Hand Me Down Justice

In Oscar Wilde’s letter “De Profundis,” Wilde writes that some of the things he was accused of and sent to prison for were correct but some were not true at all. His letter, at least to me, seemed a little regretful as he expressed some of his misgivings and wrongdoings. However, he does say that the laws he has been convicted under are wrong and unjust laws. He goes on to say, “But, somehow, I have got to make both of these things just and right to me” (23). He realizes he won’t get any justice from the prison or those who make the laws, but he can create his own sense of justice after he is free. This reminds me of Abel Magwitch from Great Expectations who tells Pip about his life of crime and imprisonment. He wants to make Pip a gentleman and live vicariously through him in order to get justice for the things that have been done to him.

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