Capital Punishment within the short story, “The Two Fishermen”

Capital punishment is the legally authorized killing of someone as punishment for a crime. This was used for anyone who committed murder, rape, and treason. Canada used to have capital punishment for a while, up until 1976, where it was removed from the Canadian Criminal Code. The death penalty was life imprisonment, along with no chance of parole for 25 years for first-degree murders. Capital punishment remained within the Canadian National Defence Act, only for the most serious military offences until 1998.

If this story took place in Canada, the crime would have been committed between 1865-1961. This was the time when crimes of murder, rape, and treason all carried the death penalty. Then the events that happened in the story would be allowed to take place in Canada, and Thomas Delaney would be handed capital punishment for murdering the man molesting his wife.

Thomas Delaney should not have been hanged. Capital punishment was not appropriate for the crime he committed. He may have killed someone, but it was a) in the heat of the moment, b) to protect his wife, and c) the crime was really voluntary manslaughter, not murder. There was a fight between the two men, that was started by Matthew Rinehart  This resulted in one of them dying. This for sure warrants jail time, along with recuperating with therapy sessions or something. Either way, death was not the proper punishment for the crime he committed.

Sources:

https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-capital-punishment-in-canada-508141

https://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/g/gallows.asp