and wasn't

[Maybo]

On the bus ride to prison, Henry cursed the fact that he was being punished unfairly. He didn't do the math on the times he could have been jailed and wasn't. He was angry and bitter.
(Have a Little Faith by Mitch Albom)

What does "wasn't" refer to?

 

[GoesStation]

He wasn't jailed.

 

[emsr2d2]

On the bus ride to prison, Henry cursed the fact that he was being punished unfairly. He didn't do the math on the times. He could have been jailed and wasn't. He was angry and bitter.

(Have a Little Faith by Mitch Albom)

What does "wasn't" refer to?

Note my correction above. Two sentences had been incorrectly connected. I wouldn't dream of changing a published author's words but I would have used "but wasn't".

 

[Maybo]

Note my correction above. Two sentences had been incorrectly connected. I wouldn't dream of changing a published author's words but I would have used "but wasn't".

If it changes to "He could have been jailed but wasn't", does it mean "but he actually wasn't jailed"? I haven't finished the book. But based on the context in that chapter, wasn't he jailed?

I also have a question about "the times". Does it mean the period of time that he was required to serve in jail?

 

[Maybo]

There were a number of occasions when there was a possibility of him being jailed, but he was not jailed. He lad lost count of the number of times this had happened.

I got it! I thought the writer was referring to the recent conviction.

 

[emsr2d2]

Sorry to have misled you with my original response. I totally misread the sentence about counting the times he could have been jailed! Please ignore my point about it needing to be two sentences.