Guilt- Rachel Wall is the first person to express innocence of the crime for which she is being executed (unless we want to count Levi Ames’ assertion that he was let into a house, not the one who first broke in).  She confesses to other crimes, all some sort of theft, but still maintains that she is innocent of what she is being executed for.  She states, though, that God with ultimately judge the truth of the statement she is making.

Education-  Like many narratives, Rachel Wall’s starts out with her upbringing—how her parents treated her, what they did, and whether they attempted to make her a good honest person.  She says that they “gave me a good education, and instructed in me in the fundamental principles of the Christian religion” (283).  Wall blames her descent into crime on her husband, not her parents, but it appears that all of the narratives we’ve read have blamed it on someone.

Conscience- Levi Ames is troubled by his conscience, but it is still one dictated by religion—his main fear is that he will go to hell.  He tries to ease his fears first by drinking and then by reading the Bible, but neither work too effectively: “O! a wounded conscience who can bear?” (182). 

Warning- Levi Ames has all kinds of warnings before he dies—some about how to keep from becoming a criminal (the typical), but also warnings for ordinary people about how to keep from being robbed: what sort of locks to have, where to keep luggage, and how to watch over your children. 

Conscience- Buchanan says that at the ti me of the killing “I was instantly struck with the horror of conscience”, one of the earliest mentions we’ve seen of the conscience in these narratives (223). Interestingly, this mention of conscience has nothing to do with God and is also for a man who the murderers do not even know.

Warning- Buchanan, Ross, and Brooks conclude their account with the usual warning to youths of how to avoid becoming an executed criminal. They should “avoid bad company, excessive drinking, profane cursing and swearing, shameful debaucheries, disobedience to parents” (224). The three criminals, despite the fact that their narrative is very different from the ones that we have read up to this point, still conclude with the typical repentance, religious talk, and warning to the youth that we have come to expect.

conversion – Boston like Rodgers become a model narrative for the people to follow because of her rdedication to God. The story of the conversion was the aim of these narratives because it exposed the criminal mind as being unable to bear their own criminal acts. It leaves people with the thought that although there may be no hope to resurrect your life here on Earth, if you are penitent and able to renounce your former life you can become a monument of God’s mercy and may secure your spot in eternal bliss.

Counsel – The role of the ministry was to help encourage criminals to repent and begin life anew by condemning the former life. This counsel was fairly instrumental in shaping the narratives we read because without the executors of God’s will helping to change the minds of these criminals they surely would not have been selected to mass produce and distribute among the public. It is interesting to note though that both of the conversion narratives of Rodgers and Boston ignored such counseling until they knew that the final days on earth were numbered, only accepting God and repenting after being imprisoned for a crime punishable by death.