There are many people who commit crimes all over the world with no intention of leaving their life rebellious life. A lot of convicts only desire to do their time with the hopes of getting sentence cut down by being well behaved, however, criminals who are sentenced to the death penalty, such as Pete McKenzie, desire life and freedom, so they resort to anything that they can do in order to be free including murder and attempted escape. It is difficult for some convicts to change their ways and in certain cases, some of them never do, even with the years they spend in prison. Criminals like Pete McKenzie can’t leave the life of crime and continue to commit crimes in prison. Pete McKenzie was a manipulative criminal who used his clever mind, intelligent use of words …show more content…
McKenzie and two other prisoners, “got over the walls of the supposed escape proof death house of three men sentenced to die in the electric chair” (McCormick 10A). Pete McKenzie was able to find a way to escape the death house, a task that was considered impossible. He observed the correctional officers, took note of the best times to escape, and planned accordingly with the other prisoners. Not only did he use his clever mind to escape prison, in an incident where a prisoner awaiting electrocution charged at an officer with a razor, McKenzie saved him and took the injury of the razor. After he was applauded, he had a chance to say, “Every time something violent happens to me they say ‘He’s a killer--he’s dangerous’. Well I’m not” (Pete McKenzie Still Hopeful of Release 23). McKenzie did something brave and had the opportunity to change the narrative slightly by explaining that he is not dangerous, just fearless. This gives people a new perspective on why McKenzie does what he does. Pete McKenzie was clever and was able to observe things and plan accordingly, and give people a new narrative of