Dead Man Walking

Worksheet

Name: __________________

This week, we will be watching and discussing the film Dead Man Walking in class. This work sheet, along with the reflection essay, will be due in to Canvas as PDFs on Monday.

INTRODUCTION TO DEAD MAN WALKING

Sr. Helen Prejean, a compassionate New Orleans nun, becomes the spiritual advisor to Matthew Poncelet, a vicious, angry and complex murderer awaiting execution for a heinous crime he had committed several years before. In the film, Prejean second-guesses her choice to council Poncelet, as well as the very idea of redemption.

PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS TO PAY ATTENTION TO:

Sr. Helen, Catholic nun. Matthew Poncelet, death-row inmate. Hilton Barber, lawyer Earl Delacroix, father of a victim Clyde and Mary Beth Percy, parents of a victim Lucille Poncelet, mother of Matthew Poncelet

There are three themes present in this film to which I would like you to pay attention. 1.) Forgiveness: Is there a limit to human forgiveness? 2.) Redemption: Is there a limit to Gods forgiveness? 3.) Life: What does it mean to say that all life is precious? Please answer these questions at the end of each day of watching the movie. This film contains the graphic depiction and description of violent crime. If you feel that you are unable to watch the film because of this, please inform either me or the sub, and you may pull a desk outside into the hallway and you may work quietly during the period. The visual depictions do not take place until day 2 and 3 of watching this film.

Spoiler Alert!!!!!! Each days questions are only 1 page long.

Do not read ahead if you dont want the movie spoiled!

Day 1: Film showed up until minute 41 (after the conversation between Sr. Helen and Earl Delacroix). 1.) What do you think of Sr. Helens attempt to minister to both sidesboth to the murderer and the victims families? Helens attempt to minister to both sides of the affected parties was something that took extreme strength. On a personal level, I would not have been able to do what she had done, and subject myself to the judgments of either of those parties. 2.) Sister Helens family presents the argument that her community of faith would benefit more if she were to help honest people. What do you think this means? Do you agree? In my opinion, I believe that honest people were those who have already been saved by Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, this opinion has swayed many of Sister Helens decisions, and made it such that she received a lot of hatred from both sides. However, I do believe that as a follower of Jesus, one cannot simply help out the honest people. Jesus was also someone who received a lot of hatred from people for inviting sinners into his house to eat dinner. When questioned about this he replied, It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick This same principle applies here.

3.) Mr. Delacroix and his wifes lives have changed dramatically since the loss of their son. How does healing come to families grieving the loss of a murdered child? It seems that both the Delacroixs and the Percys have one thing in common: they both want to achieve some sort of relief by the death of their sons murderer. They take it to so far an extent that they are willing to inject the needle into the killer themselves, or kill them by gunfire. Although the death penalty is warranted, the way by which they achieve happiness isnt. Their happiness does not come from remembering their son and daughter, but rather, by inflicting violence upon the man who killed their children. This proves that they are more obsessed with the death of the man than they are with the life of their children.

Day 2: Film showed up until 1:19:30 (conversation on the Bible between Sr. Helen and the prison guard). 1.) Matthew Poncelet says, I cant stand people who make themselves out to be victims. Does he see himself as a victim or as someone whose situation is the outcome of his choices? Matthew Poncelet sees himself as someone who situation is the outcome of his choices. For example, when questioned by Sister Helen about why he committed these crimes, he always refers back to him high on acid and booze, yet he is never willing to take concrete responsibility for his actions. 2.) When talking to Mr. Percy, Sr. Helen says, I'm just trying to follow the example of Jesus, who said that a person is not as bad as his worst deed. Do you agree with this statement? If Matthew is truly guilty, should he have a chance to be forgiven? I do not agree with this statement in the context of Matthews crimes. Raping a young girl, and killing two people deserves the death penalty, but that does not mean that Matthew cannot be forgiven. If he is forgiven, he still deserves the death penalty, but he will be dying with dignity.

3.) Sr. Helen says, Redemption isnt some kind of free admission ticket that you get because Jesus paid the price. You gotta participate in your own redemption. You got some work to do. I think maybe you should look at the Gospel of John chapter 8 where Jesus said, You shall know the Truth and the Truth shall make you free. How did Matthew understand what Sr. Helen was saying to him? What did Sr. Helen actually mean? Matthew understood Sister Helens words in the wrong way; that is, he thought that if he knew the truth, he would be set free from jail. Sister Helen was talking to him about a kind of spiritual jail, in which not accounting for your actions and seeking forgiveness would condemn you to eternal hell. She actually meant that accepting Jesus as the truth, would set him free spiritually and give him salvation.

Day 3: Finish film.

How did Matthew Poncelet change as a result of his relationship with Sr. Helen? What brought about these changes? Matthew Poncelet changed by accepting that he was the one who killed Walter and raped Percy. This
allowed him to understand that he himself was guilty and that it was his fault that those two kids died. Sister Helens compassion towards Matthew brought about these changes by making him realize that even though he had committed such heinous crimes, there would always be someone that loved him

2.) How were your own beliefs regarding capital punishment affected by watching this film?
I still support the death penalty, but I feel absolutely terrible because of it.

3.) As the film went on, did you find yourself supporting Matthew Poncelets execution, or hoping that his life would be spared? Why?

I still wanted him to be executed because his crime was simply to horrendous to just forget. Although he did accept Jesus and accept that he made some really terrible mistakes, apologies and forgiveness cannot bring the dead back, and because of that Matthew Poncelet deserved to die. Then, by our last class together, please compose a 500 word (roughly) reflection essay which answers one of the following questions: 1.) In the film, Dead Man Walking, Matthew Poncelet learns truly to forgive himself despite the horrendousness of his actions, and to forgive others for trying to kill him. What is one time in your life when you found it difficult to forgive yourself or another person? Describe your feelings during this situation. Why was this difficult for you? 2.) In the film, Dead Man Walking, Sr. Helen Prejean tells Matthew Poncelet that he is a son of God, despite his heinous actions. Do you believe that Matthew still has value, despite his horrible crimes? From where does a human being derive her or his value/worth? 3.) Proponents of the death penalty argue that it deters violent crime, that it brings closure to the families of the victims of homicide, and that it delivers justice to capital criminals. Opponents of the death penalty argue that it does little to deter violent crime, that it is cruel and unusual due to its inconsistent state-by-state application, and that killing to punish killers is philosophically inconsistent. After watching this film, and looking at the arguments of both sides, what are your thoughts on the death penalty?

For anyone who may be absent during this film, or for those who prefer not to watch it due to its graphic scenes, please spend class time composing and answering the following question. 4.) Proponents of the death penalty argue that it deters violent crime, that it brings closure to the families of the victims of homicide, and that it delivers justice to capital criminals. Opponents of the death penalty argue that it does little to deter violent crime, that it is cruel and unusual due to its inconsistent state-by-state application, and that killing to punish killers is philosophically inconsistent. Research both sides of this debate, giving special attention to Catholic Moral Tradition, and present your view of the death penalty in a 800-900 word essay (roughly 3 double spaced pages).

Question 2

In the film, Dead Man Walking, Sr. Helen Prejean tells Matthew Poncelet that he is a son of God, despite his heinous actions. Do you believe that Matthew still has value, despite his horrible crimes? From where does a human being derive her or his value/worth? In the film Dead Man Walking, I believe that Matthew Poncelet has value as a human being, because value is derived from our relationship to other human beings. Merriam Webster Dictionary defines value as something with usefulness or importance. By that standard, Poncelet does have a vast amount of value, because he has proved himself to be important to several characters within the movie. The first of these characters is Sister Helen. Although initially forced to console Poncelet through spiritual calling, Sister Helen develops a legitimate compassion for Poncelet as he progresses throughout the movie. She begins to care for Poncelet not because of moral obligation, but because she loves Poncelet as a human being. Another person to whom Poncelet has value is to his mother. Although he has committed all of these violent crimes, his mother still finds some kind of value within him, proven by the fact that she cries at his funeral as well as at his legal hearing. The final people who find value in Poncelet are his brothers. Although they do not directly show their value for him through tears, both of his brothers internalize their suffering and show immense amounts of sorrow, especially in the last scene where one of the brothers pours out liquor during his funeral. The most important question in the prompt is how human beings derive their own value. All values are relative to other entities, because something can only be deemed valuable by another entity. In the same way, Matthew Poncelet derives his internal value from other people. While people like his mother and brothers value Matthew as a person, people like the Delacroixs and Percys do not have any value for Matthew, because they killed his son. In this way, Poncelet has an infinite amount of value to certain people and a very limited value to others. This question of where a human beings value comes from is certainly at the heart of the death penalty. Those who believe that the death penalty should be enacted believe that not every human being has an intrinsic value, because they are only as good as their worst act. People like sister Helen, however, believe that every person has their own value: whether it be in the eyes of God or the eyes of other people. In this way, value is derived from other people. Initially,