Does Day Deserve to be Executed in Marie Lu’s Legend?

Does Day Deserve to be Executed in Marie Lu’s Legend?

By Ellie Rosch

    Legend by Marie Lu is a sci-fi dystopian book featuring two main characters named Day and June. June grows up wealthy and favored by a government she’ll later learn is corrupt. Day grew up poor and after taking a government mandated test and failing, the government tested on him and he was presumed dead. Obviously he survived and he turned to getting money in illegal ways so that he could still support his family. He becomes a vigilante of some sort that the government wants to kill. 

    First let's look at the crimes Day committed. The book opens his perspective with him sneaking into a hospital and stealing medicine for his youngest brother who was just diagnosed with a deadly sickness that’s spreading across the Republic (the faction of America they live in). He escapes, but narrowly. He almost gets caught by another officer and is forced to throw a knife into his shoulder so he can escape (Lu 33). Day is most famous for setting fire to a warehouse full of planes that would be used to hurt people living outside of the Republic. We also meet a character that Day has cut on his face that resulted in a thin scar (65). We also learn later in the book that Day often bets on street fights for money. 

    The way in which Day tries to save his family with illegal means is not by any means ok, but throughout the book we learn rules that he has and lines he doesn’t cross. The biggest one is his no-kill rule. Day often uses his smarts to steal or win money and his agility to run away. These tactics are non-lethal and he only engages in combat if he has too. The soldier that he threw a knife at actually ended up dying at someone else’s hand, but for a while Day thought he actually did kill him. He was ridden with guilt and I think that’s really telling of his character. 

    Day eventually gets captured and while deciding his legal fate the government doesn’t even give him a trial, but if they did his intentions would have become clear. Day never wanted to hurt anyone. It wasn’t his fault that he failed the government test and it’s a miracle he even survived the government testing. He never wanted to become a vigilante but his family would’ve most definitely died without his support throughout the years. It ends up all being for naught as his mom and older brother die halfway through the book by government interference when Day gets captured. 

    The government decides to execute him but I think that’s very harsh. Yes, he has done some bad and illegal things but I think of him as more of a Robin Hood character. All he does is to hurt the corrupt government and provide for his family. The government can take the hits Day gives and his family needs support, especially because his older brother was the only one who could get money (Day’s mom had to take care of her 9 year old named Eden who’s preparing for the government test and their father ran away). Not to mention, Day is fifteen. The government took this kid who they couldn’t catch for the longest time (and they only did because they found out his identity and killed his mom) who never killed anyone and sentenced him to die by firing squad in public. 

    My point is Day didn’t deserve to be sentenced to the firing squad. The government was behind all of his troubles and while he did participate in illegal activities that deserves jail time, no one can say a fifteen year old kid that never wanted to hurt anyone, never killed, and looked after his family, that he deserved to die for everything he did. He may be a vigilante but he still has morals.

Works Cited 

Lu, Marie. Legend. Penguin Books, 2011.