The Life of David Gale

The Life of David Gale

“Murder and capital punishment are not opposites that cancel one another, but similars that breed their kind” (George Bernard Shaw).

There are civilizations and niches of hunters all over the world that believe if you drink the blood of the steer you kill you reach a level of enlightenment that only hunters and those willing to take a life are subject to. If this is true what happens psychologically to the hired hands of “correctional facilities” that either apply for or are relocated to the job of, executioner, murderer, or any variation of the job? If your job is to kill, regardless of weather or not it is classified as “justifiable” your psychological dynamics will undoubtedly be altered. To quote John Mayer “where are all the people watching people watching me?” If you give people the right or duty to kill others their morals become questionable. George Shaw’s standpoint towards capitol punishment challenges the very concept of an eye for an eye and the mentality of politicians and civilians alike that support capital punishment. If the son of a carpenter learns patience, hard work, dedication, and craftsmanship what is absorbed by the son of an executioner? Alan Parker clearly utilizes a balance of both pathos and logos in the film The Life of David Gale, to present both rational and non-rational aspects in support of the argument that Capital Punishment is not only wrong, but the system and branches of the judicial system

responsible for its undertaking are flawed. Any mistake would be proof that the two were reprehensible for murder and is nothing less than intolerable. Though Alan Parker claims that the film was not meant to be “[…]a political diatribe”(Alan Parker’s The Death Penalty: The Political Argument), the film unmistakably provides energy for one.

The strongest presence of emotional appeal within the film was embedded into the characters David Gale and Constance. Constance’s involvement in the film was astronomically essential, especially when it came to proving that mistakes can occur with the process of prosecuting a candidate for capital punishment. Constance’s story was an extreme example of pathos. It was imperative that her passion for the cause surpass everybody else’s in the film with the exception maybe of David Gale. Her passion can nearly be summed up in these two sentences she exclaimed in one of her protests. “When you kill someone you rob their family; not just of a loved one but of their humanity. You harden their hearts with hate, you take away their capacity for civilized dispassion you condemn them to blood lust”(Script Extract ). Constance utilizes a blend of pathos and a dab of logos to identify with the rally. Though her facts are not concrete evidence, the audience empathizes with what she’s saying because they recognize it to be true. It’s never a party when someone dies unless it’s at a wake. When considering the gravity of loosing a loved one, one could only expect to feel hopeless, angry, wronged and robbed. The individuality of the film must once again be reflected upon because soon after the rally, the rising action, the climax emerges embodied through David discovering Constance’s sickness, the falling action occurs (when taking into account the plot or diagram in which the events take place). When describing the manner in which Constance was killed, Gale says:

“�Constance was murdered by what was known as the secure top method.

You’re handcuffed, you’re forced to swallow the key, your mouth is taped,

a bag is taped over your head and you’re left there to suffocate. […] it’s a cheap but effective method. Problem is I once mentioned it in an article that I wrote… Prosecution never knew that.’ Betsy: �Someone’s framing you?’ Gale: �Oh it’s more than that’”(Script Excerpt).

Within this small portion of dialogue alone, the writer, Charles Randolph, gives himself room to include one of the greatest displays of dramatic irony of our time. In these three to four sentences, a sense of determination and necessary malevolence can be seen in Gale’s expression. For as is later revealed to the reader and/or viewer, Constance’s death was not a murder but an orchestration. This is an example of pathos not because he keeps the information from Betsy but because he was willing to die for the cause just as Constance was. People like Constance and those involved with Death Watch believe that correctional facilities should be correctional facilities. If their purpose is to rehabilitate they should focus on just