“Dead Man Walking reflection”

Introduction

Tim Robbins' second directorial effort (after the political satire Bob Roberts) was this drama based on a true story, which explores the issue of capital punishment. Sister Helen Prejean (Susan Sarandon) is a nun and teacher living in rural Louisiana. One day, she receives a letter from Matthew Poncelet (Sean Penn), who is scheduled to be executed soon for the rape and murder of two teenagers. After meeting Matthew, Sister Helen agrees to serve as spiritual counselor and see what she can do to stay the execution. However, Matthew's claims of innocence seem shaky at best, and it's clear he's a reprehensible, amoral racist. When it becomes obvious that Matthew's sentence will be carried out, Sister Helen offers what comfort she can to Matthew, but also tries to guide him to an open admission of the extent of his crimes and an acceptance of divine forgiveness.

Discussion

Based on an extraordinarily lucid and affecting memoir by Sister Helen Prejean, a nun from Louisiana, "Dead Man Walking" is an account of the author's eye-opening experiences on death row. It concentrates on her relationship with a man accused of taking part in the murders of two teen-agers, who were abducted from a lovers' lane. Mr. Penn's Matthew Poncelet (the characters have been renamed and slightly fictionalized from Sister Helen's version) admits he was present for the killings but says he didn't take part. That's still enough to make him a pariah and, to the parents of the murder victims, even worse. But as a matter of principle, Sister Helen risks opprobrium to become the spiritual adviser to this condemned man.

The Rationality of Capital Punishment

Perhaps ironically, Beccaria died in 1794, in the middle of the Reign of Terror in France that had introduced the guillotine as an enlightened alternative to the humiliating ...