Green Mile Portrays Our Execution System

The Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King is both a wonderful film and a brilliantly written short story. There are many themes represented in each form of The Shawshank Redemption. The one major theme that interests me in both the film and the story is freedom. Freedom serves a large purpose for both the story's writer and the filmmaker. Both use similar examples to signify freedom, not only in the jail, but also in a larger context about life. There are many events and examples in both the film and the short story that signifies the theme of freedom. The one main difference is when the film uses the director’s technique to portray a feel of freedom for the inmates. The overall three issues used in this essay are all linked to the

Shawshank Redemption portrayals differ from reality because violent crime is over represented. The portrait of criminal found in the media has almost no correspondence with official statistics. Most of the criminals in prison are actual guilty of committing a crime. In reality a can trial take a long time, but in the movie they portrayed it in a different way. Guards are not allowed to abuse the prisoners in real life because prisoners have rights. Most of the things portrayed in the movie differs from

The Green Mile is a 3-hour film of two halves: firstly, painting a vivid portrait of life on death row, and the trivialities that brighten up the lives of the people who live and die there. The second half of the movie is given to exploring Coffey himself: his past, his crime, and his powers. He is initially misunderstood by those around him, is convicted of a crime he did not commit, he greatly enriches the lives of those around him, and is eventually executed for refusing to proclaim his own innocence.

The film The Green Mile was originally written by Stephen King and later directed by Frank Darabont. It is based on the guards and inmates of a penitentiary’s Death Row during the great depression. There is a certain monotony that comes with working on Death Row and Paul Edgecomb, played by Tom Hanks, has become numb to the fact that he is paid to take lives; that is until John Coffey gets sentenced to death and is sent to Paul’s “green mile”. John Coffey is a very large black man that was accused of rape and murder of two little girls, and in the 1930’s having charges like that brought upon you was grounds for the death penalty, especially for a black man in the south.

The Shawshank Redemption movie is about a man named Andy Dufresne who was falsely accused of murder and was sentenced to life in prison for the murders of his wife and her lover. Being in jail, Andy faced many problems of being abused, but he also gained a strong friendship with a man named Red. Many of the things that the prisoners had to face showed a sociological perspective on how life was in jail and how it affected the prisoners. In Shawshank prison, the functionalism theory, the conflict perspective, and the control theory shows the life and adjustments a prisoner has to make in order to survive going into a new world.

Green Mile is a movie adapted from a story about the lives of a few guards on duty in death row. The story leads up to the execution of a wrongly accused man that has a spiritual gift that permits him to perform extraordinary feats as he heals the wounded or sick. Paul is

Inmates at Shawshank were often beat within an inch of their lives by the administration at Shawshank in order to instill a sense of obedience and to keep enforcing routine. Head Guard Captain Hadley would on occasion hurt the prisoners so much they would die of injury’s they sustained from him. “Black man, white man, red man, yellow man, it doesn’t matter because we’ve got our own brand of equality. In Prison every con’s a nigger and you have to get used to the idea if you intend to survive men like Hadley and Greg Stammas who really would kill you just as soon as look at you. When you’re in stir you belong to the state and if you forget it woe is you. I’ve known men who have lost eyes, men who have lost toes, Men who have lost fingers, I knew a man who lost the tip of his penis and counted himself lucky” (44) this shows the lack of moral judgment

One of the main themes in “The Green Mile” is death. It encapsulates the whole novel, leaving the reader to think deeply about their fate. It’s an obvious theme, considering the story takes place on death row. However, further analysis reveals a deeper meaning than men dying in the electric chair for their crimes. “And I think about all of us. Walking our own green mile; each in our own time.”(Pg 434) Paul said. The reader will discover that the Green Mile itself is a metaphor for death. Paul compared life at the Green Mile to life for a free citizen, because both lifestyles will end in the same way. Death is inevitable. For the prisoners, they have a set number of days until their execution, so their “Green Mile” is relatively short. A

When discussing the death penalty, rarely do we acknowledge the impact executions have on the men and women who facilitate the process. Although this process is solely voluntary, the side effects are not. According to several executioners, the first experience is far from what they had anticipated. To bring to light the stories of these men and women, Jim Willet facilitates an audio recording which covers the process of executing an inmate and the aftermath which is often felt by the executioner.

There is a great injustice in putting a man in prison to rot; not giving him a purpose or letting him use his skills. So easily, he will lose his courage and ability to hold onto his integrity and humanity. So quickly, he will lose himself. Holding onto one’s humanity is a skill that takes constant practice and the conscious decision to do so. It takes great courage to cling to one’s humanity when he is faced with trying and troublesome situations. At points, one’s integrity might be compromised but if he has grit he can hold onto his humanity all the same. Director Frank Darabont uses the film, the Shawshank Redemption, to prove that the ability to hold onto one’s humanity is a practice that is nurtured and developed through acts of valor.

While the topic can be overwhelming and complex, it is important to study the racist institution of the death penalty because execution is the ultimate expression of which individuals are valued by our society and which are considered dispensable. What the US expresses through its executions carries some racist undertones when we look at the races of the persons being executed, but it takes on a clearly racial direction when we consider the race of the original murder victim. For example, "the most comprehensive study of the death penalty found that killers of whites were eleven times more likely to be condemned to death than killers of African- Americans."3 On the flip side, "only 31 of the over 18,000 executions in this country's history involved a white person being punished for killing a Black person."4 In capital punishment, we find the modernday counterpart to lynching. Of course, lynching often meant sporadic acts of individual racism. Selective killing today is an official, bureaucratized act of the state and therefore an official statement of what our government stands for. And what the government stands for is the most complete disempowerment possible - death - for a large number of Black individuals.

Set on Death Row in a Southern prison in 1935, The Green Mile is the remarkable story of the cell block's head guard, who develops an emotional, and unusual relationship with one inmate who possesses a magical gift that is both mysterious and miraculous. This inmate is John Coffey, who beyond his simple naive nature possess a supernatural gift. This gift is what introduces the correlation between Coffey and Jesus Christ.

The area of the criminal justice system that is showcased in the Shawshank Redemption is the prison system. By following the story of the main character Andy, both the problems and realities of the system are highlighted. Throughout the film, the characters are portrayed in many ways. The most alarming ways that the prisoners in the film is as lower class citizens. By making this point, the writers are eluding to the fact that the system is corrupt because of the subculture that exist within it.

Crime in America is something that has been around for many decades. While a large number of crimes are considered minor, many more result in the serious injury or death of another human being. “When we think about crimes, we … normally focus on inherently wrongful acts that harm or threaten to harm persons or property” (Bibas 22). The death penalty, also called capital punishment, has been used as a means of punishing the most violent of criminals in an attempt to prevent others from committing similar crimes. Over the centuries, the methods used to conduct these executions have evolved and changed due to effectiveness and public opinion.

The Green Mile has a huge connection to the seven Catholic social teachings. The first one, human life and dignity, is very evident in the Green Mile. The main connection with this one is how Tom Hank’s character cares about John Coffey. Many people would not care or even given a second look to someone who is in prison and on death row but Paul, the guard, gets close to him. He ends up really caring about John Coffey and believes he is innocent. It shows human life and dignity because when he has to execute him, he believes he is going to hell and can’t live with what he has done. The film overall brings up the debate of capital punishment. To truly have respect for human life you cannot be in favor of the death penalty. This movie