The Empathy Exams

The West Memphis Three is the term used to describe Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley Jr., and Jason Baldwin, three teenagers convicted of the murders of Steve Branch, Christopher Byers, and Michael Moore. The three grew up in the South and lived in poverty. The boys were accused of being Satanists who murdered the children as part of a satanic ritual. In the aftermath of the initial guilty verdict, there was significant criticism of the investigation and the behavior of the prosecution during the trial. There were several appeals following the verdict. The Paradise Lost documentary trilogy documented the case and helped circulate the story of the three men. As the third documentary was being produced, the men successfully entered an Alfred plea, allowing them to maintain their innocence but acknowledge that there was enough evidence for a guilty verdict. They were then released.

Jamison uses the West Memphis Three and the Paradise Lost documentaries to introduce and construct the argument that empathy does not require a personal connection to develop. She uses herself as a conduit, discussing her first exposure to the case and its emotional impact as well as subsequent exposures and their lingering impacts. She notes her reaction to both the family members and the imprisoned men, highlighting how her perspective changes over the course of time. This not only emphasizes the ways in which perspective influences empathy but also the need to take one’s own reflections into consideration.

Periodically throughout the text Jamison discusses her past partners. Only two of them are named—Dave, who will later become her husband for a time; and Jim, a poet. Like herself, Jamison does not physically describe her partners. Instead, she shares their actions and the things they say to her, often words that are hurtful. For example, she notes one boyfriend called her a “wound dweller” and highlights how an abrupt breakup left her forever altered (187). She and Jim vacation in New Orleans and are at odds with each other because of their differing life experiences, leading Jamison to be privately dismissive of the phrases he uses to describe the world but unwilling to voice this discontent. Dave gets the most time in the book dedicated to him. He is Jamison’s partner when she becomes pregnant and requires an abortion, and he also takes care of her after her heart operation.

By presenting her partners, Jamison explores connectivity in romantic relationships. In many of her examples, she provides them in a negative context, highlighting the ways a partner did not establish a connection or she felt stifled and unable to reach out. Dave stands as the exception to this rule because Jamison writes about the ways she was unfair in her assessment of his empathetic abilities. When Jamison disregards her own “checklist” for gauging Dave on his connective skills, the two can come together and heal both as individuals and as a couple. Jamison presents the importance of equal effort and investment in a relationship, and in doing so she presents an example of true romantic empathy.