In this reading, Foucault explores the morals, procedures, and most importantly the theoretical aspects of torture. I found it interesting that in the 18th century, the use of torture was seen as an extension of the monarchies hand. Every crime committed in their kingdom was a personal offense to them. I also found it very interesting that in this era, suspicion was equated to a degree of guilt. If you were investigated, then torture was a means of slight punishment, as well as a way of further investigating your guilt. I found the first section of this reading to be very thick and confusing. I do not completely understand the political machinery Foucault is referencing. I do however agree with the torture of the body versus the mind that he describes. Finally, I was intrigued by the way condemned men were judged on the stake in this age. In other words, if they screamed and shouted blasphemies or took the torture poorly, they were showing signs of guilt. If they spoke religiously and wholesomely however, they were properly repenting and were seen as making amends with God.

Foucault vividly describes the evolution of punishment in society and how it is used in terms of propaganda. He begins with the very lengthy and very public execution of a man who is severely tortured before being burned in for everyone to see. He then transitions into the french in the mid 20th century using private and quick executions under a guillotine. Finally he arrives at todays very clear outlined methods of capital punishment. This is all a very significant transition because it shifts the blame and guilt of the judicial system for carrying out such harsh measures (the viewers may feel sympathetic towards the accused) to making them a medium. Now, after the accused is convicted they are sent off to a bureaucratic institution that lets the prisoner suffer in silence, torturing the soul, out of public eye. The rhetoric for this shift is that the transition marks a step in the right direction in many minds away from the barbarity of medieval-like torture.