If it chance your eye offend you,
Pluck it out, lad, and be sound:
'Twill hurt, but here are salves to friend you,
And many a balsam grows on ground.
Andre Thomas, 25, on death row in Texas, plucked out his left eye last month. He then ate it. His literal obedience to scripture (Matthew 18:9) -- with that added epicurean flourish -- should not have surprised Texas prison officials. He had plucked the other eye out before trial in 2004.
Thomas was awaiting execution for murder. He had ripped out the hearts of his wife, his son and his step-daughter, placed the three hearts in his pocket, walked home, and transferred the organs to a plastic bag which he then dropped into the garbage.
He has now been transferred to a psychiatric facility. His insanity defense apparently did not impress a Texas jury back in 2004. No execution date had yet been scheduled before his latest exploit.
This is not some freak story thought up by the National Enquirer. Sometimes, the events of real life are so bizarre that writers of sleazy fiction can only look on and gasp with wonder and admiration.
What I know of the Texas penal system leads me to suspect that Mr. Thomas may wait in vain for Housman's promised "salves" and "balsam."
2 comments:
This makes me think of Xiahou Dun, a Chinese warrior in the Three Kingdoms period who, in 198 AD, was shot in the eye with an arrow and proceeded to pluck it out and eat it. For him, though, it was a sign of valor, and of respect for his ancestors! Are we the ones with screwed up priorities, or are the followers of Confucianism?
Wow! Please prepare an essay, not to exceed 1,500 words, due next Friday, that touches on the following:
1. Answer your own question.
2. Compare and contrast the behavior of Andre Thomas and Xiahou Dun, considering which man's behavior better exemplifies the Confucian ethos.
3. Briefly present culinary hints that would have made the meals of the two heroes more palatable. Hint: You may wish to investigate Central Asian sources relating to yaks' eyeballs.
I don't grade on the curve. A's will be awarded at my sole discretion. :-)
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