The Enemy In today's society, prison guards are given a set of standards they are to follow when it comes to the way in which they treat their inmates. In the movie "Cool Hand Luke," this was not the case. Their methods were cruel and unjust. In the movie, the guards used a variety of methods to control the prison inmates. To name a few, they used "the box," physical force, and hard work. The prisoners didn't so much as breathe wrong around them. Firstly, the guards used "the box" as a form of punishment. The box was a place no inmate wanted to be. It was small, hot, and lonely. They would be suck in there for hours or days, alone with their thoughts. I believe the mental toll it took on them was far worse than the physical. They were stripped of all of their clothes, left with nothing but a bucket of water and a bucket to use the bathroom in. Not only were their clothes stripped from them, but also their dignity. No man wanted to face the box and they all knew what the effects of it would be. When Luke was placed in the box for the first time, it was because his mother had passed away. They thought maybe he would try to run, so…show more content… If someone stepped out of line, they were hit but the butt end of a gun. If they talked back, the same thing happened again. The inmates were, for the most part, a group of strong men. Despite this, they knew the consequences that would take place if they stepped up to defend their selves against this physical abuse, so they took it. In one scene, after one of Luke's many escape attempts, he comes back beaten and bruised so badly he could hardly walk. As all the other inmates look upon him in horror, everyone knew that it was done to him at the hand of the guards. It served as a warning to all of them; if they tried to escape they would be beaten, too. The guards knew all too well that they could get away with the physical abuse on their inmates without any questions