The Master Plan: My Journey from Life in Prison to a Life of Purpose

The Master Plan: My Journey from Life in Prison to a Life of Purpose (2019) is a memoir by social entrepreneur Chris Wilson, who was convicted of murder as a teenager and sentenced to life in prison. Wilson describes his journey from prison to becoming an entrepreneur, artist, and social justice advocate. Wilson describes how he used a Master Plan to secure an unlikely reprieve from a life sentence, but he also explains how and why the criminal justice system works against people like him.

Content Warning: The Master Plan discusses structural violence, domestic abuse, substance addiction and abuse, racial discrimination, depression, and suicidal ideation. These topics are pervasive and are discussed in all summary and analysis portions of the guide.

Plot Summary

The Master Plan is divided into five parts, each of which corresponds to a chronological phase in Wilson’s life. During each phase, a particular feeling or condition predominates: trauma, depression, determination, frustration, and triumph. Each part features brief chapters averaging between five and six pages in length. Chapters have titles, but they are not numbered.

Wilson finds meaning in Plato’s Allegory of the Cave. In Plato’s story, a group of prisoners are chained together in a cave and see nothing but shadows on the torch-lit wall.