Chapter 19 Summary

On an early morning walk to Charleston, an area of Boston, Julian notes that there is no sign of the state prison that had previously been located there. Dr. Leete admits to having heard of the old prison, which was abolished at least fifty years before. He claims that there is no need for the prisons anymore. Any kind of "atavism" is treated in hospitals. He uses the term "atavism" frequently, meaning that crimes are committed only by those with some kind of genetic link to a behavior in the past. These people are treated in hospitals, not held in prisons. Since crimes of the 19th century were most often committed only because of lack of money, the greed for more money, the need for material provisions or the absence of basic human requirements of food, warmth and shelter, crimes rarely occur in...