The camp fantasy has quickly faded to the sinister reality. They say human beings will adjust to nearly any situation, accepting even the most uncomfortable conditions. The women here have surely done just that. They live in limbo, wondering when their time to rejoin life on the outside will come. Once incarcerated, the injustice and inhumanity of the system becomes obvious.
Sanity is maintained by an assumed apathy and quiet resignation.
But I am acutely aware that this outward display of acceptance is just a defense mechanism against the rage that seethes in other women inmates - as I feel it too. I understand for the first time what an unjust and cruel society we have conceived and why so many deprived people are driven to violence. I can taste the fear of having no freedom. I feel the fury of an unfamiliar anger which leads to images of revenge. But, miraculously, I am also experiencing all this from a distance.