Amanda's Book Due Out April 30, 2013
Amanda In Prison
Amanda has been in Capanne prison for almost three years, and during that time she has been a model prisoner. She gets along well with the guards who had given her the name "Bambi" and she is reported to be treated well. All that aside- prison is still prison, and Amanda is reported to have good days and bad days. No doubt her worst day was the day of her conviction, and was sentenced to 26 years. It was reported that the women guards held her that night as she was extremely upset and cried herself to sleep.
In the last 10 months, she has tried to deal with her conviction as best she can. Some days are better than others as her parents have reported, but as one senior guard put it "She no longer breaks down in tears". She is looking forward to her appeal which is coming up in November 2010 and she is reported to be optimistic as this appeal will be a whole new ball-game with new evidence to be introduced to the appeals court.
In prison, each day is pretty much the same for Amanda- unless of course it's a holiday. Her cell she shares with another woman and there is a separate bathroom off the main cell- it's still quite small though. There is a window which looks out on some fields and in the distance can be seen a small village. She was given a job in the prison store/ commissary taking down the girls orders for candy and whatever the commissary has to offer. She originally wanted to work in the prison laundry- I have no idea why- but she did. However the guards decided that the commissary was a better job for her.
Prison life was hard for Amanda during her first couple years in Capanne. It was a lonely existence- not knowing the Italian language well- and it has been reported that the other women inmates, or the majority of them anyway, would not speak to Amanda and ignored her. This was in part due to the charges against her, but also because she was an American who seemed to be the focus of a lot of attention from the media. If it was jealousy or simply to send a message that you are no better than us- she was shut out by the majority of the other inmates. Amanda stayed to herself but surely this must have hurt her deeply. Cast into prison as a murderer, and black-balled by her fellow inmates- One can only imagine the pain and loneliness.
As time went on though, things did get better for her. She was eventually accepted by the others and this must have made a world of difference. Yet Amanda still stayed mostly to herself- writing letters to friends and family, reading her mail and any good book she could get her hands on.
She rises at 6am every morning and is allowed an hour outside her cell each day to take the air and as reported plays volleyball with the other women. When locked in her cell she practices yoga and writes letters to her family and friends. She also reads a good deal and continues her schoolwork through the mail. After almost three years in prison, Amanda now speaks Italian fluently, and she teaches some of the women English.
She is said to have a close relationship with the prison chaplain- who at one time said that Amanda has many companions but no friends in prison- however this was some time ago. Perhaps the biggest things for Amanda in prison is on the days when she gets a visit from her family. Reportedly she gets plenty of mail but she can not receive packages at the prison.
Prison changes people in general and Amanda is no longer that 20 year old girl when she first stepped foot in Capanne. She no doubt has lost some of her trust and she has described herself as "wary' these days. Although she has been wounded by this ordeal- it has not broken her. She looks forward to her appeal and hopes for her conviction to be overturned this November.
No matter how popular or unpopular Amanda Knox may be in the outside world. No matter how many letters she receives or the cards wishing her luck. Prison is still prison, and when that cell door slams home- she is very much alone. As Oscar Wilde once wrote of his own experiences in prison:
By all forgot...
We rot and rot...
In humanity's machine.
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6 comments:
I think she's a very decent, & hard working young lady who really got the poop end of the stick in Italy. The tabloids had a field day with so many lies. And certainly the real murderer would lie about Amanda & her boyfriend to get a reduced sentence. After all, he killed someone. Lying wouldn't be a problem for him. This whole thing is just sad. I hope she gets out of prison soon to write a book about her experiences, becomes a number 1 seller & makes lots of money & lives happily ever after.
I wound up reading a bit of her prison diary, as I did Raphaele's. They both seem like good-natured and "real" people to me. Most of all, their writings match the descriptions given by people familiar with them, friends, family, etc. and not what the press made them out to be. I saw simple expressions of love for family and continued idealism, faith, and trust in their fellow human beings. They were not pompous or disingenuous like Guede was in almost all of his statements.
In reading, I was particularly moved by passages where they each discarded police-fed fantasies of their guilt and were joyful to finally feel secure in their own memory that they had spent that fateful night with each other. I know that feeling when you find what you've been looking for and nobody can take it from you because you hold it in your mind. It is, I believe, the one thing that has kept their spirits up.
Amanda and Raffaele are completely innocent and I am confident they will win their Appeals and be Acquitted soon (by September 15, 2011). The evidence showing that they are innocent is now huge in scope.
That's right on the button Ken.
I too am praying that these two are both let free very soon. They have been suffering for so long, convicted of a crime they didn't commit. My heart aches for them. God Bless you Amanda And Raffaele.:)
Thank you. I think it will all work out. Of course no one can be positive of anything at this point, but it does look very good for Amanda and Raffaele at this point. I am looking forward to the defense closing arguments and Amanda and Raffaele's statements next week. Personally I think they are going to win. Thanks for the comments.
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