Hole In My Life

“Getting Out” starts with various failed escapes Gantos witnesses, which he describes as “straightforward and totally ineffective” (189). Despite this assessment, heimagines his own escape to Canadabut comes up with a better plan: he enlists the help of his new caseworker, Mr. Casey, to secure entry into college. After fifteen months in prison, Gantos secures his release. He is going to study writing at Graham Junior College in New York City.

The final chapter of Gantos’ memoir details his release from prison. There is an initial disappointment; Gantos hides his contraband journal in a prison library book and is unable to take it with him when he leaves prison. In this, he takes comfort that another inmate might find solace in it and even add to the journal. Gantos also begins his interim job selling Christmas trees; he remarks how happy and welcoming everyone is to him, even his new landlady. He then begins the spring semester, starting off by writing violent stories, but slowly switching to an unexpected genre: children's stories. As he sheds many of the memories of prison, he reminds the reader of the hash he buried, noting that he returns once to the area, but never unearths the old hash.