The poem is about a man who went on a murder spree alongside his girlfriend. As he went into the badlands of Wyoming, he killed everything that appeared on his way, including humans. The person is not sorry for the murder he has committed. Instead, he insists that he had fun with his girlfriend during the journey. The time had come for the jury to pass judgment, and they found him guilty of his actions and sentenced him to death by electrocution.
The man tells the sheriff that when he is on that death chair, and a man pulls the switch to execute him, he should make sure that his pretty baby is sitting on his lap (Springsteen). According to his thoughts and way of understanding the law, the jury has found him unfit to live. He says that the court and the people wanted to know why he did what he did, and to respond to that, he says there is just meanness in the world that we are living in.
The irony in the last stanza is that the murderer thinks that his judgment is unfair since the jury considers him a threat to other lives. He believes that anyone who is a threat should face death. He also states that the reason why he killed is that there is just meanness in the world, which means he kills because he believes everyone is mean. The poem makes the reader think that murderers kill intentionally. They are just mean for no reason and think that some people are unfit to live. Murderers do not have instincts that make them feel guilty about what they have done. They believe they have done justice and they should not be judged for their actions.
Work Cited
Springsteen, Bruce. “Nebraska”, Nebraska, Columbia Records, 1982. Web.