Stopping Othering for Personal Growth Helen and Patrick in Dead Man Walking

As we grow, we tend to conform to the cultures and beliefs as well as the orientations provided by our immediate communities. Othering has brewed hatred and in some extreme situations civil strife between rival communities or races. Therefore, it is a concern that we question this mentality. “Othering” can be defined as any action by which an individual or group is mentally classified in another person’s mind as “not one of us. ” In the book Dead Man Walking, Sister Helen Prejean is presented as the figure of overcoming othering. She soon gained interest in capital punishment following her correspondence with Patrick sooner and later with Robert Willie. Prejean embraced love and firmly believed that everyone deserved a second chance. She provided that despite being murderers, humanity remained intact and as such no one deserved the cruel punishment of death.

In addition, Prejean believed that the God she served would not hand over the power to decide who lives and who dies to human beings. Therefore, according to her death sentence was an underserved cruel sentence. Another key figure in the book is Patrick Sonnier. Throughout his life, Patrick has not known love. He is now in prison convicted of a murder that he did not commit. Despite the situations, he is craving for love and he is lucky to receive genuine affection from Prejean. Patrick seeks to die in piece and with dignity and as such he makes an effort to apologize to the father of the victims, Leblanc (Prejean). On this side of the street majority of the shoppers were Caucasian. Although other races were represented the numbers were much fewer.

I got into one of the stores on the corner and to my surprise I learnt that I was not welcomed. One of the sales attendants quickly asked about what I would purchase to which I quickly that I was looking for a watch. She then cautioned me that she didn’t think I was able to afford the watches in their stock and that I would rather stop wasting my time and look elsewhere, may be in the shops downtown. Just like Prejean we all have the responsibility of ministering to the needs of those in difficult situations. Prejean was able to overcome the barriers of class to help counsel victims of a flawed justice and correctional system in the United States of America. Through having genuine interest in the well-being of Patrick and Willie, Prejean was able to help them realize their mistakes and even ask for forgiveness from the families of the victims.

She was able to help them through the process of restoring their dignity. Prejean’s journey is not an easy one as she had to sacrifice her preferred lifestyle in order to speak up for those who were in need. com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/10/20/from-mexican-rapists-to-bad-hombres-the-trump-campaign-in-two-moments/?noredirect=on&utm_term=. ca34d595c7 What Would You Do? Black Customer Racially Profiled In High End Store | What Would You Do? | WWYD. July 30 2016. youtube. com/watch?v=qWIph_xlTbY Leally, Colleen.