DEAD MAN WALKING
.) When the Prison chaplain talks of "morbid curiosity" he is asking Sister Helen why she wants to look after Matthew, is it because has never seen someone die before, never seen someone executed? The Chaplain also believes that everyone in the Jail is evil, Sister Helen sees the people as good and as the acts they have done to be their evil. The Prison chaplain doesn't understand why Sister Helen is talking to this evil person in the prison and this is why he speaks of "morbid curiosity".
2.) It is normal after such an emotional situation as the one which happen to Matthew that his first action is to deny it ever happened and not talk about it. As soon as Matthew talks about it he is admitting it happened to himself which is not what he wants. Matthew blames Karl for the murders to shift blame from him, he has probably convinced himself in his head that it was Karl's fault.
3.) Matthew's mother, like any mother would, feels like it her responsibility that Matthew's life went astray and she is questioning herself about where she went wrong. This is another form of denial, she believes that it is her fault and in her eyes this makes Matthew look better, like he is the victim of his upbringing.
4.) I think that Matthew has trouble respecting others as when he was growing up he might not have received the respect he should have got, being bullied on and things like that. Matthews mother talks of him being bullied at school at the appeal. The lack of a father figure from when he was 14 onwards wouldn't help his lack of respect. You would imagine that Matthew would have to show respect to his father, even more than he would his mother.
5.) When Mr. and Mrs. Percy ask her why she swapped to their side, ...
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4.) I think that Matthew has trouble respecting others as when he was growing up he might not have received the respect he should have got, being bullied on and things like that. Matthews mother talks of him being bullied at school at the appeal. The lack of a father figure from when he was 14 onwards wouldn't help his lack of respect. You would imagine that Matthew would have to show respect to his father, even more than he would his mother.
5.) When Mr. and Mrs. Percy ask her why she swapped to their side, and she says she is on no side, their attitude towards her change, they cannot be friendly with someone they see as friend with the "enemy". They call Matthew "God's mistake" which is wrong, God makes no mistakes, it the things he creates which makes the mistakes.
6.) Matthew has convinced himself that he is innocent by denying and refusing to talk about what happened that night. Evil has manipulated his mind, in his mind he is convinced that he is innocent by repetitively telling himself that. Evil changes a person's value.
7.) When Sr. Helen tells Matthew that "The truth will make you true" I think Matthew started to stop denying what he had done, this was the first step to him becoming able to talk about it. Matthew doesn't want to die with anything unsaid and his love for Sr. Helen helps him sway to talking about what he did and telling the parents of the victims he was sorry.
8.) Matthew looks at his brother and he believes that he is a good young person and therefore expects him to tell the truth and keep up with the image. When Matthew looks at himself he sees a murderer, a man in jail and therefore he sees no reason for him to tell the truth, he doesn't believe he has any honour.
9.) Matthew doesn't talk about that night because if he talks about it he has to admit to himself that it happened. He also might not want to upset his mother by admitting that her boy is a murderer, he looks after his mother more than he looks after himself. Matthew not talking about "that night" is all part of his own denial that it happened.
0.) The blame being placed on Matthew is stopping from facing the truth. When he is blamed the easiest thing to do is to shift the blame onto someone else, it is what society does for everything, and it is never MY fault. Another point may be that Matthew has convinced himself that he is innocent and therefore he is actually not lying when he says he is innocent, just telling it how he sees it now.
1.) I don't believe that the death penalty is the answer to the evils of society. I believe that no one person has the right to subject another person to death, I believe this is murder. In saying this I have never had anybody close to me killed, I feel if this happened my views might change, I probably would want justice served
2.) When Matthew realizes he loves Sister Helen this is when he can face his dark side. He faces it for her; this is why he thanks her because when he faces it he then feels free. The movie says that "love" has great responsibility but it can be a great aid in times of need, and indeed that is where a lot of love is originated.
3.) Sister Helen had a great toll exacted on her from her experience with Matthew Poncelet. During the film she loses her innocence, she sees that bad things do happen in this world; rape, murder, and others and this causes her to struggle with her faith for a while, she has trouble dealing with God letting these things happen. This is shown by her clothing, at the start it's bright and summery but by the end of the film she is wearing dark grim clothes.
4.) From "Dead man walking" the audience can learn a lot about responsibility. It makes you think about every action you do. You bully someone at school, it could be a factor in them coming back and doing something terrible later. It has a strong theme of love and respect and the responsibility that comes from someone loving you. If someone loves you, you cannot leave them in a time of need, you have to show love when they need to see it and trust them, what ever the situation.
5.) The obvious people affected at the start of the film are the boy and girl who get murdered and raped. From this stems the affect on the parents, family and community who was associated with the pair and also affected at this time would be Matthew Poncelet and Karl. When Matthew got to jail his family and friends were affected, they had to come to grips with the fact their son was going to die. Sister Helen is brought in here and it takes a large part of her life for the remainder of the film. While Matthew was in jail, his appeals affected the community, the jury and the judge. It brought up the question of should people be executed, is it socially justifiable. At the end of the movie Sister Helen is the most affected but also affected are the family of the victims, they see that justice has been given.
