Final Report – Dead Man Walking

Understanding mindsets, values and rules through religious traditions

Professor: Pep Mària

By

Fabian Nick

19.12.2019
 “There is no justice in killing in the name of justice.”
- Archbishop Desmond Tutu

I) Introduction:

In the following paper I will reflect on the film “Dead Man Walking” by Tim Robbins in 1996
as well as on the course “Understanding mindsets, values and rules through religious traditions”.
Therefore, I will connect concepts and religions discussed in the course to the plot and give multiple
interpretations. My analysis will be focused on the character developments of the main characters
Sister Helen Prejean (Susan Sarandon) and Matthew Poncelet (Sean Penn). Furthermore, I will look
deeper into topic of the death sentence and the social implications the movie provides. Lastly, I will
conclude with my personal opinion on the course and the learnings I take with me for the future.

II) Personas:

Sister Helen Prejean: The author and narrator of Dead Man Walking, Helen Prejean is a
Catholic nun who has dedicated her life to working for social justice. Coming from a wealthy family,
Helen was raised with love. This is symbolized by her loving and caring mother who supports her
during her struggles of the trial. The nun is showing a hands-on mentality. Unlike others, she does not
focus solely on the study of religious texts but works pro-actively in the St. Thomas housing project in
New Orleans. Helen is a believer in a sense that she wants to live up to the practices described in the
Bible. In order to honor her faith, she wants to be selfless and help the poor. This mindset is
compressed in the statement Helen gives later in the plot - “It is not faith, it is work”.

After receiving a letter from Matthew Poncelet, Helen decides to visit the death row candidate.
For the first time we see another side of her, as she reacts smartly to Patrick’s attempts to intimidate
her. At first, I thought she would might bend in front of the dominant character of the convict.
However, she did not just prevail but manage to form a relationship with him. She tells him that they
have “something in common” because both are living with the poor. This scene shows nicely, how
Helen is approaching people in general. Instead of focusing on the differences and finding points to
criticize, she wants to emphasize similarities in order to set a basis of trust.

But there are not only positive aspects about Helen’s work. This becomes evident when she
faces the families of the victims the first time. They cannot understand, why a nun would support a
convicted murder of two innocent children. Although initially questioning herself, Helen stands her
ground and argues that Jesus himself welcomed sinners into his arms. This got me questioning myself
on how I would react in such a situation. From a Christian point of view, you could argue as Helen did
above. I then tried to figure out how eastern cultures would have judged the behavior. Do her actions
more harm to the victims than they do good for the convict? From a Karma perspective, she might

Understanding mindsets, values and rules through religious traditions

would have initially helped the parents and families of the murdered teenagers first before caring
about Matthew. However, the encounters do not leave Helen unaffected. After questioning herself, she
visits the families and in order to listen to them and hear their story. Coming from the course, in which
we were encouraged to listen respectfully to others, I really liked this approach. Similar to the values
conveyed in our sessions, Helen was able to challenge own standpoints and show respect and
understanding for another point of view

Another interesting topic was how the death penalty was perceived by different parties. Father
Farley argues with quotations from the old testament, indicating that he is in favor of the capital
punishment. The film intelligently illustrates the contrasts between the facets of Christianity. Helen, as
a young motivated woman, stands for the more liberal interpretation of the Bible that puts love,
understanding and caring in the center of action while Farley, an old white-haired man, stands
symbolically for the more conservative fraction of Christianity which puts a lot of emphasis on order
and fear. This contrast between old and new testament can be observed multiple times during the
movie. Especially, when Helen talks to the parents of Faith Harvey and the prison guards, she feels the
need to justify her actions. I found it interesting to understand supporters of the death penalty. I oppose
strongly the execution of prisoners for a multitude of reasons. Accidently punishing innocent people,
the cruelty of imposing a “death count down” on human beings or the simple act of killing do not align
with personal reasons. Furthermore, we learned during the course that all major religions are striving
towards harmony and for me the death penalty is doing the opposite. By putting revenge before
forgiveness, I think more harm is created then good. However, one quote of the movie got me
thinking. Vernon Harvey told Helen that his relative was strongly against the death penalty until he
saw the dead body of Faith. I think it shows clearly how different people think when they are affected
and how “easy” it is to judge from the comfort of not being personally involved.

Through her patience and persistence, Helen manages to get through to Matthew. This depicts
her dedication to the cause and her will to not let someone down. I think Helen is a perfect example of
how a strong faith can result in rigorous discipline. Furthermore, she follows her morals and stays
strong although she experienced resistance and obstacles by her family, the state and her closest peers.
This reminds me of the early Christians we discussed in class, that followed the new belief although
being prosecuted by the Roman Empire.

I have to admit that in the beginning I underestimated Helen for a foolish “do good” person
that tries to help in a naïve way. After finishing the movie, I realized that she helped Matthew, because
she saw that no matter how cruel the “monster” might be, he still is a human being that has to be
respected and cared for. Everybody deserves a “personal” Helen, that is caring and looking after one’s
wellbeing. I also think, that it is possible to find “your personal Helen” while practicing the religion
you see fit. No matter if Monotheistic or Eastern-based, during our class we learned that one can find
comfort and stability though the power of religion.

Understanding mindsets, values and rules through religious traditions

 Matthew Poncelet: In contrast to Helen, Matthew is initially depicted as the “evil”
counterpart. It is easy to dislike him on first thought, as he is disrespectful and arrogant in the
beginning. After the first meeting with Helen, his true intentions were not clear to me. He showed the
typical behavior of convicts, like denying guilt and “acting cool” despite the serious situation he was
in. However, Helen believes his story and decides to help him nevertheless. Shortly after meeting with
the nun, Matthew publicly shares his racist views and his admiration for Hitler. I started to realize, that
he is acting “against his own good”. To me it seemed like he has serious trust issues and tries to push
away everything that can potentially hurt him on a personal level. Him mentioning towards Helen that
she “is going to leave him” or “soon will give up” underlines this Hypothesis.

This made me think about my own behavior and the behavior of my peers. Maybe I’m judging
too quickly when I face conflicts with my friends. It could be possible that, like Matthew, they
struggle to trust people because of previous experience unknown to me. I also thought about times
where I pushed away people, because I felt that I could not be open to anyone in order to uphold the
image of being strong.

Going back to the plot, I recognized that although Matthew started to trust Helen, he still had
problems to admit his guilt or wrongdoing. The joking way he talks and the disinterested attitude he
shows, should distract from the fact that he is deeply troubled with himself. In my opinion, Helen tries
to push him to show redemption, because for her it would show that he still preserved has dignity. I
really like how Helen uses the Bible and her Christian background to get closer to the convicted
murderer. By not taken things too strictly and advising him to “search for loopholes”, she activates his
interest. As a result, Matthew in fact starts to read the Bible.

Towards the end, we get to know the other side of Matthew, the side of a caring family
member that cares about his mother and brothers. We learn, that we cannot put people into boxes and
have to accept that there is a broader perspective to a character.

After this short positive moment in which we can see the friendly Matthew, we witness how
he confesses his crimes to Helen. I recognized that he became vulnerable but in exchange was honest
with himself. In the final moments of his life, we see how his character matures. For me it created a
paradox beautiful moment within the cruel reality of the death penalty.

The last scene of him being strapped to the bench and facing the parents of his victims
impressed me the most. Setting-wise it looked like he was nailed to a cross and thus made a clear
reference to Jesus and the overall Christian theme of the movie. It is in this moment where he finally
shows strength and character by wishing the parents that they will feel better after his death.

III) Death Penalty:

Understanding mindsets, values and rules through religious traditions

 In my opinion the movie brilliantly depicts the complex, cruel and many-sided aspects of the
death penalty. Taking a religion, like e.g. Christianity, proves also to be a poor proxy in order to
identify its legitimateness. As we discussed in class, the Bible (and other religious texts) can be
interpreted in multiple ways and do not deliver a definite answer. Since there is no clear write or
wrong, it comes down to a philosophical discussion about motives and outcomes about the participants
involved in the death penalty.

An issue the movie outlines is the creation of new victims by punishing someone with death.
The remaining family members of Matthew had no guilt regarding the murder of the two teenagers,
however they are becoming victims of the death penalty. I think this is one of the most important
aspects to consider while evaluating the righteousness of the capital punishment, because after the
sentence is carried out, there is no one left to blame. The families are often left alone and have to cope
with the loss by themselves. In “Dead Man Walking”, Matthew’s mother and brothers were fortunate
to have Helen, who took care of them. We have to be aware that this is not the case for the majority of
cases and most of the time relatives are on their own.

Furthermore, the role of the executioners has to be taken into considerations as well. The fact
that the death penalty includes making murderers out of normal citizens is a crucial argument against
the practice. In the movie one could see how the states tries to take away the responsibility from the
individual by automizing the process as much as possible. However, from the dialogue between Helen
and the station doctor, I could recognize that people included in executing the sentence were hesitant
or forbidden to talk about it. Connecting this to the discussions in class that we had about revenge and
guilt, I perceive this method as cruel in itself. It seems like no one really cares about the problems and
“inner harmony” of the employees in the prison.

Lastly, I think about the relatives of the murder victims and what the death penalty does to
them. In the movie it is observable that some family member turn into hateful people, which main goal
seems to be revenge. Knowing that they suffer an unbearable pain, I highly doubt that a state
facilitated revenge act will help to heal their wounds. “I hope my death will help you find peace” – this
last sentence of Matthew stuck with me for a while, because I think in most of the cases it will not lead
to peace. From a rational point of view, it will make no difference for the family if the inmate is dead
or not, since the danger is already isolated. As my colleagues and me discussed during multiple
sessions, peace comes from forgiveness (Christianity, Islam and Judaism) and/or acceptance
(Hinduism, Buddhism and Shinto).

IV) Opinion on the course and personal implications

After the sessions have ended it is now time to reflect on the past couple of weeks. The course
was intensive and forced me to think about different religions and cultures. Coming from a business
background the sessions symbolized a refreshing break from the other, purely economic focused,

Understanding mindsets, values and rules through religious traditions

courses of the master. Although I had some previous knowledge about monotheistic religions, I was
happy to be confronted with other concepts like Hinduism, Buddhism and Confucianism.
Understanding the roots of these beliefs, will help me to effectively communicate with people from
another background than mine. I also enjoyed the discussions we were having in class even if there
were disagreements from time to time. It was interesting to hear the opinions of my colleagues and to
have my views challenged by them. The diversity of the class members was another factor that made
that class special for me. So, we found in ourselves in the situation that an Indian Hindu discussed
with a Buddhist Chinese if we should take the Bible in a literal way or not. I think that this nicely
symbolized the international spirit of the CEMS Master and ESADE. This holistic approach of dealing
with “sensitive” topics, fostered empathy and respect for opposing views.

For the future, I hope that I can apply that knowledge in my everyday life. Doing business
oftentimes involves solving conflicts, not just on a rational but also on an emotional and personal
level. With the social skills and empathy acquired during the last couple of weeks, I think I will be
better suited to so effectively.

Sometimes it is important to open up the mind to new influences and topics in order to stay curious
and aware that there is more than we currently surround ourselves with. This course gave me the
opportunity to discover new topics I would have neglected otherwise. No matter if applicable in the
future or not, the experience alone was enriching and helped me to be a more understanding person.

“Education’s purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one.”

- Malcolm Forbes

Understanding mindsets, values and rules through religious traditions