Here are some points to consider when making your argument:
The death penalty is only given to criminals who committed murders, not a minor crime such as stealing or even speeding (while driving a car).
The alternative to the death penalty is life in prison.
When an inmate goes on the death row, he\she doesn't know when the execution will take place. So it's kind of a suspense for them and drives them more crazy.
The execution is done by taking a show of drugs that puts them to death slowly. Lately, in the news, these executions have blotched up and went awry.
Hope that helped :)
Give you their denotations.
Montresor tells all of his servants that they must stay in the house. He also tells him that he is going out and will not return until much later. Since the story takes place during a popular festival, the servants want to leave and join the partying. Montresor knows that if he tells the servants he won't be back for a while the servants will leave the house anyways. Since he is not there to make sure that they are doing what he's asked, the servants will go off and do whatever they want.
