We Hall Men Wer In The Erie Canal Prison

When looking at how prisons operate, there are many things that happen outside in society that are mirrored inside in the prison system. The most prevalent of these similarities is the capitalistic system that has been adopted throughout all prisons and has become the basic operating principles under which prisons function. This system also has an effect on the prisoners that are incarcerated within, and in the overall outcome of the decisions a prisoner makes about committing crimes after being released. All of these points are illustrated in the writings of Jack London, a former prisoner of the Erie Canal Penitentiary.
Capitalism is defined as an economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state. Jack London talks about capitalism in the prison system in his book the, The Pen, when he says “We hall men …show more content…
The system started with the first hall man, from there went to the second, and then third hall man. After these three were the ten hall men in charge of the different areas of the prison. Below these men were the workers who did hard labor, unless they were protected by the guards, who were above the capitalistic prison system as a form of governing over the inmates. Jack London makes this connection to the outside when he says “Oh, we were wolves, believe me-just like the fellows who do business on Wall Street.”(London 53) In this comparison, London is referring to how, even though they were prisoners, they performed a role similar to the investors on Wall Street. More specifically he talks about the methods by which the hall men used their grafts in order to acquire things such as bread, which they then can use to bargain with other inmates to get other items that they can continually trade until they get what they