The Empathy Exams

Jamison collects quarters in anticipation of visiting Charlie Engle in prison after having been his pen pal for nine months. Charlie and Jamison met at the Barkley Marathons several years prior. Charlie has a lot of experience as an ultrarunner, having been the subject of several documentaries before an IRS agent started to investigate his finances. He has been sentenced to nearly two years for mortgage fraud. Jamison discusses the conditions of Charlie’s life that resulted in his conviction, as well as the historical context: Charlie was convicted shortly after the American subprime mortgage crisis when people were eager for someone to be angry at.

Jamison wrote to him initially out of curiosity because of how his life progressed, but the two eventually developed a friendship as Charlie opened up to her about the feeling of stagnation he was experiencing now that he was behind bars. He confesses to her about his frustrations and anger, and Jamison draws comparisons between Charlie’s use of the phrase “out there” to describe freedom beyond prison and “out there” as used at Barkley when the runners would describe motion and survival. Charlie needs to see the doctor to have a Baker’s cyst in his knee taken care of but has been unable to see one, so he has been unable to exercise. Jamison bounces back and forth between her and Charlie’s letters, creating a comparison of their lives by discussing her freedoms and his restrictions. It is after nine months of corresponding by letters and occasional phone calls that Charlie invites Jamison to visit him. In preparing for the visit, he provides her guidance on what not to do, and Jamison researches visiting protocols and finds even more restrictions.

Jamison returns to the present and travels from Maryland to West Virginia. The landscape is nothing like she expected as she meets with Cat, a college friend, and Cat’s partner Drew. Their home is eclectic but comfortable, and Cat and Drew provide Jamison with an education on surface mining and forest clearing. That night, Jamison has a dream about trying to interview a man in a diner and wakes up feeling embarrassed by her own obviousness. After acquiring quarters, she drives to the prison, looking at the landscape and speculating on the nature of incarceration and mining, which are both intertwined with West Virginian life. When she arrives, she makes a series of mistakes that embarrass her, such as going to the wrong building, but eventually waits with other visitors where she reflects on the people who have been forced to memorize the routine because of their lasting experience with incarceration. The prisoners are called into the visiting room, and Jamison hugs Charlie. She describes the other visitors, from a pair of older women to a charming family with two little girls. She also highlights how the visitors eat out of the vending machine for the duration of the seven-hour visit as if it is the only food accessible.

They begin by talking about Charlie’s case. Charlie insists on his own innocence, and Jamison believes him despite her efforts to remain objective. They eventually move on to discuss his life in prison, which is Jamison’s real interest. Their discussions are transactional: in exchange for Jamison’s attention and presence, Charlie tells her about some of the grittier aspects of his incarceration. Jamison learns that Charlie ran 135 miles on the prison track when the Barkley Marathons were happening, and he has started an exercise group to help other prisoners get in shape. He uses Jack London’s concept of “inner mobility” to help himself escape and remember the experiences of freedom. Eventually, three o’clock comes, and Jamison is forced to leave Charlie. She reflects on the nature of thinking about prison and studies the differences between their two lives. She also thinks about the way prisons feed on communities that have no other option but to accept their presence and everything they entail.