After Finishing Chapter 6 of Atonement of the Boys — Living with the Burden of a Serious Crime and Finding a Way Back to Society — 2026/7/4 (Sat) Reiwa8

This chapter taught me that young people who have committed serious crimes are not only required to face the consequences of their actions in a correctional facility, but also to carry the much heavier burden of figuring out how to live afterward.

The part that left the deepest impression on me was the scene in which the staff taught the boys how to tell lies.

Together, they practiced how to respond if someone asked about their name, their past, or the crime they had committed. It was presented as preparation for returning to society.

At first, I was surprised that educators would teach young people to lie.

However, I gradually came to understand that these lies were not meant to help them escape responsibility. Instead, they were a way to protect them from people who would treat their crimes as entertainment, spread rumors, or fuel speculation, allowing them to survive in society.

At the same time, the boys lived behind masks, hiding their true identities even within the facility.

Even after making friends, they could never feel completely at ease, because they feared that if others learned the truth about their past, those friendships might disappear.

"Where is the real me?"

That single question seemed to capture the heart of this chapter.

The author also explains that, for many young people who have committed serious offenses, the first step toward rehabilitation is simply recovering an ordinary daily life—waking up in the morning, eating three regular meals, working together with others, and following a daily routine.

For most of us, these things are so ordinary that we hardly notice them.

For these boys, however, they were something that had been lost.

The words that stayed with me most were these:

"I hope that when they return to society, there will be at least one person who can accept them, including the crime they committed."

Their crime does not disappear.

Their responsibility does not disappear.

Even so, they must continue living in society.

This chapter is not merely about serious crimes themselves. Rather, it quietly asks how a person can remain connected to society while carrying the lifelong burden of their past.

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