Life Plus 99 Years

Abstract

This article examines the construction of a narrative of self through the published autobiography of Nathan Leopold, of Leopold and Loeb fame, known for the 1924 killing of their young neighbor Bobby Franks. While in prison, Leopold had extensive contact with prominent sociologists from the University of Chicago. It is the author's contention that this contact made possible a narrative of self, in the form of autobiography, which is distinctly sociological in character. The author believes his use of a sociological framework allowed him to (a) be heard in the language of the parole board, then headed by a sociologist, thus minimizing his separation with the group in power (the parole board) and maximizing his separation from those he did not want to be identified with (the other inmates); and (b) separate himself from the moral implications of his crime, thus rendering practically inconsequential that which would otherwise have been a defining moment in the construction of the self.