Allie Stough - Paper

Percy Wetmore, on the other hand, seems to delight in the executions. P. 32 Detweiler He seems to be for the death penalty and the other characters are opposed to it. He wants to observe an execution and “see one cook up close.” He kills Wild Bill with a gun because Wild Bill is making fun of him. Everyone on the mile hates him because he is really mean. Percy Wetmore is conspicuously smaller than all his team members. He is cruel and even kills the pet mouse by stepping on it. He is out of place in contrast to the other guards. He eventually becomes responsible for the cruelest of executions because he purposely does not wet the electrocution sponge. He tells one of the prisoners to send him a card from Hell. He yells ‘Dead man walking’ when he brings John to be executed. Percy has earned the hatred of the guards and the convicts alike. There is a tension between Paul the decent caring supervisor and Percy Wetmore. These two characters seem to depict the debate of today between those for and those opposed to the death penalty.