Devils Knot Essay - 1081 Words

On May 6, 1993, three eight year old boys were found savagely murdered in West Memphis Arkansas. The investigation lacks hard evidence and a suspect, and the police automatically turn their focus on Satanism. Unfortunately, three teenage boys became the prime suspects: Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley. Because they wore black and listened to hard rock music, they were outcasts. With nothing but circumstantial evidence mounted upon these teenage boys, the community lets a Satanic Panic outweigh the facts. All the while, there is more than just circumstantial evidence that points to one of the victims stepfather, John Mark Byers. He had the means, motive, and opportunity to commit this heinous crime. It is very†¦show more content†¦The absence of blood on the bank and lack of mosquito bites on the boys’ bodies suggest that they were murdered at another location and simply dumped at the creek. This leads to the speculation that the boys were with someone that they trusted at another location when they were killed. Christopher was the only one of the boys that had defensive wounds. This piece of evidence implies to two things: first, all of the boys were comfortable with their attacker, and second, Christopher had possibly been abused by the attacker before and knew what was coming (Steel). This would lead one to believe that Chris was the target. The police were convinced that they had found their killers in the three teenagers after hearing and recording Jessie’s so called confession to the crime and his tying Damien and Jason to it as well. Even though alibis were presented by the boys the police ignored them and went ahead with the arrests. It is rather obvious, that basing the whole case and investigation on the coerced confession given by Jessie is a seriously flawed decision on the part of the West Memphis police and brings the credibility of the department into question. Police discovered a knife in the Byers’ household belonging to John Mark Byers. Forensics stated that the type of blade on the knife was the same type used to cut and mutilate the three young boys; yet the blood found on the knife was never analyzed. When asked about the knife, Byers statedShow MoreRelatedI Chose To Analyze The Primary Source Of â€Å"The Wonders Of1192 Words   |  5 Pagesrenowned writer and published at least 350 wr itten documents. One of these passages was the â€Å"The Wonders of the Invisible World.† In this primary source, Cotton Mather, a theologian of Puritan faith, writes on the topic of his country succumbing to the Devil’s hand and the witches the Devil creates. He believes that Christianity is at stake here and that witchcraft is taking over. Cotton Mather wrote â€Å"The Wonders of the Invisible World† in 1693, just at the end of the Salem Witch Trials. The Salem WitchRead MoreExplication Of John Donne s Holy Sonnet 14933 Words   |  4 Pageshopeless without God’s help, a man trying to change his ways but finds no success and asks God to change in a way I find quite terrifying. The use of violent and erotic language (i.e Batter, Force, Labor, Captive; and erotic words: i.e ravish, love, knot etc) set the tone of the sonnet, and it remains constant all through. Before diving into the content of the poem, we look at the form of the poem. This poem has a Petrarchan form, and an Elizabethan structure. I know this because it has 14 lines, theRead MoreNat haniel Hawthorne s Young Goodman Brown951 Words   |  4 Pagesthat it might almost be seen to twist and wriggle itself, like a living serpent† (Hawthorne 262). The traveler was the devil. Hawthorne unwinds the devil’s character throughout his journey with Young Goodman Brown. He is clever, persistent, and persuasive. He knows when to allow Brown to pause in his journey and when to push him onward. The devil’s ultimate goal was for Brown to become a new convert and join in a Black Mass that night. To accomplish this goal, the devil slowly chipped away atRead MoreNathaniel Hawthorne s Young Goodman Brown1492 Words   |  6 Pagesmany comparisons to the life of Nathaniel Hawthorne. In the story, â€Å"Young Goodman Brown ; means exactly what it says, namely that the main character left his pretty young wife one evening, to walk by himself in a primitive New England woods, the Devil’s territory,†¦and either to dream or actually to experience (Hawthorne will not say) the discovery that evil exist in every human heart Brown is changed. He thinks there is no good on earth†¦Brown, waking from his dream, if it was a dream,†¦sees evil evenRead MoreAnalysis Of Nathaniel Hawthorne s Young Goodman Brown 1474 Words   |  6 Pagesforest in the Americas was the Devil’s playground and that his agent witches lived there. The forest was also home to the Native Americans, who the villagers believed were savages because the Bible said that the wilderness was home to savage and wild beasts(Ezekiel 34:25). Because of this, the man Brown is walking with is a metaphor for the Devil, or at least abandonment of faith. In reference to faith, Brown’s wife is named Faith, and she begs him not to go into the Devil’s playground. This is a metaphorRead MoreEssay on The Allegory Of Young Goodman904 Words   |  4 PagesBrown into proceeding with the journey without knowing he was continuing. The traveler acted as the devil or a serpent by being sneaky and got him to continue the journey. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;The setting of the dark forest represents the devils home. Its a place where one would picture the devil living because of the darkness. It is a place where very few would normally travel very deep into. The forest is like sin. The farther Goodman Brown goes into the forest the more he is apt to loosingRead MoreShort Story Analysis: Young Goodman Brown Essay1115 Words   |  5 Pagesthe first few moments of their encounter, the old man pronounces the following: â€Å"I helped your grandfather, the constable, when he lashed the Quaker woman so smartly through the streets of Salem; and it was I that brought your father a pitch-pine knot, kindled at my own hearth, to set fire to an Indian village, in King Philips war.† It is very obvious, even from the first line, that Hawthorne has drawn upon his own experiences to develop his characters. Similar to William Hathorne, the grandfatherRead More The Compulsion Toward Evil in Hawthornes Young Goodman Brown1102 Words   |  5 Pageswith your family as with ever a one among the Puritans; and thats no trifle to say. I helped your grandfather, the constable, when he lashed the Quaker woman so smartly through the streets of Salem. And it was I that brought your father a pitch-pine knot, kindled at my own hearth, to set fire to an Indian village, in King Philips War. They were my good friends, both; and many a pleasant walk have we had along this path, and returned merrily after midnight. I would fain be friends with you, for theirRead MoreEssay on The Crucible and the West Memphis Three1175 Words   |  5 Pages(Miller 129). Workscited: 1. Bowers, Kristen. The Crucible by Arthur Miller: Literature Guide. San Dimas, CA: Secondary Solutions, 2006. Print. 2. Leveritt, Mara. Devils Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three. New York: Atria, 2002. Print. Read MoreThe West Memphis Three Trials1227 Words   |  5 Pagesthe DNA evidence and media attention not gotten him the appeal necessary for his release, he would have been one of the thousands that have been wrongly executed. A trilogy documentary series (Paradise Lost) and two movies (West of Memphis and Devil’s Knot) were made about the West Memphis Three, garnering national attention and support from celebrities, such as The Dixie Chicks, Johnny Depp and Marilyn Manson. This brought the issue of wrongful death into light. Reports surfaced documenting hundreds