"Dead Man Walking"

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the plot of the film, "Dead Man Walking":
Sister Prejean (Susan Sarandon) gets pulled into this dark world through her correspondence with Matthew Poncelet (Sean Penn), a man on death row for the horrible and brutal murder of two young teenage lovers. The author believes that the movie presents several thorough and balanced opinions on the death penalty. The paper states the movie's conclusion in Poncelet's last words: "I don't think killing is right, whether I do it, or you, or the government."

From the Paper:

"One of the most common arguments for the death penalty is based on the "eye for an eye" philosophy. Certainly, the parents of the dead teenagers' grief and loss suggest that someone should pay for these crimes. Vernon Harvey, a man whose stepdaughter was murdered by one of the inmates that Sister Prejan visited, argues that the man who committed that horrible crime should have the same sort of crime committed upon him. Certainly, vignettes of the brutality of the murders committed by Poncelet also seem to bring forth a need for vengeance."

More papers on "Dead Man Walking":

• Film Review # 36045 : "Dead Man Walking"
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• Essay # 31757 : "Dead Man Walking"

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