Notes on an Execution

This chapter is written in second person. Death row inmate Ansel Packer wakes up in Polunsky prison on what is to be “the last day of [his] life” (9). Ansel is a serial murderer known as the “Girly Killer” for his pattern of targeting young women. He is slated to die by lethal execution at the end of the day but feels a flicker of hope due to his relationship with a female corrections officer named Shawna. Ansel has been manipulating Shawna into aiding his escape plan.

Ansel passes the morning by listening to classical music and working on a painting. He takes stock of his few prized possessions, including a letter from a girl named Blue Harrison and a photo of a diner called the Blue House. In the photo, Blue’s arm can be seen through a top-floor window.

Shawna slips a note under Ansel’s door which reads, “I did it.”

Ansel reflects on his psychological diagnosis, implied to be psychopathy. He knows that he doesn’t feel emotions the way other people do but wonders if he hasn’t always been bad.