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The Lucifer Effect
guitar picking, to loosen the screws in the faceplate of the power outlet. Once that
is accomplished, they plan to use the edge of the plate as a screwdriver to unscrew
the cell door lock. One will pretend to be sick and, when the guard is taking him to
the toilet, will open the main entrance door down the hall. Signaled by a whistle,
the other cellmate will burst out. They will knock the guard down and run away
to freedom! As in real prisons, prisoners can show remarkable creativity in fash-
ioning weapons out of virtually anything and hatching ingenious escape plans.
Time and oppression are the fathers of rebellious invention.
But as bad luck would have it, Guard John Landry, making routine rounds,
turns the door handle on Cell 1, and it falls out to the ground with a resounding
thud. Panic ensues. "Help!" Landry screams out. "Escape!" Arnett and Markus
rush in, block the door, and then get handcuffs to chain the would-be escapees to-
gether on the floor of their cell. Of course, 8612 was one of the troublemakers, so
he gets his frequent-flyer trip back into the Hole.
A Nice Count to Calm the Restless Masses
Several anxious hours have passed since the day shift reported for work. It is time
to soothe the savage beasts before further trouble erupts. "Good behavior is re-
warded, and bad behavior is not rewarded." That calm, commanding voice is now
clearly identified as Arnett's. He and Landry once again join forces to line up their
charges for another count. Arnett takes charge. He has emerged as the leader of
the day shift. "Hands against the wall, on this wall here. Now let's see how well
everyone is learning his numbers. As before, sound your number, starting at this
end."
Sarge starts it off, setting the tone of a fast, loud response, which the other
prisoners pick up with some variations. 4325 and 7258 are fast and obedient. We
have not heard much from Jim-4325, a big, robust six-footer who could be a lot to
handle if he decided to get physical with the guards. In contrast, Glenn-3401 and
Stew-819 are always slower, evidently reluctant to comply mindlessly. Not satis-
fied, and imposing his own brand of control, Arnett makes them count in creative
ways. They do it by threes, backward, any way he can devise that will make it un-
necessarily difficult. Arnett is also demonstrating his creativity to all onlookers, as
does Guard Hellmann, but Arnett doesn't seem to take nearly as much personal
pleasure in his performance as the other shift leader does. For him, this is more a
job to be done efficiently.
Landry suggests having the prisoners sing their numbers; Arnett asks, "Was
that popular last night? Did people like singing?" Landry: "I thought they liked it
last night." But a few prisoners respond that they don't like to sing. Arnett: "Oh,
well, you must learn to do things you don't like; it's part of reintegrating into regu-
lar society."
819 complains, "People out on the streets don't have numbers."
Arnett responds, "People out on the street don't have to have numbers! You
have to have numbers because of your status here!"
Monday's Prisoner Rebellion 65
Landry gives specific instructions about how to sing their scales: sing up a
scale, like "do re mi." All of the prisoners conform and sing the ascending scale to
the best of their ability, then the descending scale, except for 819, who doesn't at-
tempt any scales. "819 can't sing for a damn; let's hear it again." 819 starts to ex-
plain why he can't sing. Arnett, however, clarifies the purpose of this exercise. "I
didn't ask you why you couldn't sing, the object is for you to learn to sing." Arnett
criticizes the prisoners for their poor singing, but the weary prisoners just giggle
and laugh when they make mistakes.
In contrast to his shift mates, Guard John Markus seems listless. He rarely
gets involved in the main activities in the Yard. Instead, he volunteers to do off-site
chores, like picking up food at the college cafeteria. His body posture gives the im-
pression that he is not enacting the macho guard image; he slouches, shoulders
down, head drooping. I ask Warden Jaffe to talk to him about being more respon-
sive to the job for which he is getting paid. The warden takes him off the Yard into
his office and chastises him.
"The guards have to know that every guard has to be what we call a 'tough
guard.' The success of this experiment rides on the behavior of the guards to
make it seem as realistic as possible." Markus challenges him, "Real-life experi-
ence has taught me that tough, aggressive behavior is counterproductive." Jaffe
gets defensive. He starts saying that the purpose of the experiment is not to reform
prisoners but to understand how prisons change people when they are faced with
the situation of guards being all-powerful.
"But we are also being affected by this situation. Just putting on this guard
uniform is a pretty heavy thing for me." Jaffe becomes more reassuring; "I under-
stand where you are coming from. We need you to act in a certain way. For the
time being, we need you to play the role of 'tough guard.' We need you to react as
you imagine the 'pigs' would. We're trying to set up the stereotype guard—your
individual style has been a little too soft."
"Okay, I will try to adjust somewhat."
"Good, I knew we could count on you."
8
Meanwhile, 8612 and 1037 remain in solitary. However, now they are
yelling out complaints about violations of the rules. No one is paying attention.
Each of them separately says he needs to see a doctor. 8612 says he is feeling ill,
feeling strange. He mentions a weird sensation of his stocking cap still being on
his head when he knows it is not there. His demand to see the warden will be
granted later in the day.
At four o'clock, beds are returned to good Cell 3, as the guards' attention fo-
cuses on the prisoners in the still rebellious Cell 1. The night shift guards are asked
to come in early, and together with the day shift they storm the cell, shooting the
fire extinguisher at the door opening to keep the prisoners at bay. They strip the
three prisoners naked, take away their beds, and threaten to deprive them of din-
ner if they show any further disobedience. Already hungry from missing lunch,
the prisoners melt into a sullen, quiet blob.
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