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The Lucifer Effect
"What the hell has that got to do with the sausages? Well, what?" Burdan is
furious and slams his club down on the table with such a resounding thud that it
echoes around the Yard walls in menacing reverberations.
"Answer my question, why don't you eat those sausages?"
In a barely audible voice, 416 continues to make a Gandhi nonviolent protest
statement. Burdan never heard of Mahatma Gandhi and insists on a better rea-
son. "You tell me the connection between those two things, I don't see it." Then
416 breaks the illusion, reminding those within earshot that the guards are vio-
lating the contract he signed when he volunteered for this experiment. (I am
stunned that this reminder is ignored by them all. The guards are now totally ab-
sorbed in their illusory prison.)
"I don't give a damn about any contract!" Burdan yells. "You're in here be-
cause you deserve it, 416. That's how you got in here in the first place, you broke
the law. This ain't no nursery school. I still don't understand why you don't eat
those damn sausages. Did you expect this to be a nursery school, 416? Do you ex-
pect to go around breaking the law and wind up in a nursery school?" Burdan
rants on about 416 not going to be a happy boy when his cellmate has to sleep
without a bed on the floor tonight. However, just as it seems that Burdan is about
to take a swing at 416, he turns away in a fury. Instead, he slaps his club into the
palm of his hand and orders 416, "Get back into that Hole." 416 now knows the
way.
Burdan bangs his fists against the door of the Hole, making a deafening
sound that reverberates inside that dark closet. "Now each of you also thank 416
for his denying your visitors by banging on the Hole and saying 'Thank you.' "
Each prisoner does so, banging on the closet door "with relish," except for
5486, Jerry, who does so unwillingly. Hubbie-7258 is extremely angry by this un-
expected twist of his fate.
To underscore the point, Hellmann pulls 416 out of the Hole, still gripping
the two sausages. He then runs another tormenting count singlehandedly, not
even giving Burdan a chance to participate. Good Guard Landry is nowhere in
sight.
Here is Hellmann's chance to break any possibility of prisoner solidarity and
to defuse 416's potential emergence as a rebellious hero. "Now you all are going
to suffer because this prisoner refuses to do a simple thing like eat his dinner, for
no good reason. It would be different if he was a vegetarian. Tell him to his face
what you think about him." Some say, "Don't be so stupid"; others accuse him of
being childish.
That was not good enough for "John Wayne": "Tell him that he is a 'pussy' "
A few of them obey, but not Sarge. As a matter of principle, Sarge refuses to
use any obscenity. Now, with two of them defying Hellmann at the same time,
Hellman turns his wrath against Sarge, harassing him mercilessly, yelling at him
that he is an "asshole" and, worse, insisting that he call 416 a "bastard."
Wednesday Is Spiraling Out of Control
117
The harsh count continues unabated for an hour, stopping only when visi-
tors are at the door. I come on the Yard and make it clear to the guards that visit-
ing hours must be honored. They are not pleased with this intrusion into their
power domain but reluctantly acquiesce. There is always the post-visitor time for
them to continue breaking down prisoner resistance.
Obedient Prisoners Get Visitors
Two of the more obedient prisoners, Hubbie-7258 and Sarge-2093, who have
friends or relatives in the vicinity, are allowed to have them visit for a short time
this evening. 7258 is deliriously happy when his pretty girlfriend arrives to see
him. She is giving him news about their other friends, and he is listening intently,
holding his head in his two hands. All the while, Burdan is sitting above them on
the table, routinely banging his small white billy club. (We had to return the big
dark ones we had borrowed from the local police department). Burdan is obvi-
ously taken with her beauty and breaks into their conversation frequently with
questions and comments.
Hubbie tells Mary Ann that it is important to "Try to keep yourself up, it's not
that bad in here if you just cooperate."
Girlfriend: "Are you cooperating?"
7258 (laughing): "Yes, they are making me."
Burdan intrudes: "Well, they had a little escape attempt."
Girlfriend: "I heard about that."
7258: "I didn't enjoy the rest of this day at all. We do not have anything; no
bed, no nothing." He tells her about having to clean out stickers from dirty blan-
kets and other nasty chores. Nevertheless, he remains upbeat and smiles and
holds her hand for the full ten-minute visit. Burdan escorts her out as the prisoner
returns to his lonely cell.
The other prisoner granted a visitor is Sarge, whose father comes by. Sarge is
bragging about his total command of the rules. "There are seventeen rules . . . I
have the rules memorized. The most basic rule is that you obey the guards."
Dad: "Can they tell you to do anything?"
Sarge: "Yes. Well, almost anything."
Dad: "And what right do they have to do that?" He rubs his forehead in seem-
ing distress at his son's plight. He is the second visitor to be clearly upset. He is
much like the mother of Prisoner Rich-1037—who was right to be concerned,
given that he broke down the next day. Nevertheless, Sarge appears to be made of
sterner stuff.
Sarge: "They're in charge of the running of the prison."
Dad asks about civil rights, and then Burdan jumps in—very harshly: "He
has no civil rights."
Dad: "Well, I think that they do, maybe . . . " (We can't hear clearly his argu-
ment to Burdan, who is not afraid of this civilian.)
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