Life Sentenced

After so long living in a prison, how would you even begin to live again on the outside? It's funny, how convicts are asked whether or not they've been rehabilitated, and ready to return as a normal citizen after 20 years or so. But even if they've become a changed man, how can they really expect to function normally after missing everything?

I saw the Shawshank Redemption the other day, and I don't think anyone sums this up better than Red,

"A whole life blown away in the blink of an eye. Nothing left but all the time in the world to think about it."

The world changes from the inside to the outside. On the inside, everyone has their place, their purpose in the prison. On the outside, a man is just an ex-criminal who has barely a chance in the world to make something of himself. They may be a changed and regretful man, but society will only ever see them as the con they used to be. They have to adapt to the world with possibly no one, and live with all the memories and terror of prison life.

I don't necessarily see a better way to punish people who commit crimes, but in some cases, the way they are just released is only a continuation of their life sentence. Their life has already been taken away from them. Even with their freedom, some are lost with it.