Sunday, January 12, 2014

A self fulfilling prophecy…

The Officer begs the Explorer to speak to the current Commandant on behalf of the machine's continued use. The Explorer refuses to do so, and says that he will not speak against it publicly, but will instead give his opinion to the Commandant privately and then leave before he can be called to give an official account. With this, the Officer frees the Condemned and sets up the machine for himself, with the words "Be Just" to be written on him. However, the machine malfunctions due to its advanced state of disrepair; instead of its usual elegant operation, it quickly stabs the Officer to death, denying him the mystical experience of the prisoners he had executed.[3]

In the Penal Colony - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia