I usually finish a poem and almost immediately have at least a semi-solid opinion on the writing style of the author and the message behind the writing. This poem was different. I finished reading it and was torn between wanting to think that the poem was a commentary on the justice system, a commentary on the methods of dealing with the criminally insane, and a commentary on social structure inside a prison. Perhaps it is all three.
One of my favorite books is Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and my second reaction to this poem (after feeling somewhat confused concerning my opinion on the poem) was to compare Hard Rock to McMurphy. However, McMurphy was more of a lover of life and a joker than a tough guy, and so he doesn’t strike me as bearing much resemblance to an inmate who will strike a guy across the face with a dinner tray.
I guess the question I am left with is: does Hard Rock present more of a threat to society than McMurphy did, and for that reason were the doctors more justified in giving him a lobotomy? Setting aside for a moment (for the sake of simplicity) the possibility that it might never be justifiable to take someone else’s brain away from them, I’d have to guess that if either of them is a candidate for a lobotomy, it’s Hard Rock. He demonstrates higher levels of violence, as evidenced by his battle scars and his behavior. But going back to an earlier point, I’d have to disagree that it’s ok to cut out someone’s brain, thus taking away their personality and mental capability. But that’s just a personal opinion, and doesn’t relate much to literary discussion.
The narrator of this poem is the last element that I’d like to say a few things about. I’m guessing, from the short author biography, that this poem is written from Ehteridge Knight’s point of view and as himself. It’s interesting to me how the narrator and the others in the poem seem to know well enough that the Hard Rock from before is gone, but deceive themselves into believing that he’s simply been reformed and “wised up.” I guess this “Destroyer” brought them a certain element of hope and a feeling of power, since he represented the one way in which the prisoners felt some sort of power of rebellion. Hard Rock was “the doer of things / We dreamed of doing but could not bring ourselves to do.” I guess for this reason they choose denial of what has happened to him over acceptance of the reality that Hard Rock has been lobotomized. It’s odd how a man whose peers describe him as a “mean n****r” can actually be the hero of the prison.