News flash: convicts on Death Row spend a lot of time in prison. They're trapped in handcuffs and in leg chains, and they're behind bars. But as Dead Man Walking shows us, they're also trapped, and even tortured, by the fear of death: their freedom to live is being taken away.
Basically, there's freedom and then there's freedom. The book argues forcefully for the freedom to live, but it presents confinement of movement as sometimes just and necessary. But does that make sense? Can you write at length about the inequities of the justice system and the necessity of freedom while still embracing prison? It's not an issue Prejean confronts directly, but it pokes its head in around the edges of her story.
Questions About Freedom and Confinement
- Does Prejean feel that confinement is unjust? Why or why not?
- Does Prejean ever argue that is just to take away someone's freedom? Explain your answer.
- Whose freedoms have Pat and Robert taken away?
Chew on This
Confinement in Dead Man Walking is violence.
Confinement in Dead Man Walking is an alternative to violence.