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Example research essay topic: Dead Man Walking Put To Death - 1,470 words

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Capital Punishment in Dead Man Walking "This is not a nice man... innocent is not a word that suits him in any way, " says Brian Webster when speaking of Matthew Poncelet, the man on death row in the movie Dead Man Walking. Many people feel that the death penalty is immoral and it should not be used; however I feel completely opposite. I believe that capital punishment is a fair sentence for a murderer to receive. In the movie Dead Man Walking, the main character Matthew Poncelet, is on death row waiting for the lethal injection that will soon put him to death for good.

Dead Man Walking shows the audience what life is like for a man on death row, who was sentenced for the murder of two young adults. I feel that the movie does not support the death penalty and it tries to show that a person can be redeemed for his actions and therefore should not be put to death. "The film definitely has its opinion on the death penalty, it is against it" (Williams). Even though I support the death penalty, I still feel that the movie accurately described what life on death row was like for Matthew Poncelet. At the beginning of the movie Matthew Poncelet had no respect for life and death, he had never really thought about the life he was taking away from the two young adults.

However, he transforms from a murderer to an actually human being, thinking logically as his life and the movie come to an end. For each of us, death is a subject that not only fascinates, but creates fear in our hearts as well. Death is something we avoid in our minds with the hope that it will not touch us. As a society we all fear death; especially in violent cases, which occur naturally and arise through the unusual forces in our society. When such an event takes place we want revenge.

In Dead Man Walking, the parents of the murdered girl are left with so much anger that they verbally attack Sister Helen Prejean, when they find out she is still on Matthew Poncelet's side. 'Ain't nobody with money on death row, " said James Berardinelli when speaking about the possibility of Matthew being too poor to hire a lawyer. I feel that the movie is totally wrong when it suggests that Matthew Poncelet is on death row because he was poor. I do not feel this has anything to do with him being on death row. He is on death row because he murder two innocent people. In essence, trying to say that he should not be put to death for the cold blooded attacks, should make society wonder what kind of foolish message this movie is trying to display. "I defy anyone to sit unaffected through Dead Man Walking, " states Berardinelli. This statement shows how powerful the message is that the move is presenting.

One reason why the movie is wrong in its suggestions about abolishing capital punishment is because murders such as the one described in the movie happen in everyday life. A great example of a real life case was presented in the International Herald Tribune where a 15 -year-old boy was shot to death, after refusing to hand over his leather jacket to a young man in a passing car. The killer was arrested and convicted, then served 14 years in prison. After his release, he shot and killed an elderly man and his wife on their farm in eastern Washington State. Later, in a rural community north of Seattle, an attractive young woman was washing windows outside her home with her 3 -year-old daughter at her side.

An attacker threatened her daughter's life if she wouldn't submit to his sexual desires. He was caught and convicted and served five years before being placed in a work-release program. Then he fled the work-release program and went back to his victim's home. She was having coffee and cookies with a neighbor woman along with her daughter, now at the age of eight. The rapist, armed with a knife, killed both women and the girl by slitting their throats.

After 10 years of costly legal appeals, all at taxpayer expense, their attacker was put to death. It took place at midnight (Jones ed. 2). All of these innocent lives would have been saved if his sentence would have been the death penalty when he was first convicted of murder. This is only one example of this type of case occurring; however, there are many people who get away with murder. I believe that once a person has convicted a serious murder they should be put to death, no questions asked; if not they could get out of jail and commit the same types of crimes numerous times again. In my opinion, this movie is too compassionate towards Matthew Poncelet for murdering those two innocent people. "I do have some criticism of the movie; first it is too sympathetic to the killer.

Watch how they make him into Christ at the end of the movie (Rhodes). " This is the weakest part of the movie showing Matthew as a hero, because he finally admitted he killed and raped the young girl, so he should not be put to death. The movie, Dead Man Walking which is considered to be a movie against the death penalty has a clear message, 'death sentences fall disproportionately on the poor, on people of color, on those whose victims are white, on those prosecuted in states reluctant to promise the disadvantaged a strong defense' (Halperin). That is the basic idea of what the movie is trying to state. I understand that Matthew Poncelet is a human being and that killing him is no better than the government killing him. However, if he would not have killed the two innocent people then the government would have never been in the spot to give him the death penalty. Everything that Matthew received in the movie he deserved.

He absolutely did deserve the death penalty, just as those two young adults did not deserve to die. The opponents of the death penalty claim that the system puts the innocent to death and racially discriminates. However, this is the same everywhere. We find that in business organizations women have to face the glass ceiling. In society the minority face racial discriminations everyday of their lives.

However, we as citizens have to realize that our government is not discriminated criminals based on outer appearance. They are sentencing people because of the crimes they commit. Therefore, I believe that the movie is trying to portray immoral information that is not true and is making our government look bad. We should have no illusions; killers know no remorse. What evil they have committed, they are capable of doing again. The capacity to kill is within each of us.

The difference is that some people have developed either a social, moral or ethical barrier to doing it upon others, because of their life experiences. Those who have not must be taught the lesson, either by punishment or death (Edwards ed. ). I will end with the words of David Anderson who defends the death penalty by stating that 'the capital punishment can be defended from many aspects but it would be enough to say that the death penalty is simply the only just punishment for some of the most heinous crimes and then everything has to be silent. More should not have to be said on the subject.

No one should need to know more. The argument of justice is so strong and decisive that this one argument is enough to introduce the death penalty (Anderson 26). " The movie Dead Man Walking portrays the life of a man living on death row. However, I disagree with some of the concepts the movie presents. I believe that the death penalty has great advantages in which the movie disagrees with. All in all the death penalty eliminates the harmful people in our world and saves the innocent. Works Cited Anderson, David. "The Death Penalty. " 24 April 2004...

Berardinelli, James. "Review: Dead Man Walking. " 24 April 2004... Edwards, ed. "Supporters Grapple with new Doubt. " Minneapolis Star Tribune 31 May 1999. Halperin, Rick. "A Chance Reprieve, and Another Chance at Life. " 29 June 2002. 24 April 2004... Jones ed. "Letters To the Editor for the Death Penalty. " International Herald Tribune 25 April 200. Rhodes, Steve. "Dead Man Walking. " 24 April 2004. 1996... Webster, Brian. "Apollo Movie Guide's Review of Dead Man Walking. " 24 April 2004. 1995.

web full rev. asp? CID = 1890 & Specific = 1710 > . Williams, Madeleine. "Dead Man Walking. " 24 April 2004...


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Research essay sample on Dead Man Walking Put To Death

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