- March 11, 2013
- Posted by: essay
- Category: Term paper writing
The death penalty was the most severe punishment in society since the days when mankind first formed the semblance of civilization. So, we are going to discuss the death penalty citing the movie The Life of David Gale as an example and combining reflections about it with thoughts towards death penalty.
First of all it is necessary to mention that The Life of David Gale is a shocking film, because it combines in itself different emotions and it not only raises important social and political themes (death, humanity and justice), but also reveals the full horror of existence of a human who is possessed by fanatic idea. The Life of David Gale is a dramatic thriller by Alan Parker that holds a special place in American cinematography.
Analyzing events that had a place in the movie, we see that the film tells us the story of a university professor David Gale (Kevin Spacey), who all his life actively fought for the abolition of the death penalty, and then he was accused of murder. So, the life shows its opposite side to David Gale and we found him sitting on death row and awaiting execution by lethal injection. 3 days to save lives, 3 day to think about the plan, 3 days on the revolution … David Gale decided that it is impossible to change society using words, but it is possible to change it with real actions, no matter that the price for changes is his own life.
Examining the death penalty it becomes obvious that the death penalty ”“ is the only punishment which can not be reversed. And if by the time new details emerge, nothing will fix it. The movie shows us real details about the death penalty and David Gale is persuasive in his arguments. The film has two morals (hidden and outward). Outward moral is: the goal should be achieved in any way. It describes the situation that sometimes the person should give the most expensive that he has (in this case, own life) to get big and achieve own aim. Thinking about hidden moral we can mention that human life could be a toy in destiny’s or somebody’s hands.
Thus, discussions about the necessity to abolish the death penalty appear in public regularly, and are indicative of mitigating or stricter morals. Different attempts of putting the death penalty into operation prove that our society is not civilized enough, and that society has no other ways to solve a problem except death. Moreover, the movie really makes people to think about the problem and change the outlook on life. The film has proved that one can not judge a person not previously investigating what happen.
In conclusion, it is possible to say that person’s life is the most valuable thing in our world and no one is immune from mistakes. The death penalty is the ultimate denial of human rights. It is the premeditated and cold-blooded killing of human being by the state. This cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment is done in the name of justice, but it violates the right to life as proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. After all, there are many instances when a person was wrongly convicted. People should always remember the fact that none of us has the right to take life of another person.