set before them is a meal, a last supper. As vulnerable and as human as the rest of us. The uniformity of the orange tray, and the symetrical arrangement of the food seems to represent the organised, cold and calculating process that is the death penalty. Humanity and inhumanity, or man's inhumanity to man. It's an incredibly powerful juxtaposition that, to me, throws away considerations of justice, right or wrong, and leaves you with a person who you cannot dismiss as an "aberration" or a "monster".

Quotes of the day: (A special double feature. One in memory of the late Ted Kennedy.

"My brother was a man of love and sentiment and compassion. He would not have wanted his death to be cause for the taking of another life."

- Edward Kennedy

"I prayed in the morning I would be able to sleep at night, I prayed at night I would be able to wake up in the morning."

- Ronaldo Cruz (Wrongfully convicted in 1983 and sentenced to death. Exonerated by DNA evidence)