The Idea of an Essay, Volume 3

2016 Composition Contest Winnners 11 antipathy for violent crime, yet eventual belief in the ability for criminals to be rehabilitated. The postman had a strong prejudice towards Leila, even before she arrived. When Father Jacob hobbled outside to receive his letters, he casually comments “Leila and I were just having tea.” The postman asks with trepidation, “Leila?...The lifer?” Father Jacob lowers his voice and softly corrects the postman by saying, “A former lifer. She was pardoned.” A few nights later, the postman sneaks into Father Jacob’s home to see if Leila has harmed him. When Leila discovers his snooping, she begins to choke the postman before she makes him leave. Throughout the film, the postman begins to trust Leila reluctantly as he witnesses her caring for Father Jacob. The exchanges between Leila and the postman not only represent the wariness of Finnish culture towards violent criminals, but the ultimate conviction that even violent criminals can be transformed. “Finns...are intolerant of crime and violence, yet open to the idea of alternative forms of punishment... Finns also overwhelmingly believe that rehabilitation is a better option than prison” (Ekunwe, Jones, and Mullin 17). People, in the eyes of Finns, are not born into lives of crime, but break the law as a result of societal circumstances. Although early in Letters to Father Jacob the postman has little trust Leila, he gradually begins to trust her character. He displays his trust in her when he reveals that he was the one sending Father Jacob the majority of his letters and then allows her to imagine a letter of her own for Father Jacob. The evolution of the postman’s attitude towards Leila exhibits the Finns’ belief in the criminal’s need for rehabilitation and ability to change. Despite the community’s realistic treatment of Father Jacob and Leila, Father Jacob could not have secured a pardon for Leila because the Catholic Church is not sanctioned by the state of Finland. The Evangelical Lutheran Church and the Finnish Orthodox Church are the only churches officially recognized by the state. Official recognition of preferred churches comes with benefits denied to the Catholic Church. The Finnish government taxes members of the state churches on the churches’ behalf. Businesses also pay a church tax, regardless of the corporation’s religious preference (Christensen “Is the Lutheran Church?”). While the government assists official churches, other sects, such as the Catholic Church, cannot have a similar relationship with the government. In the Journal of Church & State Anne Birgitta Pessi and Henrietta Grönlund describe that