#oitnbs4

Elegy for Poussey Washington

Just after completing season four, I was driving home from my girlfriend’s house all torn up about Poussey’s death. Arguably my favorite character had just been killed by the carelessness of the U.S. prison system. And then Ruth B’s “Lost Boy” came on.

Peter Pan is a story about the world not giving you a fair shake, not fitting in, and nostalgia. Poussey was thinking about a future with Soso; she even had a job lined up through Judy King. She was arguably lost in her life before Litchfield. After being virtually thrown out of Germany after being caught kissing a German officer’s daughter and criticized for her “confused predilections,” she fought to find herself and love once again in the States before being thrown into prison for holding a little more than what was legal in pot.

Prison robbed her of her soul and then of her life.

Poussey was a romantic. All she wanted was to be loved and appreciated. All she wanted was to be loved deeply. Purity shone through her smile. Like a flower, all she needed to live on happily was food, shelter, and a bit of loving sunlight.

Poussey was deep. Her love of literature gave her life. Without The Rats of Nimh  and The BFG, perhaps prison would have gotten her down long ago. Yet her spirit persisted. 

Very few people truly understood her. She suffered for a long time until Brook saved her. And just when she found true happiness in her life, it was stolen from her--like a fragile flower unearthed from a garden.

Rarely do we come across such a pure soul in this world. While Poussey Washington is a figment of the Orange imagination, she was real to us. Litchfield lost a light. So did we.

Rest in piece, sweet Poussey. I hope your soul has been set free. 

Pousseys death was not for shock value. I really don’t think that is where the writers were intending to go with this story line. I know the she was a qpoc but they didn’t kill her for the shock value, they did it to make the viewers mad. Because she was such a loved character her death had so much impact, but people are getting mad at the writers for their decision to kill her. Don’t get mad at them because this is the kind of thing that happens everyday in our world. They are trying to show the viewers that this is the reality of our current world. I think they did it because they knew it would have a big impact, but you’re getting mad at the wrong people. Because this kind of thing happens all the time, most people just don’t see it because they don’t know the person personally. People get fed a twisted version of the story through media to try to make it seem as though the victim deserved it. The writes of OITNB are telling us that this is not right. Although many of us already know this, not enough is being done to prevent it.