Freedom hits different when one has a life outside the walls of a prison, whereas those in prison are only free within their cells. On top of that, there is a different feeling for those set to get life in prison and those condemned to death, whereby a shooting squad, lethal injection, or by hanging. The prosecutors boast of how the death penalty is not new and has been used severally before. They say, they have buried people alive and severed their heads off their bodies using an ax (Robbins et al., 1995). Sean Penn (Mathew Poncelet), is facing the death penalty, which he has already been convicted of due to overwhelming evidence produced by the prosecutors. However, he still denies that he is not guilty of any crimes he is accused of committing. What he does not know is that he can never die in peace with a dirty conscience, and if he does not own to his mistakes.
Things, however, change when for the better when Poncelet is given a spiritual guider who manages to convince him to own up to his mistakes if he wants to die a peaceful death. The remorse can now be seen in Poncelet as he apologizes to Mr. Delacroix whose son he has killed. He says, “Mr. Delacroix, I don’t wanna leave this world with any hate in my heart” (Robbins et al., 1995). Poncelet is remorseful of his crimes, showing that even those who commit the worst atrocities have a conscience and are haunted by their actions. Poncelet therefore needs redemption and forgiveness, which may give him peace before his final bow (Sterling, 2019). The remorse indicates that the death penalty is not necessary as long as a person is willing to take responsibility for their actions. Acceptance and forgiveness, therefore, are the key to dying in peace and not being a dead man walking.
References
Robbins, T., Kilik, J., & Simmons, R. (1995). Dead Man Walking [Film]. Web.
Sterling, E. (2019). Redemption and Forgiveness in the Film Dead Man Walking. Humanities Bulletin, 2(2), 207–216.