They Had Sinned

The Cosmic drama begins with a retelling of the story of the Fall.

The language of the District Attorney provides some of the initial clues that the opening scene is symbolic retelling of the Fall in Genesis. The phrases “they had sinned;” and “death sentence” correspond directly to “original sin” and to God’s warning that “eating of the Tree would result in death.” The emphasis, that their deaths resulted from four shots; three to the body and one to the head also carries the Biblical notion that there are two kinds of “death:” a physical death of the body and a more draconian death of the Spirit; signifying estrangement, “divorce” from God as a result of the fall. “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, fear the one who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matt. 10:28).

When Tommy Williams is executed by Byron Hadley, he also received four shots, but they were all to the body.

Finally, Andy’s supposed outburst to his wife: “I’ll see you in hell before Reno” suggests the preference of the “Powers that be” for a place of reconciliation and reunion, despite the “hellish” nightmare that the soul must experience and endure on the journey back to spiritual Redemption.

The opening scene, which at first looked like a stock “murder mystery” reveals itself symbolically as a Cosmic Drama of the highest order. Here begins the story the soul’s exile from God and resulting search for a Redeemer that can bridge the “great gulf” between the Divine and human.