Dead Man Walking
"The motion picture Dead Man Walking provided a non-fiction insight intothe world of crime, justice, and capital punishment. The film castseveral characters from different backgrounds and opinion sets indirect conflict with one another. Several small topics and one majortopic, capital punishment, were explored over the duration of the movie. While the opinions and reactions of people to Dead Man Walking mayvary, the one constant is that people will have a reaction. Sister Helen Preje, the Catholic nun, appeared to be a genuinelyconcerned 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 andappeared 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 withoutany vitality. Sister Helen showed what being a Catholic and a Catholicnun is truly about. She accepted a call for help f
And in admitting the truth, he learned the valueof life and of love. The family did not want to see any equal justice forMatthew Poncelet and his accomplice, they simply wanted either or bothdead. This fact isnot surprising, however, because Sister Helen is only human, and herreligion is human as well. The movie left such questionsunanswered, but one is forced to question whether or not the capitalpunishment of Matthew Poncelet truly served as a healing for thatfamily, or whether it was only the beginning of trouble for them. 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. They simply wanted her, and everyone else, to call for blood. The second levelwas as a messenger of religion, a messenger of God. Sister Helen's relationship with the families of Matthew andthe victims was honest and up-front. He had been humbled and hadmade a conscious decision to attempt, in any way he could, to ease thepain he had caused. Sister Helen, like Jesus,befriended the society-labeled "vermin", and gave him some semblanceof self worth, importance, and most important of all, dignity. Furthermore, it appeared that they needed Matthew's death forthemselves rather than for the sake of justice, or for their daughter.
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