National Duty When is it OK to disobey orders? At what point does duty come second to personal feelings and opinion? Is it acceptable to set aside your national duties and lend a helping hand your fellow man? Comparing the short story "Guests of the Nation" to the play "The Rising of the Moon" we find that both authors view these questions differently. We as readers are given two different situations where the main characters are each faced with a difficult choice. The characters will have to choose to follow orders or make the unpopular choice and go against them. In “Guests of the Nation” the author illustrates how heavily national affiliation can weigh on a person and how hard it can be to follow through with orders that go against …show more content…
This is when the story takes a turn towards the climactic ending. Although both Bonaparte and Noble opted out of luring the Englishmen. They follow orders and accompany them to the bog, where Belcher and Hawkins are to be executed. After Belcher and Hawkins gained conformation that they are about to be put to death, Hawkins begins to ask questions about the state of their friendship. “Why did any of us want to plug him? What had he done to us? Weren't we all chums? Didn't we understand him and didn't he understand us?”(56) This proves that not only was the bond real but that it was equal on both sides. Hawkins continues on to ask if the roles were reversed did Bonaparte or Noble believe for an instant that he would shoot them, Hawkins says that he would never be able to shoot a friend. Bonaparte and Noble feel that they are in no position to argue on their behalf and remain silent. Forced to follow orders, both men watch as Belcher and Hawkins are executed by the hands of Donovan. O'Connor places a great deal of importance of having love for all humanity from the remorse shown by Bonaparte and Noble for the death their friends. We gain a sense of O'Connor's empathy towards the two characters. This shows that viewing the world in regions and territories can have painful
Holton, Woody. Unruly Americans and the Origins of the Constitution. New York: Hill and Wang, 2007.
The power of blind obedience taints individuals’ ability to clearly distinguish between right and wrong in terms of obedience, or disobedience, to an unjust superior. In the article “The Abu Ghraib Prison Scandal: Sources of Sadism,” Marianne Szegedy-Maszak discusses the unwarranted murder of innocent individuals due to vague orders that did not survive with certainty. Szegedy-Maszak utilizes the tactics of authorization, routinization, and dehumanization, respectively, to attempt to justify the soldiers’ heinous actions (Szegedy-Maszak 76-77). In addition, “Just Do What the Pilot Tells You” by Theodore Dalrymple distinguishes between blind disobedience and blind obedience to authority and stating that neither is superior;
Obedience has always been a trait present in every aspect of society. Parents have practiced enforcing discipline in their homes where children learn obedience from age one. Instructors have found it difficult to teach a lesson unless their students submit to their authority. Even after the adolescent years, law enforcement officers and governmental officials have expected citizens to uphold the law and abide by the standards set in society. Few will understand, however, that although these requirements for obedience provide positive results for development, there are also dangers to enforcing this important trait. Obedience to authority can be either profitable or perilous depending on who the individual in command is. In the film, The Crucible,
The central idea is that man is responsible for defining his own sense of honor. A clear choice between right and wrong does not always exist. The safest decision is not always the easiest to live with. What Dubus seems to be commenting on is the transformation of man as he grows older. At an older age, you learn to accept things you cannot change.
Works Cited Bartlett, Donald L. and Steele, James B. EMPIRE. New York, W. W. Norton & Company. 1979. Drosnin, Michael. Citizen Hughes: In His Own Words. New York, Holt, Tinch and Winston. 1985.
... Belcher and Hawkins remain at ease, thinking themselves safe. In the end both Hawkins' futile appeal to the friendship of his "chums" and Belcher's resignation serve to emphasize the horror of the executions.
New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2004. Romance, Joseph. Political Science 6 class lectures. Drew University, Summer 2004.
"An American "Must"" Saturday Evening Post 16 Jan. 1943: 100. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 6 Mar. 2014.
Davidson, J. W., Delay, B., et al. (2005). Nation of nations: a narrative history of the American Republic (6th ed., Vol. 2). Boston: McGraw Hill.
The soldiers at My Lai were in an environment conducive to obeying orders. They have been trained to follow the orders of their commanders; respect for authority is weighed heavily upon. It is hard for them to disobey because they have been integrated into the social structure of the military and when in the middle of a war they would have nowhere to turn if they choose to disobey the orders of their commanders. The consequences of disobedience for them could be sent to death. A classic example of the power of authoritative factors is provided by Stanley Milgram’s
Reynolds, Larry. “Patriot and Criminals, Criminal and Patriots.” South Central Review. Vol 9, No. 1.
Ordinary people are willing to go against their own decision of right and wrong to fulfill the request of an authoritative figure, even at the expense of their own moral judgment and sense of what is right and wrong. Using a variety of online resources including The Perils of Obedience by Stanley Milgram this paper attempts to prove this claim.
More specifically, the movie A Few Good Men depicts the results of blindly obeying orders. Stanley Milgram, a Yale psychologist, also explores obedience to authority in his essay “ The Perils of Obedience”. On the other hand, Erich Fromm, a psychoanalyst and philosopher, focused on disobedience to authority in his essay “ Disobedience as a Psychological and Moral Problem.” Milgram wrote about how people were shockingly obedient to authority when they thought they were harming someone else while Fromm dissected both: why people are so prone to obey and how disobedience from authoritative figures can bring beneficial changes for society. Obeying commands, even when they go against our morals, is human nature; Disobeying commands, however, is challenging to do no matter what the situation is.
Obedience is a widely debated topic today with many different standpoints from various brilliant psychologists. Studying obedience is still important today to attempt to understand why atrocities like the Holocaust or the My Lai Massacre happened so society can learn from them and not repeat history. There are many factors that contribute to obedience including situation and authority. The film A Few Good Men, through a military court case, shows how anyone can fall under the influence of authority and become completely obedient to conform to the roles that they have been assigned. A Few Good Men demonstrates how authority figures can control others and influence them into persuading them to perform a task considered immoral or unethical.
In closing, W.D Howells is successful in his use of these methods of argument. “Editha” paints a clear picture of the men who must fight and the people who casually call for war. He proves Editha’s motives are unworthy of devotion. After all, it is easy to sit back and call for war when it will be the common enlisted man who will die to provide this luxury. In the end, Howells made his point clear. War never comes without sacrifice or consequence.