AndrewLoNigro

PREJEAN: …But you have dignity now and no one can take that from you. You are a son of God, Matthew Poncelet.

MATT: Ain’t nobody never called me no son of God before. (smiling) I’ve been called a son-of-a-you-know-what lots of times but never no son of God. I just hope my death gives their parents some relief. I really do.

PREJEAN: Maybe that’s the best thing you can offer that Delacroixs and the Percys, a wish for their peace.

Throughout the entire play, Matt has kept up a wall to all outsiders. He’s never shown any sorrow or taken responsibility for any thing that he’s done. It seems like these deaths really didn’t affect him and maybe he is some type of animal. But I feel that this quote really shows that he’s changed. He’s now thinking about others than just himself.
I stated in my blog that this shows tremendous strength for his character. It’s not that I agree with him but it’s how he does not waver no matter what is thrown his way. This is what I admire about his character. I wish that in certain situations in my life, I could hold strong to my beliefs and not waver just like Matt does.
Another thing that this quote shows is the strength of Helen. On Chera Pupi’s blog, she said “How much strength and love it must have taken for Sr. Helen to rise above all of this, and be there for Matt on his road to death. This woman is certainly one to admire.” Helen has her own level of strength as Chera pointed out. When you think about all of the persecution that Helen is going through you ask yourself, why is she doing it? To me that is the most admirable character to have. She is all alone in her representation of Matt and no one knows why. In the play she evens doubts herself. Helen is standing alone for something that she can’t justify to others or to herself. But, deep inside, she knows that she’s doing the right thing.
That reminds me of the bible story of Noah and the ark. Noah was building an ark because God told him to. To the rest of the world it made no sense. That shows the kind of strength and will power that Helen had to have as well. What if Noah didn’t build that ark? What if he would have used common sense and compromised with the people who were calling him crazy? What if Helen would have listened to those outside voices? Would Matt have gone to his death bed a changed man like he did?