46 pages • 1 hour read
The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row
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Chapters 18-21Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 18 Summary: “Testing the Bullets”
Hinton demonstrates hope weighed against his increasing sense of resignation. He will, after all, have to make a home on death row, if only to keep his sanity: “I had to make a home of Holman to survive […] I couldn’t live in the real world—only in the world of my imagination and the world that existed in my cell” (174).
Hinton recounts his exchanges with Stevenson, including both mail or phone correspondence and personal visits. In addition to discussing the case, they share friendly moments discussing things such as sports, the weather, and food. Hinton writes, “We were just Ray and Bryan, more alike than different” (176). Hinton also comments about his appreciation for the salutations in letters from Stevenson: “He always told me [at the end of each letter] to ‘hang in there,’ and those words weren’t throwaway words” (178). Hinton adds during his stay so far, 11 inmates had committed suicide.
Hinton learns Stevenson is actually making progress in his case. He has found unbiased, professional ballistics experts who can attest to the fact that the state was mistaken in its assessment of the murder weapon. Despite the probability that the process of clearing him will take time, Hinton—at this point having been on death row for 16 years—asserts, “I was innocent. We could prove it” (180).
Chapter 19 Summary: “Empty Chairs”
After reporting still more legal snafus, in addition to welcome correspondence from Stevenson, Hinton poses a seemingly innocent but potent question:
The people [meaning the state] was such a general term that I wondered what would happen if the prison asked the real people […] The people were made up of real people, and so were the condemned men on death row (186).
Engaging his imagination once more, he declares that his previous marriage to Halle Berry has ended; he is now with Sandra Bullock since he saw her in a movie demonstrating her passion for justice. He admits he and Sandra would never have children: The children suffered too much when their parents were condemned to die.
In reality, a woman named Lynda Sibley nears her execution: “I couldn’t imagine the guards putting a woman to death. Especially a woman with children” (187). To further complicate matters, Hinton says Sibley was incarcerated along with her husband. She is executed first, “the last person to be executed in Yellow Mama [nickname for the electric chair]. After her execution, the prison began remodeling the death chamber and getting ready for a new way to kill us” (188). This new method is lethal injection.
Hinton relates the details of his next hearing and is pleased to see his mother and Lester. Overwhelmed by the court proceedings, he reports that Jimmy Dill, a new inmate, is interested in the book club. He wants to read and discuss one of the books.
Hinton is informed that his mother passed away. The guards in charge of presenting the news express regret, but at this point Hinton has reached a new low: “I couldn’t go somewhere in my mind and pretend my mother wasn’t dead. Sandra Bullock wasn’t real, and she wasn’t there to comfort me” (199). He contemplates suicide, only to hear a pestering voice: Dill wants to continue the book club discussions.
Chapter 20 Summary: “Dissent”
Lester’s mother, Phoebe, also passed away; what follows is a sequence of documents in the form of letters and newspaper articles, with Hinton establishing the context and offering his personal reactions.
Stevenson, frustrated by the lack of state cooperation, has been in touch with The New York Times and 60 Minutes. Stevenson writes, “‘No one appears to want to claim any responsibility, so we will have to put more pressure on them publicly’” (204). He mentions that Hinton should prepare to do some interviews.
In another letter, which has been provided to Hinton in copy, Stevenson puts more pressure on the judge of record—James Garrett—although he has since retired. Two and a half years go by with no response from Garrett, but finally Stevenson writes to Hinton again with an update. Hinton reads the letter aloud to his fellow inmates and “a couple of the guards stood in the hallway listening as well” (206). The letter claims that Garrett has effectively been ignoring the case.
In November of 2005, The Birmingham News prints an article written by Stevenson. Stevenson not only defends Hinton but demonstrates that the criminal justice system is corrupt. However, despite increasing public support, Hinton learns his appeal has been denied. Despondent, he writes that his case is “bouncing around inside a state pinball machine. Circuit Court. Appeals Court. Supreme Court and back again. Over and over” (214). He ends on a hopeful note: In the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals, the ruling was against him; this time, though, the vote was three to two—two judges now believed he was innocent.
Chapter 21 Summary: “They Kill You on Thursdays”
A new circuit court judge—Laura Petro—has been appointed. After four years, she sends Hinton’s case back to another court. Hinton writes, “We bounced back up to the appeals court, who affirmed the lower court, and sent us back up to the Alabama Supreme Court […] It was enough to make a man dizzy” (217). Meanwhile, his friend Jimmy Dill is soon to be executed.
After more distressing news from Stevenson, Hinton retreats into his imagination once more, claiming that he is in fact not Hinton, but Hinton’s assistant. He understands how frustrated Stevenson himself must be and says, “He deserved to have a weekend free of the burden” (218).
During an emotional visit with Lester, who hasn’t missed a visit in nearly 30 years, they reminisce until, eventually, Hinton tells Lester they should both be prepared for the worst: “For the first time in a long time, I don’t know if I’m going to walk out of here” (220).
Stevenson comes to visit; he has a desperate plan. If they take his case to the U.S. Supreme Court, they may be able to prove his innocence, but only if the Court allows that Hinton's federal rights have been violated. To complicate matters, Hinton must prepare for two things. First, once the Supreme Court is involved, the State will put up more resistance; secondly, if he loses in the US Supreme Court, the State will then try to have him executed as soon as possible. Hinton decides he wants to prove his innocence in front of the US Supreme Court; he will not accept life without parole as a reduction in sentence. His case will take months just to file, but he insists, “[i]f I can’t prove my innocence, I would rather die” (223).
Chapters 18-21 Analysis
Four points are worthy of consideration in this section. Hinton defines some terms for the reader. He also again relates the sensations that have been rare while on death row. He combines legal correspondence with casual, friendly conversation, and he actively sympathizes with others while simultaneously activating the readers’ sympathy.
Hinton questions the definition of “the people.” This term is meant as a generalized abstraction; it is meant to insist that many people, representing a government body, have organized and listed their wishes. At the same time, Hinton notes, none of those people has an actual name. One could, he claims, “insert any name” (186). He also demonstrates a hard-earned prowess in learning legalese: “I knew a habeas corpus action was part of the federal appeals process” (192).
Food and nourishment also play a part in Hinton’s portrayal of his life and relationship with others—especially, as in contrast with his impending death. His friend, Jimmy—soon to be executed—is obsessed with food: “Jimmy loved to eat, and all day long he would talk about his favorite foods. Okra. Biscuits. Fried Chicken. It was enough to drive you crazy” (195). Upon considering his options with his lawyer, Hinton writes that he needs, of all things, a Coke: “I held up my hand to silence [Stevenson] and drank a long swig of the soda” (222). This section reminds the reader how simple pleasures can be so important to one denied them.
Hinton provides a shift in tone between Stevenson’s legalese, and the conversational passages where they become friends. In one letter, Stevenson writes, “[T]he State filed another pleading in your case following oral argument,” he closes, however, in a much more casual manner: “I hope you’re doing okay. All the best, my friend” (213).
Finally, and most powerfully, Hinton again demonstrates the power of compassion. He feels sorry for Lester, having to make so many visits. He wishes Stevenson could take a break from the case. While he fantasizes about being married—without having children—to Sandra Bullock, he can’t bear the fact that there are people on death row who will abandon their right to parenthood: “The guys on the row who had children bore a pain that was almost too much to witness” (187). Hinton reports there is a married couple on death row. The wife is executed first: “I couldn’t imagine the kind of pain [her husband] was in […] I knew he wished he had gone first […] It was enough to make you insane” (188). At every turn, great horror and sadness afflict the prison and those in it.
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