Capital Punishment, also known as the ‘Death Penalty’, is a government-based exercise in which a person is killed as a punishment for a specific crime. Many countries, including First World Nations, have Capital Punishment already established or in practice today. Capital Punishment dates back to the 18th century when the first laws for execution were in place, when a man by the name of King Hammurabi was killed for the commitment of 25 different crimes, although murder was not one of them. In relation to Capital Punishment, the film: The Green Mile, tells the unpredictable story of a death row supervisor, Paul Edgecombe, and his unusual encounter with a new prison inmate, John Coffey, who carries unimaginable healing abilities and is likely portrayed as Jesus Christ. John Coffey was later proved to be innocent by his interaction with the true criminal, Wild Bill, who killed two young girls, with John was framed for. These events link up with the historical incidents in which Jesus went through, as he was truly innocent, although ended up being killed.
The Catholic Church enrols a list of teachings in which are relevant to Capital Punishment. These include the Life and Dignity of the Human Person, and the Care for God’s Creation. The life and dignity of the human person is proclaimed through the Catholic Church teachings, stating that the belief is the foundation of a moral vision for society. The social teaching of caring for God’s creation is acknowledging that we “show respect for the Creator by our stewardship of creation.” Our faith requires us to care for the Earth, and all living beings on it. We as people are called to protect each other and the planet, as we live in faith with God.
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A character which is relevant and has an association with the Catholic Social Teaching is John Coffey. John Coffey represents Jesus Christ as he has the ability heal people and see things which may have occurred in the past. His abilities cause the prison guards to oversee his powers as his innocence is revealed, although cannot be proved. In one scene, John grips the prison guard, Paul Edgecombe, and magically gives him the ability to see the horrific things in which he has seen before. John’s magic is proved after a scene shows the prison guards taking John to the home of the boss and his terminally ill wife. The prison guards choose to approach this matter Teleologically, as they know that taking John out of imprisonment is wrong, although the consequence could save a life, and it in fact did, proving his innocence.
Wild Bill represents the devil and all evil spirits. It is later proved that Wild Bill was responsible for the death of two young girls, which John Coffey was initially blamed for, although it cannot be proven. Wild Bill is seen to have some sort of mental disability after he portrays mental symptoms such as screaming, spitting at inmates and acting dangerous. Bill’s enemy, Percy Wetmore, is the brutally cruel prison guard that takes no other approach than Deontological. Percy’s deontological approach, shows him brutally beating, screaming and treating the prison inmates in a very cruel manner. After the other prison guards took John Coffey, they made sure to lock Percy away during that time, as they knew he would do everything in his power to possibly stop them, which proves his deontological approaches.
In conclusion, The Green Mile was an excellent way to assist in making a moral decision about how each individual in society is influenced by a range of many different factors. Capital Punishment is an ethical issue which closely related to the film, and also assisted in identifying and explaining how the Catholic Church would like people to consider the issue. Two characters where analysed, John Coffey and Wild Bill, and were established as portraying God and the Devil/Evil.
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