Our BetterMost Community > The Polling Place
The Morality Quiz
delalluvia:
No, I never saw Beloved.
But based on the plotline you've said, I, also, would not presume to judge Sethe. She knew what it would be like to be a slave. It's not like she's some nut killing her kids to save them from Satan/living unChristian/Muslim lives. She's trying to save them from living a very real hell on earth. Her story is a tragic one repeated umpteen times throughout history. I know that many people conquered all over Europe and Asia by name-your-favorite-ancient-empire also chose to not only kill their children, but their wives and themselves rather than be taken into bondage.
http://artchive.com/artchive/R/roman/roman_gaul_suicide.jpg.html
Heck what is the story of Masada but mass murder/suicide for that very reason?
The baby situation though seems more like a Sophie's Choice kind of thing.
I gave some more thought to Jess's question about 'what kind of life would you have if you did choose to smother a baby to save your/others lives?'
I think the answer would be - a life that you would try your very best to make worthwhile.
I kept thinking of the movie Saving Private Ryan
SPOILERS AHEAD FOR THOSE WHO HAVE NOT SEEN IT!!!
What was that but a group of men - unwillingly - risking their lives and losing them so that one -ONE- particular man could go home and live his life? Ryan promised himself that he would go on to live the very best life he could so those men wouldn't have died in vain.
It wasn't pleasant at times for him I'm sure. What a burden. But a lot of good came from it as well. At the end, he grieved, but I'm sure he wasn't in the long run, sorry.
ifyoucantfixit:
Unholy dilennas are unholy...and that is what makes them dilemmas. They are problems that
no human should ever have to make. It is not for us to judge a person when faced with this kind of
horrible choice. They do what they feel they must. Just as anyone faced with this kind of a problem. i
should never jugde anyone, specially when having to do it under an immediate threat of death...
We can never really know what to do until the time comes.
serious crayons:
Beloved may be based originally on some true historical story, but the Toni Morrison novel from which it was adapted is fictional. And the tragedy is that, in the story, Sethe DOES escape from slavery not long after killing her baby, Beloved. Then she has another daughter, I think (I'm going from 15-year-old memory). So when Beloved comes back to haunt them, she seems to kind of metaphorically represent Sethe's conscience, or perhaps on a larger scale, the legacy of slavery.
As for the Donners, I read a New Yorker article not long ago indicating that new research suggests they actually didn't eat people.
--- Quote from: delalluvia on November 28, 2007, 07:26:49 pm ---So it doesn't matter that the baby is dead either way? Except if you don't smother it - you're dead too. What good came out of that situation? How is not smothering the baby any better?
--- End quote ---
Yeah, you're right. I guess what I was disagreeing with was someone's earlier comment that killing the baby was a purely selfish decision, whereas I think it really would depend on whether I was saving just my own life or the life of a group. Take the baby out of the equation, and the group would be more important than my single life. But if the baby's absolutely going to die either way, it becomes a different kind of dilemma.
Those choices between a single life, however important, over the lives of numerous people -- those are tough decisions.
Unfortunately, they're kind of related to the torture issue. Do you, ala Jack Bauer, torture someone who knows where the bomb is that's set to blow up Los Angeles, killing millions? Luckily, research seems to suggest that torture is not effective in any case.
David In Indy:
--- Quote from: ineedcrayons on November 29, 2007, 01:26:15 am ---Beloved may be based originally on some true historical story, but the Toni Morrison novel from which it was adapted is fictional. And the tragedy is that, in the story, Sethe DOES escape from slavery not long after killing her baby, Beloved. Then she has another daughter, I think (I'm going from 15-year-old memory). So when Beloved comes back to haunt them, she seems to kind of metaphorically represent Sethe's conscience, or perhaps on a larger scale, the legacy of slavery.
--- End quote ---
I beg to differ, Katherine. I remember Oprah talking about this while she was promoting the movie Beloved. She said it really happened. Now, perhaps this was some sort of cheap Hollywood gimmick. I always understood it to be true and factual. But I remember Oprah telling us the events did not actually occur in the Covington, Kentucky area, but rather about 10 miles further south in Independence, KY, which must have been a real feat for Sethe, running back and forth at that great of a distance. Back then, 10 miles was a long distance, especially on foot.
I think the most important thing for all of us to remember is the movie and the message. It is a lesson in morality, and I think most of us agree that Sethe was probably without fault in trying to protect her children from slavery using the only means available in order to do so. :'(
Kerry:
--- Quote from: David on November 29, 2007, 05:46:33 am ---I think the most important thing for all of us to remember is the movie and the message. It is a lesson in morality, and I think most of us agree that Sethe was probably without fault in trying to protect her children from slavery using the only means available in order to do so. :'(
--- End quote ---
"Beloved" sounds like a very poignant, inspirational story. I'll be looking out for it when next I'm hiring a movie. Thank you for telling us about it, David. :)
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