Dead Man Walking Family Quotes

Robert's mother helped him try to escape after his crime; then, when the police caught her, they used threats against her to get him to confess. The police and law enforcement don't, in general, come off very well in this book, but this has to be about the low point. Harassing a mother because she helped her son seems like a pretty awful thing to do—and, of course, even after Robert confessed, they still put his mom in jail. Did they really think she was some sort of horrible threat to society, or what? It's hard to see why they would do that for any reason other than to just be jerks.

Prejean is remembering her relationship with her own father and contrasting it with Robert's relationship with his: Robert's dad was in prison during most of Robert's childhood. There's some suggestion that Robert's lack of guidance as a kid might have led him to this pass. It seems a little simplistic to say he became a hideous murderer because he had daddy issues, so the book never quite says that, though it hints.

Again, Robert seems somewhat desperate for a family. Is that an excuse for aligning yourself with violent racist white supremacists, though? He has criminally bad judgment (literally).