The Role Of Justice In The Wine Of Astonishment By Earl Lovelace

In every aspect of our lives we make decisions. Most of the time, these decisions are based on what we believe is right or wrong. Our perspectives are called our sense of justice. “That wasn’t right”, says our conscious when we see something unjust. Our next action would be to justify it. We have our different perspectives, but where does our beliefs of justice come from? Every day it is shown that our morals affect our decisions. Most people tend to lean towards neutrality, but it may be best to include our morals and values. Not only include, but to recognize those morals and values that we share and see how they affect individuals internally. Of course, it is inevitable that we will have debates, but at the end of the process it is possible

In the novel, many people that were Roman Catholics viewed other people who were of the Spiritual Baptist community, or known as Shouters, as rowdy and disorderly. As a result, authorities passed the Prohibition Ordinance, banning followers of the Spiritual Baptist community from worshipping in ways that were different from their own. If people followed the justice of Moral and Spiritual Dimension, the Prohibition Ordinance wouldn’t have been thought of, rather a sense of connection would have been established. The common connection of believing, praising, and having faith in God could have been recognized. Also, this type of justice could have prevented the death of one of the main characters, Bolo. Bolo despised segregation and division amongst the community. Even though Bolo’s actions were chaotic, he did anything he could to get to the community to unite, even if the purpose were to murder or be against him. One suggested solution of inequality, which starts with the second step in the process of pursuing the justice of Moral and Spiritual Dimension, was said by the narrator of the book, Eva, stating, “They [the people] need a victory sense…people want to live. People care about their living” (Lovelace, 131). Also relating to sacrifice and service, Eva commented about the

Why do people want to pursue justice and when does it become an issue? People merely pursue justice due to a certain conflict that goes against their beliefs, but it is possible that the drum major instinct drives people to pursue justice. From Martin Luther King Jr., the drum major instinct (DMI) is the desire to be out front (1). In other words, many people like to stand out and want their opinions to be heard. This leads to the question whether our actions are altruistic or egocentric? At first, in most situations, our actions are altruistic. Overtime, that drive of being out front can create an egocentric individual. Reasonably, everyone should have DMI, in the different roles they play as a community, but to an extent. For example, stated by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a high-level of DMI can cause the following: one’s personality to become distorted, to lie about who you know sometimes, engage in activities to merely get attention, and to push others down to push themselves up (3). On the other hand, not having DMI at all can lead to exclusivism, which was an issue within the community in the novel, Wine of Astonishment. Individuals categorize themselves and others, using concepts and ideas that are of the norm, from social-class and rank to race and religion. Altogether, this leads to