Essay/Term paper: Dead man walking

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Culture

Dead Man Walking


The motion picture Dead Man Walking provided a non-fiction insight into
the world of crime, justice, and capital punishment. The film cast several
characters from different backgrounds and opinion sets in direct conflict with
one another. Several small topics and one major topic, capital punishment, were
explored over the duration of the movie. While the opinions and reactions of
people to Dead Man Walking may vary, the one constant is that people will have
a reaction.

Sister Helen Preje, the Catholic nun, appeared to be a genuinely
concerned person who took a real interest in the condemned prisoner. She came
from a strong background but chose to "give back" to others. Sister Helen
explained her need to "give back" during the film and appeared to be completely
serious about her commitment to helping others. Sister Helen did not wear her
habit during the course of the film. Many people have a stereotypical vision of
Catholic nuns: the habit, seemingly out-of-touch thoughts and ideals, and older
and/or without any vitality. Sister Helen showed what being a Catholic and a
Catholic nun is truly about. She accepted a call for help from a complete
stranger. Instead of turning away or giving up, she persisted, showing what
love and, in a way, courage could do under such dire circumstances. Through it
all, she did it with spirit, life, vitality, and strength. Her relationship
with the convict, Matthew Poncelet, was on two levels. The first was as a
friend and confidant. Sister Helen was the first to truly explore Matthew for
Matthew. Others tried to learn about him, but only to vilify or condemn him.
The second level was as a messenger of religion, a messenger of God. For the
very first time, Matthew was given the opportunity to realize his worth as a
human, and his worth in the eyes of God. Through this understanding, he was
able to realize the value of all human life, including those who he murdered.
Sister Helen's relationship with the families of Matthew and the victims was
honest and up-front. She approached each with a hopeful attitude, trying to
understand them while also trying to give them peace. In each instance, she was
uncertain and apprehensive. This fact is not surprising, however, because
Sister Helen is only human, and her religion is human as well. The only path
to certainty is experience, and this was Sister Helen's first time as spiritual
advisor to a death-row inmate. All in all, Sister Helen was a shining example
of strength, courage, and love that all people could look up to.

In the beginning of the film, Matthew Poncelet was not a likable
character. He was stubborn, arrogant, biased, hateful, and seemed to want
company only for his own amusement. He did not appear to care about his crime,
nor those whose lives his crime changed forever. However, he appeared to let
down a guard during the course of the film, which revealed a less-monstrous
human being struggling internally with a fact about himself that he could not
erase, with pride, and with a need to outlet his internal feelings. His anger
about his sentencing was justified; his accomplice and apparent leader was only
given a life sentence while he was to die. While this is certainly an unfair
situation, it is unfair because the accomplice deserved the maximum penalty
under the law as much as Poncelet. Towards the end of the film, Poncelet
appeared to be a changed person. He learned, with the help of Sister Helen,
that the truth would save him. And in admitting the truth, he learned the value
of life and of love. He said in his final few hours, "…I needed to die to find
love…" But, in the end, he appeared to truly accept his actions, the
repercussions of his actions, and his fate. He was truly sorry and changed in
the end.

Earl Delacroix was the father of the teenage boy who was murdered by
Matthew Poncelet. He harbored a lot of hatred and sadness because of the
slaying. To make matters worse, the murder of his son caused a rift between
Earl and his wife, eventually leading to the filing of divorce papers. In a way,
Matthew Poncelet killed Earl's son, his marriage, and his heart. Anyone whose
interpersonal relationships have been affected by outside influences could
easily relate to Earl, an honest man with a good heart. Obviously, anyone who
has lost a child or even a loved one would relate to the strain, sadness, loss,
and emptiness Earl felt after his son was suddenly taken from him. But the
feeling that many, including myself, can relate to is the helplessness when a
relationship dear to you starts slipping away because of outside influences and
situations that are beyond your control. Those situations do not need to
involve murder, but they could include different family values, intolerant
friends or family, sickness, employment differences or changes, geographical
changes, educational differences, and more. Earl's situation shows how fragile
interpersonal relationships truly are, and how people must actively participate
in relationships together, and not rely on one aspect to hold it strong. Earl's
son was that aspect for his marriage.

The parents of the slain teenage girl, whose daughter was not murdered
by Poncelet but was raped by him, were justifiably upset when they learned that
someone was taking the time to apparently try to save the murderer. They asked
Sister Helen at one point "How can you sit with that scum?", and asked her to
leave their home when they realized that she had not become as bloodthirsty as
they were. It was understandable that they felt hurt by a Catholic nun's
decision to attempt to help someone who had no value for human life. However,
their attacks on Sister Helen, no matter how passive aggressive, were
reprehensible. The family, unlike Mr. Delacroix, showed no interest in being
helped to understand her situation. They simply wanted her, and everyone else,
to call for blood. The family did not want to see any equal justice for Matthew
Poncelet and his accomplice, they simply wanted either or both dead.
Furthermore, it appeared that they needed Matthew's death for themselves rather
than for the sake of justice, or for their daughter. At the end of the film,
during Matthew's last words to Earl Delacroix, they griped, "What about us?!"
One would wonder what would happen to their relationship after the death of
Poncelet. Or, what would happen between them and their other daughter. The
movie left such questions unanswered, but one is forced to question whether or
not the capital punishment of Matthew Poncelet truly served as a healing for
that family, or whether it was only the beginning of trouble for them. People
tend to hold on to a problem or severe, urgent situation as a driving force.
Sometimes, without proper channeling of their feelings and anger, the closure of
such a situation leaves a void too large to be overcome. While the answer may
not be known in this particular case, their actions and statements cause
viewers to question it.

The film shows that capital punishment affects more people and lives
than one would perceive. It also shows there is value in every human life, and
with proper guidance, anyone can change. Matthew Poncelet was not a danger to
society at the end of the film. He had been humbled and had made a conscious
decision to attempt, in any way he could, to ease the pain he had caused. He
provides hope that anyone in his situation could become a better person, and
could possibly affect lives in a positive way. While it might be stretching
such an observation to say that a convicted murderer should be let free, it
would be fair to say that a life sentence is not merely wasting tax-dollars. A
life sentence allows a person to reflect upon his or her past and change the
person that he or she is. It allows for the possibility of helping others to
not make the same mistakes. Sister Helen stated "I'm just trying to follow the
example of Jesus who said every person is worth more than her/her worse act."
This statement is relevant to her situation because indeed she was trying to
show Matthew that he was a human being, not an animal or worse. She also was
trying to help his family deal with Matthew's actions, and move on knowing that
he was a person who made a mistake. In many ways, that statement could very
well have been the thesis statement of the movie. Sister Helen, like Jesus,
befriended the society-labeled "vermin", and gave him some semblance of self
worth, importance, and most important of all, dignity.