IndyDDR.com

In pre-modern Europe, granting the condemned a last meal has roots in superstition in that a meal was a highly symbolic social act. Accepting freely offered food symbolized making peace with the host. The guest agreed tacitly to take an oath of truce and symbolically abjured all vengeance. Consequentially, in accepting the last meal the condemned was believed to forgive the executioner, the judge, and witness(es). The ritual was supposed to prevent the condemned from returning as a ghost or revenant to haunt those responsible for their killing. As a superstitious precaution, the better the food and drink, the safer the condemned's oath of truce. The law of 18th-century England, however, as noted by Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England, ca. 1765, made no such concession; "during the short but awful interval between sentence and execution, the prisoner shall be kept alone, and sustained with only bread and water".[2]

The provision of alcohol to the condemned may well have its roots in biblical times: "Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts."

Merk wrote:From what I have read, the last meal is almost always refused or used as a trolling play. There's a sentiment that taking the last meal is "giving in" to the man and a sign that you're the prison's bitch, for lack of a better term.

Merk wrote:I'm sure I could find some Huffpo shit about this subject if that would slake your thirst.

Green Tea wrote:These pretzels are making me thirsty.

SoDeepPolaris wrote:Someone was probably drifting up there playing Initial D and caused that landslide. Kawaii.