Category: Final Essay (Page 1 of 2)

Tyler Queylin

Professor Scanlan

ENG 2001

December 14, 2020    

Technology on Psychological Health

            In society there are set boundaries for morals and values that individuals consider incorrect or correct. Individuals in society however have their own sets of morals and values in their own mind and also when it comes to decision making. Society usually judges others’ actions and decision making if the individual makes it public. In this course, I’ve learned that ethics control an individuals’ decision making because those are the principles that the individual lives by. There are a few specific ethics that were covered this semester that is seen in literature when it comes to characters’ actions and morals. In the short story “The Veldt” by Ray Bradury, we see two of the specific ethics was brought up this semester, Virtue ethics and also Utilitarianism ethics.  Virtue ethics is when the individual chooses their decision or action y thinking of the consequences and “what kind of person” each decision would make them be. Virtue ethics can both be positive and negative and does not give the individual a conscience to go by. Utilitarianism ethics is when the individual uses their conscience to make the morally correct decision because doing the right thing will bring the most good energy out. Ray Bradbury’s “The Veldt” portrays these two specific types of ethics with his characters and what they base their decision making on throughout the story.

            The short story is about a family that has a very advanced and expensive house that has a built in system that does everything for the family. George and Lydia the parents allow the “Happy Life Home” to do chores for the children, tuck them into bed, dress them, and a lot of other necessities an individual would have to do on their own. However, the children Wendy and Peter’s favorite part of their technologically advanced home is the Nursery. The Nursery is a room in their house that allows the children to think of any place or situation and they will be able to instantly live in their desired location. George and Lydia don’t have the closest relationship to their children because their home system does all the bonding that a parent would do with their child. George and Lydia also don’t really enforce any rules to their children about the house, the children are used to doing whatever they please which makes them stubborn. As the story goes along the parents start to get worried about Wendy and Peter spending too much time in the nursery and thinking of crazy situations that can mess their young and developing minds up so they suggest that they shut down the house’s system. Of course the children are not content about the decision that their parents are making because George and Lydia always base their decision making off of what the children desire. Since the children are so stubborn and feel as the house’s system and nursery are their parent figure, the story takes a twist and the children actually end up murdering their parents in the nursery by thinking of a situation with lions trapping them and eating them at the end of the story. 

            George and Lydia decision make based on their children, they feel that they need to make decisions to make the children happy and please them. This is because the children are stubborn and are always used to getting whatever they want at any time because of how their life is ran with their technologically advanced house. Towards the beginning of the story George and Lydia talk about the special room they got for the children in the house which is the nursery and how it was expensive but if it’s for the kids they’re determined to do anything to please them. “ it had cost half as much as the rest of the house. But nothing’s too good for our children, George had said.” (Bradbury 1) This quote shows how George and Lydia aren’t typical parents and don’t have morals that parents should have, when your children are growing up, as a parent you have to teach them discipline and how to deal with the answer no sometimes. However from this quote we see the parents don’t have a conscience when it comes to their decisions as long as the kids are happy with what their parents decided. George and Lydia’s decision making represents Utilitarianism ethics because we see that they both don’t decide for themselves but they decide based on their children’s reactions and feelings. The parents must think that if they keep pleasing their children repeatedly with anything that it will produce more good for the family which is wrong and it makes the kids stubborn and messes up their young developing minds psychologically. “They walked down the hall of their soundproofed Happylife Home, them thirty thousand dollars installed, this house which clothed and fed and rocked them to sleep and played and sang was good to them.” (Bradbury 1) This other quote from the beginning of the story shows how much money the parents have invested on their home for the children. The children cannot even do simple tasks like dress themselves or feed themselves. Peter and Wendy rely strictly on the technology in their house but their parents don’t see anything wrong with that because they believe and use Utilitarianism ethics to choose their decisions. They don’t see that relying and buying this house will not let their children develop and grow but they think they are making the correct decision because they want to bring the most pleasure to produce the most good. George and Lydia do not understand the principles and morals that you have to take as a parent when raising their children correctly which is why the story ends how it does.

            Throughout the story and towards the ending we see more representation of Virtue ethics, the biggest one is when the children make the decision that they are going to rebel against their parents from turning off the technology in the house. The children are very stubborn and are used to always having their way so when George says he is going to turn off the house they do everything they can to stop their parents, eventually killing them. “Daddy, Mommy, come quick! They went downstairs in the air flue and ran down the hall. The children were nowhere in sight. Wendy? Peter! The door slammed…. Why, they’ve locked it from the outside!” (Bradury 8) This is when Wendy and Peter trick their parents into running into the nursery and they lock them inside. We can see Virtue ethics being portrayed here because Wendy and Peter are selfish and will do anything to get their way, they have no morals or principles and have no problems doing this to their parents as long as they get what they want which is their Happylife Home. “The lions on three sides of them, in the yellow veldt grass, padding through the dry straw, rumbling and roaring in their throats. The lions. Mr. Hadley looked at his wife and they turned and looked back at the beasts edging slowly forward crouching, tails stiff. Mr. and Mrs. Hadley screamed. And suddenly they realized why those other screams bad sounded familiar.”(Bradbury 8) This quote is when George and Lydia get murdered by the lions that their children had produced with their imagination with the nursery. The screams that George and Lydia heard earlier in the story were actually their own screams because Wendy and Peter had actually already thought about murdering their parents and finally executed it when something didn’t go their way. Virtue ethics is more about self-centered decisions and these ethics don’t provide any morals or guidance which can be seen when Wendy and Peter make a cruel and selfish decision to their parents.

            There is a moment in the story that represents both Utilitarianism ethics and Virtue ethics. When Lydia talks about how the house is more of a mother than her and she feels depressed and miserable because she feels like she isn’t there and important to her children. George decides to step in and he tells the children later at dinner that he will turn off the technology in the whole house for a while. “”I wouldn’t want the nursery locked up,” said Peter coldly. “Ever.” “Matter of fact, we’re thinking of turning the whole house off for about a month.” (Bradury 6) This is when George breaks the important news of what he is deciding to do to the house for a month to the children. However, I’m sure this represents Utilitarianism ethics because he is basing this decision off of his wife and how she feels useless because she doesn’t have a role as a mother due to the house being there for her kids more than her. He is doing this for Lydia but also at the same time we can say that this decision of shutting the house down is a Virtue ethic because he does not consider what his children feel and saying. George is doing this for himself as a parent also which can be considered a selfish decision and more of a choice for himself.

            In conclusion, the short story “The Veldt” by Ray Bradbury is a perfect story that represents both Virtue and Utilitarianism ethics. Bradbury portrays this through the plot and most importantly through the actions and decisions of the characters. Peter and Wendy are two stubborn and undisciplined children whose minds were messed up due to relying on technology and always getting their way which is why they make such crazy self -centered decisions like murdering their parents as long as they get what they want. George and Lydia are parents without any principles and do anything for their children as long as it pleases them because they think it is going to bring out more positive and good for their family however in the story it’s the complete opposite and it actually gets them killed at the end. Bradbury does an amazing job with the characters explaining how they make their decisions and why they make their decisions by developing the characters throughout the plot. The Veldt is a short story that portrays the two ethics throughout the characters’ morals and principles.

Work Cited

Scanlan, S. (2020) Five types of Ethics https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/profscanlan-english2001-fiction-f2020/files/2020/11/Five-types-of-Ethics-fall-2020.docx 

“The Veldt” by Ray Bradbury http://hthcvfolks.weebly.com/uploads/1/3/3/6/13360453/the-veldt-ray-bradbury-pdf_1.pdf

Melanie Alvarado 

Final essay, English 2001

December 13, 2020

Have a better life

According to Fernando Savater, “Ethics is nothing more than the rational attempt to find out how to live better.” People make daily decisions according to our ethical criteria, these decisions taken result from the different types of ethics that people follow to feel better. This essay explores different types of ethics found in the science fiction book “The Veldt” written by Ray Bradbury. The three different types of ethics that stand out the most throughout history are global ethics and utilitarian ethics. The author, Ray B. presents these ethics in the characters when they decide in times of stress.

The story is mainly based on a family, parents named George and Lydia Hadley and their two young children Wendy and Peter. The family lives in a smart house that does everything that a person is supposed to do, like cleaning or taking care of the children. The first type of ethics that we can find in history is Global ethics, since it shows us questions and ethical problems that arise from the global interconnection and interdependence of the world population. The problem that exists at the present time due to the advancement of technology. In the story, we can see how the author made parents make the decision to have a smart home to present the idea of how the advancement of technology in a home can led to problems in families, such as lack of communication and forming an obsession in infants to technology. This decision illustrates global ethics because it presents a problem that currently affects most of the population. As can be seen in the story, Peter, their son said, “That sounds dreadful! Would I have to tie my own shoes instead of letting the shoe tier do it? And brush my own teeth and comb my hair and give myself a bath?” (Page 9). This actively illustrates that the child in the story is obsessed with technology because the smart home does for him the basic activities of a human being, leaving the child without a basic knowledge of survival. On the other hand, according to the book “The Veldt” it is mentioned “Too much of anything isn’t good for anyone ” (Page 5) as for example, the obsession caused the children to stop having a sentimental effect on their parents. Creating a closer relationship with the machines than with their parents. Communication problems and obsession and dependence on technology are created by parents when deciding to buy the house to live better, but the decision was counterproductive, by complicating and adding more problems in the family. Therefore, the parents make the decision to leave home to stop having the problems mentioned above, a decision that is global ethics.

Another essential point is another ethical decision made in “The Veldt” is Utilitarian ethics. An illustration of this ethical decision, is when the father turns off the children’s playroom, making his children, Peter and Wendy cry and scream, until George decides to turn it on again on the condition that he says ” All right — all right, if they’ll just shut up. One minute, mind you, and then off forever ” (Page 12). A decision made at a time of stress by George the father, for his own benefit, although he knows that giving his children more time will hurt them. Furthermore, another idea presented on utilitarian ethics is about how, at the beginning of the story, parents feel that they have no function at home, the mother Lynda declared “That’s just it. I feel like I don’t belong here. The house is wife and mother now, and nursemaid” (Page 4) ergo, she felt the discontent towards not being able to do nothing and feel worthless. The decision that the mother makes to move out of the house with the family, is due to wanting the happiness of feeling useful in her home, so it is a decision that seeks to increase happiness, but it’s a decision self-interest.

On the other hand, we can observe a connection between utilitarian ethics and the spirit of perverseness. The children, Wendy and Peter, in the story decide to kill their parents, because they disagree with their parents, since they do want to live in the house with the technology. Children know that to get to live in the house is to kill their parents. “Open the door! cried George Hadley […] Why, they’ve locked it from the outside! Peter![…]He heard Peter’s voice outside […] Don’t let them switch off the nursery and the house, he was saying. […]Mr. and Mrs. George Hadley beat at the door. Now, don’t be ridiculous, children[…] And then they heard the sounds.[…]The lions. Mr. Hadley looked at his wife and they turned and looked back at the beasts edging slowly forward crouching, tails stiff. Mr. and Mrs. Hadley screamed” The spirt perverseness connects with this scene because the children know they are doing something erroneous, but they do it anyway. Children make the decision to kill their parents for their own benefit even if others suffer. Therefore, both concepts don’t think about long-term consequences.

To sum up everything that has been stated, in the story “the prairie” the author represents two remarkable types of ethics, such as Global ethics as well as Utilitarian Ethics. Both types of ethics are represented through history, these are represented in the decisions made by the characters in the story. Each decision was made with the main idea of wanting to have a better life. This story shows the readers an example of what the consequences of the decisions we make daily could affect our life. 

Cody Santana

12/6/20

Class Number: Eng 2001-0525

Word Count: 1,279

                                              “The Tale of Gachin, Born again”

                               In this essay I will be taking a detailed look into the story called “A Good Fall” by Ha Jin. This story is a part of a collection of stories written by Ha Jin that takes place in New York City and tells the stories of Chinese immigrants trying to find their way in this new life of theirs far away from the home they were once used to. In this particular story we will be taking a deep look at the character known as Gachin and his struggles in America. We will be paying the most attention to the way he lives his life, more specifically his ethics. Everyone in life in one way or another lives by a certain moral compass whether it’s gained through family, or taught through a religious belief, or even just gained from personal experiences you have gone through in your life. No matter what we all stand by some kind of ethic code that for whatever reason we have a hard time breaking. In Gachin’s case his moral code comes through being a monk and living that way for a majority of his life. Right from the beginning of the story Gachin loses his job and he is no longer a legal United States citizen and is forced to somehow find a way to survive while not having any money in hand. Through this what was once his reality is now broken and he has to now pick up the pieces and find a way to salvage what has been taken from him. Because of these recent events he is confronted with choices that go against himself and the way of life he has been living as a monk his entire life. Through breaking down this story we will be asking ourselves a few questions. What ethics does Gachin’s character follow? What does Gachin do to keep his moral code in check? And finally what becomes of Gachin’s character by the end of the story and how does he get there? In order to find the answers to these questions we must first get a better understanding of who Gachin is as a person and how he got to where he is now in the story.

                         In the story “A Good Fall” we start off with Gachin teaching his Kung Fu class and ends the class early as he is hit by a student during a sparring session, he gets up very slowly and looks to be in a lot of pain as shown through the concerned looks of the students as they watch him get up. This tells us that Gachin isn’t exactly young however we do not know how old he is exactly, we can only assume he’s not in the best shape. After this event his boss calls him into his room to speak with him, he informs Gachin that he can no longer work there because his visa has expired and is no longer a legal citizen, along with this he informs Gachin that he can not pay the money that is owed to him which put Gachin in a very tough situation. Now not only is he not a legal U.S Citizen he can no longer go back to his home country because all that money he worked for is down the drain, at this point in the story it is all about survival. He has to find a way to get food, a roof over his head, and a way to deal with his citizenship problem. Before we get into his obstacles we must first discuss what kind of ethics Gachin’s character fits in order to understand his mindset throughout his journey within the story. I believe Gachin fits within virtue ethics. What exactly is virtue ethics? This type of ethics is one where a person addresses the kind of person they should be, and this is usually taught to them through religion, family, or usually a mix of both. Virtue ethics is something that is practiced by a person for upwards of several years just like in Gachin’s case who was brought up as a monk, so a lot of his beliefs are based on his upbringing and have a huge impact within this story. 

                   So now that we have stated what kind of ethic belief Gachin follows we can now talk about why it is that I believe he follows virtue ethics using evidence shown through the story. Firstly we know the kind of predicament he is currently in and how he got there, but now let’s talk about the actions and choices he has made and how his morality changes by the end of the story. Right after Gachin gets told the bad news he ends up calling up an old student of his named Cindy who is an American Born Chinese, ever since reuniting with this student she would invite him out to have tea with him and was always around, and he now brings up these current events with her and she subtly brings up the idea of marrying him to make him a legal citizen again, he at this point in the story denies this because he as a monk cannot get married, it is just something that is not possible for him. On top of this he also runs into an old friend from his country who also provides for him a roof over his head and food on top of that, and at first he denies a lot of the food presented to him because he is vegan and what the friend was offering was meat and things of that sort, but over time he begins to forsake veganism just to survive. It is at this point in the story that he starts to change just a little bit and he slowly realizes that in order to survive he may have to change. Later in the story everything comes to a head when he feels he can’t handle his life anymore and attempts to end his life by jumping off of a roof. Once he attempts to jump he lands on the floor on his feet still alive, but in a lot of pain, he by some miracle cheated death. He was taken to a hospital and kept for a few days before being released, new spread all over the Chinese-American community and even made it onto local news papers.This helped for him to get in contact with a lawyer who would be able to help him with his case, and at the end of the story he is with the lawyer and with cindy, the lawyer states ti Gachin “Now there’ll be ways to avoid deportation, you can apply for political asylum, or marry a citizen” and Gachin responds with “I guess i am not a monk anymore” and looks over to cindy and smiles.

                  Now let’s talk about how the story shows how Gachin changes, in the beginning of the story he is very adamant about changing his ways to survive, he avoids dating a girl, and eating meat in order to survive his current situation, and through this he eventually comes to a decision to end his own life, and through this he comes to a realization that there are people around him who truly want to help him and by the end of the story he is very willing to take this help and not only that, but forsake being a monk to live the way he wants to. By the end of the story he chooses the path to live a life that he wants to live rather than living as a monk.

Jose Flores

ENG 2001

Professor Scanlan

Dec 14, 2020

A Sad Man With a Happy Ending

Ethical dilemmas are presented to us everywhere and in everyday life. A lot of the stores we’ve read in class have come up with characters having ethical dilemmas. One story in particular that caught my eye was “A Good Fall” by Ha Jin. This story follows an immigrant, Ganchin, with an expired visa and the dilemma this man goes through. He makes important decisions that lead him to an unexpected end. Ganchin is a monk and because he is a monk the type of ethics he follows is deontology ethics. Deontology ethics is where there is a set of rules one has to follow. Ganchin is a proper man who follows the rules and does no wrong.

Ganchin is an immigrant who works at a kung fu dojo as a teacher. Ganchin is very sick and this prompts the sensei, Master Zong, to fire him. Ganchin is shocked but only asks for the payment of his salary. Master Zong tells Ganchin no and comes up with the excuse that the salary amount was just a “formality” for the visa and that the “board and lodging” provided cost more than the salary he is due. Ganchin goes and meets up with Cindy and tells her of his problems. There she offers him to stay at her place since she is barely home since she is a flight attendant. Ganchin passes up on the offer saying that he’ll stay with a friend who is from the same country as Ganchin. Cindy then tells him “if worse comes to worst, you should consider marrying a woman, a U.S. citizen.” Here comes Ganchins first dilemma. Ganchin is in the U.S. without a passport and an expired visa and his only way of staying legally is by marrying a citizen and becoming a citizen through the marriage. Ganchin is a monk and monks aren’t allowed a wife so Ganchin tells her “I’m a monk and can’t think of anything like that.” Here is a prime example of deontology ethics. The monks have a set of rules and Ganchin follows them through and through in this choice he has to make, even though he knows that marrying Cindy would solve his immigration problems. But in this situation, he decides to decline, because he is a monk. 

After this exchange Ganchin goes to his friend’s home and there Fanku, the friend, lets him stay for a few days. After a few days, Fanku tells Ganchin that he can’t provide him with any more food because he is running low on money. Ganchin, now with no money and no food, decides to head back to ask Master Zong for his money. Back with Master Zong Ganchin tells him “Master, you’ve pushed me to a cliff- I have no way out now and may have to follow Ganping’s example.” Ganping was also a monk under Master Zong’s care and was in the same situation as Ganchin, but he decided to commit suicide because he couldn’t continue living. Here is another dilemma that Ganchin goes through, he has nothing left, no food, no money, no way back home. Here comes the idea that gothic literature is known for. Ganchin has suicide running through his head to force Master Zong to give him the money he is owed. Gothic literature is known to be about death, and suicide is a part of death. The emotions that Ganchin must be going through to come to this conclusion that the ac of suicide will somehow end his pain. Master Zong proceeds to tell Ganchin that he isn’t like Ganping because he has a family back home who are waiting for him. Ganchin then told him “Don’t underestimate me, Master.” Here Ganchin is determined to go on with the suicide to either get his money or to end his life because he has nothing. His last words to Master Zong were “Master, farewell. See you in the next world.”

As we fast forward in the story, we reach where Ganchin is looking where he will commit the deed, suicide. He starts thinking to himself “He wanted to look for a building out of which he could jump and kill himself.” Here we have another example of a gothic definition. Ganchin’s action is having us in suspense, is he actually going to kill himself knowing that he has family back home. After walking around he finds an abandoned building. He drags his body to the top floor of the building, crying. This whole idea of Ganchin committing suicide is a form of utilitarian ethics. Utilitarian ethics is one that takes actions that produce the most good. His actions here, to him, will end his life of suffering and he thinks that will make the most good in life. Ganchin jumps, but because of his martial arts training, his body instinctively adjusts itself and doesn’t cause him to die. He lands on his feet and is in a lot of pain. Some teenagers saw what happened and called for help. In the end, Ganchin is sent to the hospital and has his medical bills paid by a charity organization. His situation came on the news and Master Zong’s temple was exposed for exploiting young monks, he also gets in contact with a lawyer who will help him with his case. At the end he says “I guess I’m not a monk anymore” and Cindy tells him that now he can date. 

Ganchin goes through a series of unfortunate events that lead to an expected end. If Ganchin had never thought of committing suicide this would have never happened. This story is very relatable because there are many immigrants who get exploited and have nowhere to go because they are afraid or have nowhere else to go.

Works Cited:

Jin, Ha. A Good Fall. Pantheon Books, 2009. 

Scanlan, Sean. “A Short Introduction to Five Types of Ethics.” Sean Scanlan, 2020. 

Kianna Carrington

December 14th, 2020

Final Paper, English 2001

Professor Scanlan

Support Is All We Need

In this essay, I will talk about the decisions that are made in the short story “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin using normative ethics. The five normative ethics that are known are Deontology Ethics, Virtue Ethics, Utilitarian Ethics, Feminist Ethics, and Global Ethics. The two ethics that are used throughout this story are utilitarian and virtue. Virtue means the kind of person you want to be. Any choices a person makes will be for them and no one else. Utilitarianism is the “view that the morally right action is the action that produces the most good”. The main characters in “Sonny’s Blues” are Sonny and his nameless older brother. Sonny has just been released from prison, due to drug addiction, and is now living with his brother, his brother’s wife, and their children in Harlem. Sonny’s brother is an algebra teacher. Sonny sees poverty and drug use in Harlem and tells himself that he doesn’t want that to be his life, he wants to pursue music, preferably jazz. His brother isn’t too fond of the idea. He thinks it’s not a career. He’s wasting his time. We see down the road who follows the ethics of virtue and utilitarianism. With important scenes in the story, I will unpack the relationship between the two brothers and why Sonny’s brother doesn’t want him to pursue a career in music. In the end, I’ll conclude that doing what is best for you is better than doing nothing at all.    

As the story continues, we see how the two brothers were brought up. One went in another direction and the other is finding his direction, with music. We also see what happened to their uncle and how it made Sonny’s brother feel, as an older sibling. At times, Sonny’s brother didn’t know what to write to Sonny while he was in prison. He felt that he was failing him as his brother, he should’ve protected him. If he was protecting him as much as he should, maybe Sonny wouldn’t have ended up in prison or did drugs, or both. Just before Sonny’s brother was leaving for the army, his mother told him about their father and their uncle, how close they were, the tons of fun they had, and all the trouble they used to get into. Their mom was sitting by a window, looking out to the streets and she told Sonny’s brother what happened to their uncle, “Then he heard a car motor and that same minute his brother stepped from behind the tree, into the road, in the moonlight. And he started to cross the road. And your father started to run down the hill, he says he don’t know why. This car was full of white men. They was all drunk, and when they seen your father’s brother they let out a great whoop and holler and they aimed the car straight at him […] Your father says he heard his brother scream when the car rolled over him, and he heard the wood of that guitar […] And, time your father got down the hill, his brother weren’t nothing but blood and pulp” (Baldwin, 29). The mother decided to tell Sonny’s brother what happened to their uncle because “you got a brother. And the world ain’t changed.” (Baldwin, 29) meaning that he has to protect his brother at all costs.

After his mom told him what happened to their uncle, Sonny’s brother was married to his wife, Isabel, and was shipped off to the army two days later. Their mother had passed and Sonny’s brother came back from the army “on a special furlough for her funeral” (Baldwin, 30). The funeral was over and it was just Sonny and his brother in the kitchen, where his brother asked him what does he want to do with his life. Sonny finally decided to say he wants to pursue music. His brother wasn’t sure what he meant. In the time his brother was off in the army, Sonny graduated and bought himself a drumset, Sonny’s brother thought he wanted to be a drummer, that’s something in music, but Sonny says no. He told his brother he can play the piano, his brother just frowned at it asking him questions, trying to make it make sense at the same time Sonny was laughing at his brother, “well you think it’s funny now baby, but it not good to be so funny when you have to make your living at it, let me tell you that” (Baldwin, 31). With Sonny laughing at his brother, he got angry and Sonny said back “I don’t want to be a classical pianist. That isn’t what interests me. I mean, I’ll have a lot of studying to do, and I’ll have to study everything, but I mean, I want to play with— jazz musicians […] I want to play jazz” (Baldwin, 31). At this point, Sonny’s brother was frowning even more, and didn’t understand why he wanted to pursue that kind of career, he thought it was “beneath him, somehow” (Baldwin, 31). He didn’t like the idea of his brother spending all his time in nightclubs, all the drunks that hangout at those nightclubs, I believe he was thinking back to what his mother told him about his uncle and how he died. A lot comes with that kind of career and Sonny’s brother was fearful of that. But at the same time, he could’ve been supportive towards it, instead of questioning and frowning upon it.

Along the road of Sonny wanting to pursue jazz music, his brother decided to go with him to a jazz club to see where he’ll be spending the majority of his time and to convince himself that what Sonny is making the right choice for his life “Then they all gathered around Sonny and Sonny played. Every now and again one of them seemed to say, amen. Sonny’s fingers filled the air with life, his life. But that life contained so many others. And Sonny went all the way back, he really began with the spare, flat statement of the opening phrase of the song. Then he began to make it his. It was very beautiful because it wasn’t hurried and it was no longer a lament”(Baldwin, 47). This quote is Sonny’s brother realizing how good of a musician Sonny is and can be and he also realized at that moment, in the jazz club, that Sonny knows what he wants to do and he’ll be right there watching him being proud. The kind of ethics that Sonny seems to follow in this story is the ethics of virtue. Sonny knows the kind of person he wants to be, he knows what he wants to do. He wants to turn his life around from negative to positive and music does that for him. Sonny’s brother decided in this same scene, to allow himself to see what Sonny was talking about, what he was passionate about. I believe that Sonny’s brother follows the ethic of utilitarianism. He made the right choice at the end of the story to support his brother and his music career, which would produce the most good, him protecting Sonny like he promised his mother and the both of them having a better relationship with one another.

In conclusion, support is all we need. We just want the ones we love, to see what we’re doing with our lives and that it’s making us happy. We all want to protect those who we love from all the dangers and harm the world offerers with no warning. It’s already difficult enough in the world and we don’t want our young ones growing up neglecting us because we didn’t like their life choices, or them not going to the same college as you did, or they wanting to pursue music as Sonny did. It really is about the support and love we can offer in a world like this because it can go a very long way. 

Works Cited: 

1. James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues” (1957)

https://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/wooda/2B-HUM/Readings/Baldwin-Sonnys-Blues.pdf

2. Scanlan, S. (2020) Five types of Ethics https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/profscanlan-english2001-fiction-f2020/files/2020/11/Five-types-of-Ethics-fall-2020.docx 

Delandre Boyd 

ENG 2001/O525

12/13/20

Prof. Scanlan

Word Count: 1144

            What I Want vs. Who I Want To Be

Technological advancements have improved the lives of man since its conception and has continued to do so to this day. But what often goes unnoticed is that even with technology usage, it comes with its own set of ethics, mainly when it comes to the person using them. Whether those ethics are based on rules(deontology), personal values(virtue), the maximization of one’s own happiness(utilitarian), identity/association(feminist), etc, there are ethics we subjectively possess/follow when it comes to the choices on the utilization of our technologies. This is even prevalent in works of fiction. With modernist fiction focusing on the plights of the elite as well as focalizing self-reflexivity and the usage of technology, Ray Bradbury’s “The Veldt” is a perfect example of how characters within the story make decisions based on the ethics they choose to follow in those particular moments. In order to completely understand the decisions made in the story, we must first analyze the 2 prevalent ethics shown in the story: virtue and utilitarianism ethics. 

In summary, Ray Bradbury’s “The Veldt” is about a family consisting of George and Lydia Hadley, and their children Peter and Wendy living in an automated house known as the HappyLife Home, that caters to their whim, completing chores and tasks automatically and effortlessly. However, Peter and Wendy become excessively infatuated with the nursery, a sort of virtual reality room which can transform the room into anything they imagine and they particularly spend their time on African veldt. The parents become concerned about the children’s obsessive time-spending in the nursery and suggest that the automated house be shut off to restore the family’s self-dependence. This infuriates the children as they demand and even threaten the power be restored to the house. The parents acquiesce to the children’s demands and restore the power for one more day. The parents are lured into the nursery only to encounter actual lions and end up being eaten alive.    

One pivotal decision made in the story was the family’s initial installation of the HappyLife Home. In the story it states that the very costly HappyLife Home “clothed and fed and rocked them to sleep and played and sang and was good to them” (Bradbury 2). This decision demonstrated an apparent use of utilitarian ethics as the very installation of the automated aimed to maximize the overall happiness of the family as it completed most, if not all, manual tasks for them that they deemed to be tedious. While this act does seem self-serving, this decision was made to improve the family’s overall welfare and maximize the family’s happiness as they were willing to spare no expense. This is proven when the story stated that the nursery “had cost half again as much as the rest of the house” (Bradbury 2). But with the children’s happiness in mind, George proudly states, “But nothing’s too good for our children” (Bradbury 2). This quote shows that George is putting the children’s overall happiness over any monetary amount. This quote also demonstrates virtue ethics as it shows George and Lydia being the type of parents that would do anything for their children.

Another pivotal decision made in the story is George and Lydia’s choice to shut down the HappyLife Home in favor of a more independent, self-sufficient lifestyle. This choice stems George and Lydia’s concern for the family’s ability to take care of themselves when George states, “ Now we’re going to really start living. Instead of being handled and massaged, we’re going to live” (Bradbury 12).  This choice made by George to fully embrace a more human and self-dependent way of life rather than being catered to by a machine is a demonstration of virtue ethics. This particular decision marks a paradigm shift in the family’s approach to their way of life, as George utilizes utilitarian ethics based on virtue ethics as  this use of virtue ethics stems from a moment of self-reflexivity when they themselves question why they even bought the house in the first place when Peter asks, “Lord, how did we ever get in this house? What prompted us to buy a nightmare?” (Bradbury 12)., with Lydia answering with “Pride, money, foolishness” (Bradbury 12). This demonstrates utilitarian ethics stemming from a shift more toward virtue ethics because they begin to reexamine the type of people they want to become, demonstrating a willingness to change and they feel that reexamination could end up maximizing their happiness in the long-term: becoming the type of people that don’t rely on technology, resulting in them maximizing their happiness in the end.  

The final pivotal decision made in the story is Peter and Wendy’s decision to kill their parents. This decision stems from Peter’s rejection of George’s proposition of a self-dependent lifestyle, due to him feeling that his overall happiness comes from the automated house, or more specifically the nursery. This rejection even results in Peter indirectly threatening his father when he says, “I don’t think you’d better consider it any more, Father” (Bradbury 9) and even more so when he says, “I wish you were dead!” (Bradbury 12). With that automated house being the source of Peter and Wendy’s happiness, and with the threat of it being taken away, the children luring their parents into the nursery for them to be murdered by lions is an example of  utilitarian ethics. This particular act maximizes their happiness due to the fact that it stops the parents from going through with the act of shutting off the house, showing more consideration for technology (that they consider to be more of a parent), than their actual parents. 

In conclusion, technology plays quite an interchangeable role in our ethical decision-making. Our ethics can decide how we use technology as demonstrated in the first pivotal decision (George and Lydia using utilitarian ethics to purchase an automated house to cater to their every need), and technology can affect how ethical decision-making as in the final two pivotal decision (George and Lydia transitioning into using virtue ethics after feeling/being overly dependent on the automated house & Peter and Wendy’s obsessive reliance on the automated house leading them to kill their parents, thus maximizing their happiness based on utilitarian ethics). With the decision-making in Ray Bradbury’s “The Veldt” revolving around the maximization of happiness as well as the type of people they want to become, this particular elitist family within this modernist fiction follows virtue and utilitarian ethical decision-making that causes/is caused by the events in story.

Works Cited

Bradbury, R. (1950). The Veldt.

https://repositorio.ufsc.br/xmlui/bitstream/handle/123456789/163728/The%20Veldt%20-%20Ray%20Bradbury.pdf

Scanlan, S. (2020) Five types of Ethics https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/profscanlan-english2001-fiction-f2020/files/2020/11/Five-types-of-Ethics-fall-2020.docx

Diana Castillo

Professor Sean Scanlan

English 2001

14 December 2020

Ethics in the Maladies 

Word Count: 998

            Throughout this essay, I will explain the ethical decisions made in “Interpreter of Maladies” by Jhumpa Lahiri. Ethics is defined as a set of moral principles, especially one relating to or affirming a specified group, field or form of conduct. Of the five different types of ethics discussed in class, I believe a utilitarian form of ethics was most prominent between the two main characters, Mr. Kapasi and Mrs.Das. Utilitarianism is the view where a moral right action is that which produces the most good. In other words, this person believes that as long as the outcome of an action is positive, than it is morally correct. In the story Mr. Kapasi is a tour guide of the Das Family, who is visiting family in India. During his time spent with the family, he begun to notice tension between Mr. and Mrs.Das. He develops a romantic attraction to Mrs. Das on the assumption that she too has marital problems like his own with his wife. Mr. Kapasi is then torn between a decision to pursue his newfound romantic feelings, disrupting a crumbling marriage but hope she shares the attraction or keep his thoughts to himself and let the marriage fall apart. 

            The author, Jhumpa Lahiri, displays issues with strong focus on the relationship between the characters, like that of the one between Mr. Kapasi and Mrs. Das. Mr. Kapasi becomes infatuated with the idea of a romantic connection that he is torn between acting upon it for his and Mrs. Das happiness or leaving it be and letting what’s already suggested happen. First, I will analyze the onset of this connection formed by the main character. Then, I will discuss the intentions the main character has on correcting the issue that appears to be causing problems in the Das family. Finally, I will introduce how the characters display ethics. By the end of this essay, a clear understanding of how utilitarianism is displayed by the two main characters should be achieved. 

            In the middle of the “Interpreter of Maladies,” Mr. Kapasi, says “In these moments Mr. Kapasi used to believe that all was right with the world, that all struggles were rewarded, that all of life’s mistakes made sense in the end. The promise that he would hear from Mrs. Das now filled him with the same belief.” (Lahiri 53) Throughout this scene, Lahiri displayed the start of Mr. Kapasi’s romantic interest in Mrs. Das and the day dream of a secret relationship forming between then where they would write to each other. He fantasized their conversations would include exchanges of feelings toward their failing marriages. Their made-up relationship would grow through these letters he imagined they would exchange. Here, he appeared to be driven by his need for intimacy. 

            Mrs. Das stated, “It means that I’m tired of feeling so terrible all the time. Eight years, Mr. Kapasi, I’ve been in pain eight years. I was hoping you could help me feel better, say the right thing. Suggest some kind of remedy.” (Lahiri 63) In this scene, Mrs. Das confessed the root of the problem in her marriage. She went on to tell Mr. Kapasi of her affair and the real father of one of their sons. This made him confused and wonder of the reason behind her vent. She goes to respond with, “I told you because of your talents.” (Lahiri 63). Mrs. Das developed an initial interest in her tour guide’s second position, an interpreter, to use his abilities to make herself feel better. She then realized her mistake when he was unable to provide good advice. 

            The two main characters of this story showed examples of utilitarian type of ethics through the interactions provided in the two scenes.  The first scene, of Mr. Kapasi, displayed his want for intimacy taking over his emotions. We see this when Lahiri said, “When Mr. Kapasi thought once again about how she had said “romantic,” the feeling of intoxication grew.” (Lahiri 53) It was then clarified he developed an interest in Mrs. Das with the hope to find happiness. It is a utilitarian because he knew the positions both of them were in, yet he rejected moral codes of marriage and somehow justified his feelings off of one word, romantic. He only saw the positive result where he and Mrs.Das are united. The second, that of Mrs. Das, shows a utilitarian view because she shared her secrets with the tour guide purely out of her own good. It was confirmed with her reaction to Mr. Kapasi’s response of, “Is it really pain you feel, Mrs. Das, or is it guilt?” (Lahiri 63) He too had picked up on subtle hints during her confession. She needed to say it out loud to someone in order to feel better about the situation to be happy with her family again, however things did not turn out as planned and she left upset with advice received. 

            In conclusion, Jhumpa Lahiri’s story, “Interpreter of Maladies,” presents two characters who continuously show a utilitarianism type of ethics. Mr. Kapasi daydreamed a romantic relationship between him, a married man, and Mrs. Das, a married woman. His goal was to ultimately find happiness through each other and bond over the fact that they both had failing marriages. The second character, Mrs. Das, misinterpreted the tour guide’s second profession and shared her deepest troubles in hopes that he would say something to remedy her situation. Both characters acted out with intentions of moral good in search of something positive. Also, this story displays embodied globalization, one of the four social form of globalization. Manfred Steger’s definition of embodied globalization states, “involves movement of people across our planet.” (Steger 9) The Das family traveling to India is an example of this. 

Works Cited

Lahiri, Jhumpa. Interpreter of Maladies. HarperCollins Publishers India, 2017

Scanlan, S. (2020) Five types of Ethics. https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/profscanlan-english2001-fiction-f2020/files/2020/11/Five-types-of-Ethics-fall-2020.docx

Steger, M. (2020). Https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/profscanlan-english2001-fiction-f2020/files/2020/11/Steger-Globalization-Definition.pdf.

Shylin Ferrera

ENG 2001-O525

Word Count: 1124

The Ethical Decisions of Jaswinder ‘Jazz’ Smith

In this essay, I will explain the ethical decisions made by Jaswinder Smith, better known as ‘Jazz’, in “Say Hello, Wave Goodbye”. Throughout the story, Jazz follows a certain code of ethics known as Virtue Ethics. Virtue Ethics is focused on the notion of the individual, answering the question of what type of person I should be? It takes on a more personal element as morals, virtues, and codes are applied on a situational basis rather than clear cut rules. When we compare this to Jazz’s job which is described as an immigration officer, It strongly differs from what ethics may be required at such a high-risk position. Being an Immigration officer inherently comes with a set of rules and guidelines, however, these calls do not always speak to how Jazz chooses to act and respond ethically. The story itself follows Jazz through a day in her life on the job, sectioned into three interactions with the people she puts into holding, essentially blocking their passage into the UK. The decision she makes and ethical choices regarding said decisions are what makes up the moral framework of her character. During this time we watch as Jazz follows the codes of her job and the codes of her life, applying her ethics to each individual situation.

Early on in the story Jazz meets a young teenage girl by the name of Megan. Upon meeting her, Jazz asks her a myriad of questions all while noting that “she wouldn’t look [her] in the eye.” Megan’s nervousness and lack of understanding become increasingly evident throughout Jazz’s questions as she lists her reasons for entry as wanting to see candles at Madame Tussauds and try “-some of that world-famous British pizza.” As readers, we understand that These answers are both inconsistent and strange as Madame Tussauds does not house candles nor is Britain known for pizza. As the story progresses we later find out that Megan was planning on meeting a boy, specifically Prince Harry, yet, despite this, Jazz does not allow her entry. This directly contrasts with her actions at the beginning of the story when she allows a woman in a wedding dress to pass through. The woman exclaimed the improbable idea of a marriage between her and prince harry. Despite the ludicrous nature of this fictitious wedding, Jazz Still allowed her entry, however, this decision was not without questions as she states “- had the girl in the wedding dress ever been refused entry to the Uk? Did she have a return ticket? Did she have sufficient funds for what was planned to be a two week Stay?” And so on. These questions are similar to the ones she asks herself in regards to Megan. Yet in that case, she tells the girl no.  She explains that “-I don’t care if someone lies to themselves, – but I don’t like it much when they lie to me.” The nature of the situation, when comparing Megan to the woman in the wedding dress is the same, yet Jazz’s decision rests on her morals. We, as the reader, can tell that Jazz values honesty and that she may have some personal concerns in regards to Means ‘situation’. The situation in question being a young girl traveling alone to a country she is unfamiliar with, along with no return ticket. With these factors in mind Jazz can arguably be acting on her Virtue ethics. If the rules were clear cut regardless of Circumstance,  she would have treated both Megan and the woman in the wedding dress the same, however, we know this is not the case. She somewhat acts on her emotions in a sense, showing both concerns for Megan’s situation as well as disdain in being lied to. She also identifies the moral consequence of allowing an adult to enter the UK unsupervised versus an unsupervised teenager.

Similar actions can be seen when we look at her interaction with Donald Harrison, another man She stops from entering the UK. When she first meets Donald she remarks on how normal she looks and is made to believe he’s just a standard visitor, it isn’t until he states his reason for travel that we learn of the man’s mental state. He claims that he’s there to seek political asylum due to Barack Obama planting a microchip in his brain. Even more improbable of a notion when compared t0 Megan, Jazz denies him entry. If it were just this, Jazz could clearly be stated as simply following the rules of her job, however, her interaction after that gives us readers access to her code of Ethics. In both her interactions with Donald, Jazz is never dismissive nor rude. Instead, jazz humors the man in conversation as well as ‘protects’ him right before his return trip. This protection comes in the form of withholding the truth. At the end of her shift, she sits with Donald explaining to him that his family had reported him missing and are waiting for him back home. The news comes as a shock to him as he questions the fact that he questions the idea of family. She continues to explain to him that they are going to put him on a plane back and that his family will be waiting on the other side. Here, Donald asks “But what happened to me? – What the hell happened to me” This alludes to some sort of unconfirmed mental issue. Whatever the case may be, it’s clear that Donald is completely unaware of his travels, of his claim of being micro-chipped, of almost anything leading up to this moment. When he proposed his question to Jazz in hopes of finding out what exactly has happened to him, she makes the conscious choice to not tell him stating, “[she] was on the verge of telling him about being refused and removed. Why it happened. What it meant. But she knew that wasn’t really what he was asking about, so she just gave him a little smile, and she said nothing.” This decision also speaks towards virtue ethics, as the decision to do what can be perceived as caring and considerate; considerate of him, his mental state, and slightly of his family who may be struggling with Donald as well.

Jazz’s actions in “Say Hello, Wave Goodbye”  are in clear alignment with virtue ethics. She is a woman that despite her high-security job with a strict set of rules to follow, does not only pass judgment based on said rules. She often follows her intuition and personal decisions as she navigates through the people she meets during her job. Her actions indicate that not only is she considerate of the circumstances but of the people themselves, doping what she deems right.

Work Cited:

ScanIan, S. (2020). A short introduction to five types of ethics. https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/profscanlan-english2001-fiction-f2020/files/2020/11/Five-types-of-Ethics-fall-2020.docx

Parsons. T (2011). Say Hello, Wave Goodbye. In Departures – Seven Stories from Heathrow. Harpercollins.

Karla Morales

ENG 2001-O525

December 14,2020

Somewhere Between Right and Wrong

Ethics can be defined as moral principles that govern a person’s behavior or the conducting of an activity. There are five types of ethics which are deontology, virtue, utilitarian, femenist and global ethics.The story that I will be analyzing in this essay from an ethical standpoint is “ Assimilation” by E.L. Doctorow. This story will help us come to the conclusion of which characters follow strict sets of rules and which characters break away from established rules.

The story “Assimilation” by E.L. Doctorow is about Ramon who works as a dishwasher in a Russian restaurant and he is offered a promotion by Borislav who happens to be his boss. This promotion requires Ramon to marry his bosses niece who goes by the name of Jelena. Ramon will receive a total of three thousand dollars and a promotion to busboy  in exchange of giving Jelena legal imigration documents. 

Ramon has a passion for filmmaking and one way to pay for filmmaker’s school is by taking the opportunity that Borislav has offered. At first he has a hard time making the decision because he feels as if he’s violating sacred matters which is marriage. Ramon follows the ethics of deontology and virtue ethics. Deontology ethics are one of those kinds of normative theories regarding which choices are required, forbidden or permitted. And virtue ethics addresses the question of “What kind of person should I be?” which is what Ramon focuses on the most. There is an instance in the story where Jelena asks Ramon if he would hit her and Ramon says that he would not. Her explanation for this question is that she feels like she has been extremely rude to him even though he has done nothing to her so it is like she was waiting for a punishment. This is where deontology ethics show because he knows he should not hit a woman, instead he tells her that nothing is settled for her and she is in a new country so he understands her behavior. He also has a desire to be different from his brother who is a rich man while he on the other hand is struggling to pay for school. Ramon says “ I love my brother, but I do not share his life’s values”(Doctorow, 6). This is where the question of who I want to be comes up because Ramon could easily ask Leon for help but he rather accomplish his goals on his own and with his hard work, going from a dishwasher to a busboy. We can also crealy tell that Ramon chooses to be a good “husband” to Jelena, he does this by taking the time to get to know her even though she refuses. In the story it is mentioned that “He wanted to learn everything about her, maybe for insurance, as Leon advised, but more because he felt he had rights as her legal husband.”(Doctorow,4). Ramon still took this marriage seriously and wanted to do things as good as he could, to him this marriage is sacred. He tells Jelena that if she required him to perform conjugal duties then he would only in the honor of their sacred bond.

Now Leon on the other hand was an ex-con who recently came out of jail. Leon has different ethics because when they were discussing the offer, he tells Ramon “Then what’s the problem? You sell yourself washing dishes, little bro. This is the country of selling yourself”(Doctorow,1). He is basically telling Ramon that you have to do what you have to do in order to make it to the top, even if it’s getting into an arranged marriage. Leon seems to break away from the established rules. The lawyer mentions to Ramon that what he has done is fraud,and that he can get five years plus monetary penalties if he gets caught. Leon proceeds to tell him that “It’s bullshit. The C.I.S. can’t keep up with the traffic. The risk is small, Ramon. If they do call you in, you say you love the girl. They know you’re lying—but she will back you up, naturally, since it is in her interest.”(Doctorow,4). Instead of advising him to back away from the deal, he basically tells Ramon that it is a small price to pay for what he will get in return. I believe that he is following utilitarian ethics which is when you consider the good of others as well as your own good and to make life better by increasing the amount of good things such as pleasure. He wants what is best for his brother and the outcome is more important than the steps taken.  The deal is perfect for both sides of the party according to Leon because she gets to have her documents with no strings attached and he gets to become a famous filmmaker.

Jelena is in an arranged marriage so she can get her legal documents although she mentions that she has a boyfriend back in her country. She had conditions which had to be met that were part of the deal, one being that she had to pay Ramon but she wasn’t doing so. But Jelena changes throughout the story, she apologizes to Ramon for not being a good person to him, she even cries about it. Even though the relationship between her and Ramon started off as an arranged marriage it ends up being more than that. I believe she has virtue ethics because in order for there to be change she has to question herself about what kind of person she wants to be, and her guilt shows that she can grow from the person she was before.

In conclusion, these characters follow different ethics, some look for what is best for them while others try to be the best person that they can be. This story has great examples of virtue ethics which is often called self centered, as well as deontology ethics which have to be logically consistent. And utilitarian ethics in which the right action is is understood entirely in terms of consequences produced.

Works cited:

Scanlan, S. (2020). A short introduction to five types of ethics.   https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/profscanlan-english2001-fiction-f2020/files/2020/11/Five-types-of-Ethics-fall-2020.docx 
Doctorow, E. L. “Assimilation.” The New Yorker, www.newyorker.com/magazine/2010/11/22/assimilation.

Sajeevan Rangeswaran

English 2001 – O525

December 14, 2020

Ganchin vs Master Zong

Ethics is a moral principle that governs a person’s behavior. In this essay, I will analyze what kind the ethics the main characters are following in “A Good Fall” by Ha Jin. There are five types of ethics that I have to learn in this class which are Virtue, Utilitarian, Feminist, Deontology, and Global. Virtue ethics is what kind of person do I want to be. Utilitarian is max good for them. Feminist is a feminist perspective is important as masculine. Deontology is when the person needs to follow the rules of their job. Global is globalization. In the story “A Good Fall” by Ha Jin Ganchin is the main character gets fired at the beginning of the story. He did not like his life, so he decides to commit suicide, but he did not die. His life changed because of suicide, a lot of people came to the hospital to visit him and help him. I will be analyzing three important scenes from the story “A Good Fall.” Those three scenes are one is when Master Zong fires Ganchin at the beginning of the story, the second one is when Ganchin meets Cindy in the bar, and the last one is when Ganchin meets Teng’s garden owner before committing suicide. 

“A Good Fall” by Ha Jin is a global fiction. Globalization is the process of interaction and integration among people, companies, and governments worldwide. “A Good Fall” talks about Ganchin who is from china and moved to flushing, Queens to have a better job. He did not know anyone other than Master Zong who betrays him by not paying his salary. Ganchin does not even know English since he never learns the language. Ganchin stayed in flushing, Queens without knowing English because he wants to make money in the U.S.A.  

Master Zong is one of the important characters in “A Good Fall” by Ha Jin who impacts Ganchin’s life negatively. For example, when Master Zong tells Ganchin “We don’t owe you anything,” Zong answered, his hooded eyes glued to Ganchin’s pale face. Our contract says clearly that you’ll pay me fifteen hundred dollars a month. So far you haven’t paid me a cent.” This is important because Master Zong is following Utilitarian ethics in only maximum good for himself. Ganchin worked hard for his money, but Master Zong does not want to give it to him. Another example is when “Zong got up from the floor and went out to the backyard, where his midnight blue BMW was parked.” This is important because Master Zong is a monk, so has to follow a set of rules in which you can’t live a luxurious life. But Master Zong is following a Virtue Ethics in he decides to be what kind of person he wants to be which is to live a luxurious life. Master Zong doing whatever he wants since he is above Ganchin.

Cindy is another important character in “A Good Fall” by Ha Jin who impacts Ganchin’s life positively. Cindy wants to help Ganchin, but he could not accept Cindy’s help since he is a monk. An example from “A Good Fall” by Ha Jin is “He knew she was fond of him, but he said, “I am a monk and can’t think of anything like that.” “Why not return to this earthly life?”.” This is important because Ganchin is following Deontology ethics in following the rules of being a monk. Ganchin knows that being a monk means he cannot fall in love with anyone, even though he knows that Cindy loves him, but he cannot be with her. In the end, Ganchin changes his mind after knowing that he can’t be a monk anymore. An example from “A Good Fall” by Ha Jin is “Amazed, Ganchin thought about her words, then sighed. “I guess I’m not a monk anymore, and no temple will ever take me in.” “That also means you’re free to date a girl.” She giggled, rubbing her nose with a knuckle. “Well, I hope that’s something I can learn.” He gazed at her and smiled.” This is important because, after everything that had happened to Ganchin, Ganchin decides to follow Virtue ethics in living a normal life. He is fallen in love with Cindy and can live a normal life since he is not a monk anymore.  

The restaurant owner is another important character in “A Good Fall” by Ha Jin who tries to convince Ganchin not to commit suicide. The restaurant owner was so kind and welcomed Ganchin into his restaurant. An example from “A Good Fall” by Ha Jin is “The little man came back with a large bowl of rice topped with sauteed seafood and vegetables. He said to Ganchin, “Young brother, I can see you’re hungry. Eat this and you might think differently afterward.” This is important because the restaurant owner does not know Ganchin but when he knew he was hungry he gives him food without expecting anything. Not many people will help an unknown person and give them food, but the restaurant owner did not care anything about it. Restaurant owner followed virtue ethics in what kind of person he wants to be. He wants to stop Ganchin from committing suicide since committing suicide is not going to solve any problem. Even though the restaurant owner tried to convince Ganchin not to commit suicide, but Ganchin did not listen to him.

     “A Good Fall” by Ha Jin was my favorite story this semester since it had a positive end to it. Ganchin got supported by a lot of people because of how he tries to commit suicide but eventually, he failed. His suicide was talked about all over the newspaper which made a lot of people come to help. Attorneys came to ask some questions and want to help him. In the end, Ganchin was a happy man with Cindy.

Work cited

• Ha Jin, “A Good Fall”. https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/scanlan-eng2000-globalization-s2013/files/2011/06/AGoodFall-Globalization.pdf