Hello everybody !
I have written a report on the film Cool Hand Luke and I need some help to
find the errors in exchange of your reading pleasure.
Thank you very much !
Tyfeur
--- Report ---
Living conditions in jail
The life of prisoners is conditioned by the combination of a hard labour and a
draconian discipline. Anyone who doesn't respect it is hardly reprimanded and
placed in solitary confinement. Life is thus strict however the prisoners act as
a group that helps himself from the inside.
Life inside the walls
The gears of all the authority system in the jail is based on the respect of the
regulations. All the new prisoners are rapidely faced to it and to the group's
life that came from it.
The regulations
In Cool Hand Luke, the person who is in charge of the dormitories begins a
long monologue in which he explains all the rules that apply in the jail. Carr
never stop speeking, all his sentences are monotonous, unpunctuated and
boring. It is like he regurgitates all the numerated clauses.
Every prisonner is given some clothes with their specific number marked on
them and a spoon for all the meals. Fights between prisoners are allowed only
every Saturday. The time to go to bed is fixed at 8 p.m. at which rings the
last bell, in fact five minutes after the first one.
Any non-respect or trouble made in the dormitories is punished by the
guardians by a solitary confinement and also physical bad treatments.
Dormitories
The jail is mainly composed of dormitories enclosed by wire fencing. This is
where the prisoners spend the most of their time. The buildings are made of
timber, with no glass windows but just wire fencing with panels that can be
putted down on them. The fitting-out is bare, bulbs are fixed on the ceiling,
a oil-fired stove heats the building and many bunk beds fill the remaining free
space.
The sleeping conditions are rough. The bed time is fixed at 8 p.m., beds are
nearby each other and a noisy mural ventilator works all night long and since
then Carr switches off a bulb on two. All the prisoners sleep in trunks and
each movement, to the toilets for example, needs to be approved by Carr or
at least notified to him.
The dormitories also stands as living room where the prisoners may play
cards, read, ... The other buildings in the jail are one in which they can take
shower and a canteen.
Outside work
Hard-labour starts at the daybreak, the jail opens its doors and the prisoners
go outside one by one supervised by the guardians. They are driven in trucks
to a place in the country, where they have to clear the grass from each side
of the road or to tar them. Their work is very hard, boring, repetitive and
most of the time under a heavy sun. Their mere distractions are discussions
with the others, breaks, lunch, cars that drive on the roads and Boss
Godfrey's bird shooting.
Moreover all the actions they want to make must be approved by the
guardians so they have to ask the permission on everything : drinking water,
removing their shirts, ... All that toil is ended at the sunset, since then they
can start relaxing themselves.
Week-end's break
The prisoners can recover from their work and rest in the Week-end. In the
film they play cards, drink beers, play the skipping rope and receive some
infrequent letters. On Saturday, fights and settling of scores are in addition
allowed for the pleasure of the guardians and on Sunday, they may have
some visits of their families. However and despite of their breaks, life seems
still to be hard and days long.
Solitary confinement box
As we said about the regulations, everyone who doesn't apply to the rules is
severely punished through public humiliation from the guardian and through
the confinement in a small hut called the box. It is less than one meter wide
and long and about two meters tall. A single door locked close the box which
is like a coffin without windows and just a barbed wires' opening on the top of
the door.
Prisoners must wear slight white night-shirt, they have a carafe of water and
a pail for the excrements. There is no chair in the box, so the prisoner has to
stand or to sit down on the floor.
Report on the film Cool Hand Luke 
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