1. escape– to get away. “who have for this time escaped punishment.” Buchanan, ross, and brooks like the other narratives we have read, want to escape. this desire to escape punishment is indicative of the fear that the penal system and its practices had conspired within people of this time.
2. dollars– currency is the driving and inticing force behind Brooks killing Mr. Spooner. However, this is directly related to the deep rooted feeling of envy that many of the criminals harboured within themselves. “…Brooks to take his life from him; for which he was to receive one thousand dollars, Mr. Spencer’s watch, buckles, and as much cloth as would make a suit of clothes.”
3. account– a documented series of events. people were so interested in hearing about a person’s crime, and even more so, what their last days were like. like we have discussed in class, these publshed accounts were one of early america’s most popular selling literary genres.