The Rehabilitation Of Jon Nobles

The Rehabilitation of Jon Nobles The rehabilitation of Jonathan Wayne Nobles was quite a lengthy journey or process; whatever one might call it. As Steve Earle 's "A Death In Texas" depicts, Nobles created himself a completely new identity by being imprisoned. No longer was Nobles the violent, rebellious man who had walked through those prison doors in 1986, but he was a completely transformed man who also had regret for his past actions that had landed him in the prison and ultimately cost him his life. In prefacing with this, I do believe that Jonathan Nobles was, in fact, rehabilitated in prison. Though I do believe the prison 's intentions were never to rehabilitate Mr. Nobles, I believe they did just that. The matter is not whether not Nobles even wanted to change, the fact is, he had changed; and for the better. He had transformed into a respectable man who many admired. We observe this rehabilitation in his interaction with His guards and fellow inmates from the beginning to around the end of his time in prison, his new-found religion, and even his sincere apology to the family members of his victims. In the first place, Mr. Nobles was in fact an unruly, rebellious man when he first came to live at Ellis One Unit, however, he left this Earth a changed man. We see this in paragraph nine of Steve Earle 's "A Death in Texas" where it states that whenever Jon first arrived at Ellis he "quickly alienated all of the guards and most of the inmates," (line 1) and even a little further down where it states also that that he was disruptive and violent, broke away from the guards at one point and "climbed the exposed pipes and bars in the cell block, kicking down television sets suspended outside on the bottom tier" (lines 2-3). One goes from seeing this man as a disobedient, rebellious inmate to a gentle man, whom the guards and inmates respect and love. There is definitely a transformation in Nobles, maybe from the guilt, maybe from the fear he might die unhappy, whatever it might be, it is evident that there is a difference in Nobles. We see this difference immediately in the way Nobles interacts with one of the prison clerks who has to interrupt Jon and Steve 's session with one another and the fact that the guards are clearly more lax with him than they are with the other inmates, most likely due to the fact that he has tranformed his lifestyle. (paragraph 11, line 4-10) He is respected within the Ellis One Unit prison, as any rehabilitated man would be. This would not be the case with most imprisoned people, especially those on death row, because at that point they would most likely act out, because what else do they honestly have to lose? This must not be the case with Mr. Nobles, because one sees that there is a genuine care and respect from him to …show more content…
While in jail, Nobles has found a new interest in Catholicism as described by Steve Earle, and I believe this was one of the main reasons for such a transformation in Nobles. God does miraculous things when we fully trust him and believe his Word is truth. Nobles attended Mass and befriended the Catholic clergy who was the minister in the prison system as stated in paragraph ten. (lines 2-3) I believe Nobles rehabilitation began at the moment he stepped foot into the prison and started attending Mass. By doing so, he reevaluated his lifestyle and realized that how he was living before was not who he wanted to be and we can see a real change take place in him from that moment …show more content…
He had come to prison a confused, rebellious, selfish man and he died a respected, loving, and caring man. His life before prison was headed down a dirty spiral, but prison saved him from dying a man who was unworthy of respect or love. Rehabilitation can be beneficial to both an inmate and society as a whole. Had Nobles gone back out into the World, I believe he would have had much more luck with the rehabilitation he received from the prison. Though he arrived Ellis One Unit as a convicted murderer, Nobles left as a respectable, honorable