- #1
The impressive point about this novel is that the protagonist is mostly not a hypocrite, which I was expecting, but the distaste of MC being an executor of order rather than justice accumulated and I couldn't keep reading. It does seem like he significantly improved the situation compared to before he came, but he's still a proponent of prison management ideals I despise in real life: pursuit of order and cost efficiency with no thought to prisoner rights or fairness beyond what's necessary to prevent revolt, and control mechanisms steeped in cunning cruelty that make a joke of any regulations that might exist. MC is very openly petty and vindictive, saying he can make prisoners' lives a living hell if they cross him to the extent dying might be better, all without violating the rules. It doesn't matter if the prisoners are guilty, or even outright monsters, a minimum level of human rights needs to be maintained unconditionally. Is it more expensive to do it that way? Yes. I argue that things like prisons should be expensive, because it means there's incentive to empty them, as opposed to the like of for profit American prisons where entire local economies are based on arresting a large number of trivial criminals like marijuana users and making them work without labour protections.
