Part II, Chapters 7-8 Summary and Analysis

In Chapter 7, "Researching the Housing Market," Ricardo explains the prison accommodations, which are subdivided into five rundown interior sections and three outer ones for prisoners with money, including Pinos, where Ricardo lives. A complete real estate system has been developed within the prison, including inmate agents, advertising of available cells, and bribes to guards. Each cell has a legal inmate owner who holds a deed of title issued by prison authorities. A new buyer pays the owner plus a 20 percent transfer fee to the section's administration, to cover the cost of maintenance and cleaning. Inmates with no money have to sleep outside cells, although the poor help one another to avoid that fate. After a week, Thomas ventures outside Ricardo's cell, and is immediately beaten up. The next day, Sylvia visits him and is shocked...