Sherman Alexie began his literary career writing poetry and short stories, being recognized for his examination of Native Americans (Hunter 1). Written after reading news coverage of a real execution in Washington state, Sherman Alexie's poem Capital Punishment tells the story of an Indian man on death row awaiting execution. The poem is told in the third person by the cook preparing the last meal remembering the many last meals he has prepared over the years. Besides the Indian currently awaiting his death, the cook talks about a black man who was electrocuted and lived to tell about it, only to be thrown back in the chair an hour later to be killed again. He also remembers that many of the meals he prepared were for dark-skinned men convicted of murdering white people. The idea of ​​racial discrimination in capital punishment seems to be the theme at first glance, but further reading indicates otherwise. The Cook also reflects on his own survival in the prison system as an inmate. Learning to cook and outliving all others before him, whether by age or fate, allowed him to create dishes filled with love for the one who will die. After this last meal is prepared by the cook for the condemned to eat, fear and anticipation take over his body. Just as the right temperature is needed for cooking, an appropriate amount of electricity is needed to operate the electric chair and this need creates a dimming and flickering effect in the prison reminding everyone left behind of their possible fate: “You can look at a light bulb flickering on a night like this and remember it too clearly as if it were your first kiss or the first hard kick to the groin” (Alexie lines 52-56). Like death...... middle of paper..... .eter, Richard C. "Death Penalty Information Center" A Crisis of Confidence: Americans' Doubts About the Death Penalty. 2007. 1-30 Print. Hunter, Jeffrey W. “Sherman Alexie.” Contemporary literary criticism. Flight. 312. 2012: 1-5. Literary Resource Center. Internet. November 24, 2013.Keyzer, Amy Marcaccio. Does capital punishment deter crime. Michigan: Greenhaven, 2007. 7-93 Print. Radelet, Michael L. and Borg, Marian J. “The Changing Nature of Death Penalty Debates.” Annual review of sociology. 2000: 43-57. Academic research completed. Internet. November 17, 2013. Randa, Laura E. “Society's Final Solution: A History and Discussion of the Death Penalty.” (1997). Rpt.in History of the death penalty. Ed. Michael H. Reggio. University Press of America, Inc., 1997. 1-6 Print. The new international version/The message. Zondervan Parallel Bible ed. Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2006. Print.