Loss of Innocence & Forgiveness

Children are said to be the most innocent people on earth because they have yet to be infected with the evils of the world. When Dave got into the back of the car that one afternoon, however, he was wrongfully robbed of his innocence. Although he appears to be a grown man physically, throughout the movie it becomes evident that mentally Dave is still a young, innocent child. Due to his traumatizing past and lost youth, Dave is the one character in Mystic River  who can genuinely claim his innocence. Furthermore, Dave’s naivety and anger is portrayed through his actions. For example, Dave brutally murders the pedophile in order to preserve the little boy’s youth and purity. The horrors associated with getting into the back of that car haunts Dave’s thoughts and actions on a daily basis. Considering that Dave never gets the opportunity to fully mature into an adult, he is capable of claiming his innocence

                                          

.

          Burying a child is a devastating event no parent should ever have to experience. After finding out that his daughter was murdered, Jimmy’s old, violent ways resurface as he promises Katie he will find and kill her murderer. Being the circumstances, Jimmy is the one character in Mystic River who is the most deserving of forgiveness. Losing Katie significantly alters Jimmy’s perception of right and wrong. For instance, Jimmy kills Dave merely because he was seeking revenge for the injustice of Katie’s murder. Ultimately Jimmy deserves genuine forgiveness because his grief for Katie and anger towards her murderer causes him to lose all rationale and return to his old ways.