I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang - Desire for Purpose Beyond Routine Work
Jim:
The Army changes a fellow. It kinda makes you think different. I don't want to be spending the rest of my life answering a factory whistle instead of a bugle call. I'll be cooped up in a shipping room all day. I want to do something worthwhile.
Rev. Allen:
After a good night's sleep, you'll be ready to take up where you left off at the factory. A soldier of peace instead of a soldier of war.
Jim:
I don't want to be a soldier of anything. You see, Mom. I want to get out, away from routine. I had enough of that in the Army...I've been doing engineering work in the Army and that's the kind of work I want to do now. A man's job where he can accomplish things, where he can build, construct, create, do things.
Rev. Allen:
That sounds very nice, but after all, a job in the hand's worth two in the bush.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang - The Redemption of James Allen
Marie Woods:
I told you I was satisfied with the way things are...I'm happy. I'm taking no chances of letting you go. Hey, listen. You're gonna be a big-shot some day with plenty of sugar, and I'm gonna ride right along. Get that? I'm no fool. I'd be a sucker to let you go now.
Newspaper Editorial:
Shall we stand by while a man who has become a respected citizen of the community has the shadow of medieval torture again creeping over him? Must James Allen be sent back again to a living Hell? This is the question that Chicago officials must decide within the next few days.
Rev. Allen:
...the story of James Allen as a human being - a man of essential fineness and integrity of character. A man who was decorated for bravery in the world war. A man who committed a crime, but only when forced to at the point of a gun. His first and only offense. A man who showed his true character by rising from less than nothing to become a prominent and honored citizen.
Prison Board Chairman:
The life of a convict in a chain gang is one of hard labor. The discipline is strict but there is no brutality. The purpose of prison is not only to punish crime but to discourage it. And there is less crime in this state in proportion to her population than into 40 other states in this Union. Finally, as evidence of the chain gang's value as a character builder, I have but to present to you the very case that has been presented to us today, the case of James Allen, who entered the chain gang as a worthless tramp, and who left it to become one of a great city's most worthy and respected citizens.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.