One way the two characters differ is David was innocent and Matthew was guilty of the crimes they were accused of committing. Although David was innocent and Matthew was guilty, they were both sentenced to death. Their situations reveal that the justice system is flawed. It is flawed due to the fact that innocent people are on death row.
The Life of David Gale and Dead Man Walking have many things in common but, specifically both films include flashbacks. In The Life of David Gale, the flashbacks included background information that was important for the audience to know. The film would flashback to his days as a professor and his days spent with his friend, Constance. In Dead Man Walking, the film flashbacked to when he help murder the two teenagers in the woods. In each film, the flashbacks show background information and allow the audience to recognize the truth of the characters and the crimes they were blamed …show more content…
In The Life of David Gale, David is innocent yet is still executed before Bitsey could prove his innocence. In Dead Man Walking, Matthew is guilty therefore he is executed as well. The difference is, in The Life of David Gale, David’s execution is not displayed for the audience to see. The audience finds out he is dead when the governor announces, “The state of Texas has executed David Gale.” In Dead Man Walking, the viewers actually see Matthew get executed. Both scenes are very powerful but, the scene in Dead Man Walking gives an emotional appeal to the viewers that the death penalty is real. This leaves the audience in more shock than the scene in The Life of David Gale