Dead Man Walking Sparknotes

Dead Man Walking retells a true story of Sister Helen Prejean, who is a Roman Catholic nun who attempts to bring salvation to a convicted murderer and rapist on Death Row named Matthew Poncelet. Matthew writes a letter to Sister Helen, asking her to take on his case to compile a final appeal, one week before his scheduled execution. She agrees to meet with him, and decides to work with Matthew. Matthew is unashamed to be a racist along with a sexist, and to feel no remorse for the crimes he has been convicted of. He insists his innocence, and Sister Helen hires a lawyer pro-bono to appeal the court to change his sentence from capital punishment to a life sentence. Sister Helen finds herself facing disapproval from her own family, friends, and the families of the deceased. When the appeal is dismissed, Matthew …show more content…
In the second-to-last shot of the scene, shot 10, Sister Helen convinces Matthew to read John 8:32, which commands "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free". Matthew interprets this advice differently than Sister Helen intended, by believing that passing a lie detector test will remove him from Death Row. When he states this, the shot does not cut to his face. Instead, the camera remains on Sister Helen's face, where Sister Helen's reaction to his statement is in focus while Matthew is still only a dimly lit reflection in the glass. This suggests that Matthew has failed to process Sister Helen's personal interpretation. When Sister Helen corrects him, and tells him that he will only be "free" once he recognizes his own part in the murders and rape. It is only then that the camera cuts to a reverse shot of Matthew. The camera subsequently lingers on his silence for a full 13 seconds, to highlight the impact that her assertion had on him. This shot is the first time in which Matthew expresses any remorse for his