Ross Dictado

Society knows perfectly well how to kill a man and has methods more
subtle than death.
-Andre Gide
This is true society is mans worst enemy, however metaphorically. Society can take away
a mans family, killing them emotionally. Society can cause a man to lose all of their money
causing them to live in poverty. Basically Society can strip a man of his own livelihood and man
is powerless to stop it. I think someone would die on the inside when they realize theyre
completely useless and have no say on how they decide to fun their life..Society can convict a
man of a crime that he/she had not committed. The man is forced to follow rules that arent his
own, killing the man that was once inside and forming a new man, Societys man. These are all
ways that society can kill can kill a man without actually killing someone. Although a person
may be found innocent when already in prison, they may never have that opportunity to prove
their innocence or it may just take a really long time. Also, if you do get the opportunity to prove
your innocence and get released, the compensation is not enough to get you back on your feet.
For instance if a man is sentenced to life imprisonment and then he is proven innocent, say 40
years later, the amount of money doesnt compensate for the loss of experience he lost out on.
The man couldve gone to college and then got a good job maybe even start a family. However
the man was stuck in prison for 40 years and couldnt do any of it, the state will only give him a
couple hundred thousand dollars. That is nowhere near the amount he needs to live a normal life
again.
There are many other ways that society can kill a man, for instance if our country were
to be involved in a war and we dont have enough soldiers. Society can draft a man over the age
of 18, as every man has to sign up for the draft. This draft is what kills a man, the man would be
forced to leave their livelihood behind them and go forward to the battlefront. If the man were to
live through this entire ordeal then of course they would be allowed to return home to their
family, friend, etc. However, the man that got sent away isnt the man that returns, PTSD; this
disorder is what can kill a man. This is what happens when someone is put through an experience
that is so horrific that they cant forget it, ever. This disorder kills what a man used to be and
the change is hard to overcome, many people with this disorder learns to live with but they can
never really move on. PTSD is most commonly found in war veterans. Andre Gide is right in the
sense that society knows and can kill a man and has methods more subtle than death.