On the Water Front Post

There are two sides to every ethical arguement and in On the Water Front there are two literal sides that start meshing as one. In the beginning there are the priest and Esy, people who don't understand how the docks work and just want to make everything right. Then there are the people who work on the docks, who play "D and d" because they are on the inside and have to protect their own and themselves. The workers and the mob see as anyone who stands up and tells how it really is on the docks as a squeler because it puts everyone of them in harms way. On the other hand, the priest and Edy see the ones who tell as strong and good human beings. They see it this way because they're outsiders when it comes to working down there, they don't know how it is. As the movie continues and Terry starts to think that maybe he should tell the truth, the two groups blob together. First it's Terry who sees, becuase of his brother's death, that pretending you don't know anything isn't best, people still get hurt, but if you tell the truth things turn out better in the long run. Still, the other laborers don't see it that way until the last scene where Terry and Jonny Friendly fight. Then, they too realize that it's okay to say what's going wrong because it will be best for the majority. This is emphasized when Jonny Friendly is lost in the sea of men, on his own showing that now he is the only one who says people should act is they don't know anything. Proving that truth does triumph over lies.
Personally, I don't agree with Jonny Friendly. Loyalty and fear only get you so far before you have to face reality and see the world how it is. This sad, I sympathize with Terry because it takes a while to realize this and everyone has to take their own path to get there, no matter how long or short. Ethical values are a personal belief and they must be found on one's own terms, no one can force them upon someone else. On the Water Front shows this very well when Edy tries to give Terry Joey's jacket, but he won't take it. He needs to deicde for himself, and eventually he does. Plus finding what you're ethical values are makes them more obvious and one has a stronger pull to follow them. Watching movies like these help me decide what my ethical values are, and for right now they go along with Terry's.

Quarter 2 Blog Question

Arthur Miller's play, All My Sons, focuses on when you should stay loyal to your family and when it's appropriate to conform and follow society's ethics. One of the most interesting and shortest ways Miller explains this is through Larry, the son who was lost in the war. Even though Larry is dead, much of the tension between the Keller family centers around him. Kate Keller, his mother believes that he is still out there somewhere, but her son and husband don't feel the same way. In the end of the book the audience finds out that Mrs. Keller is wrong, Larry is dead, not only that, but Larry ended his life on purpose. In a letter to his fiance, Ann, Larry explains he is so disgusted by his father's crime that he can't live with it. Larry says, "Yesterday they flew in a load of papers from the States and I read about Dad and your father being convicted...I can't tell you how I feel- I can't bear to live any more" (83). Larry is so ashamed and embarrassed my his father causing the twenty one deaths, that it's too much for him. In this situation Larry is choosing society over his family in a very extreme way. His death has many repercussions in his family. Although the play takes place three years after the loss of Larry, the pain of not having him there is a central topic. His mother explains her pain by saying of Larry, "Because if he's not coming back, then I'll kill myself!" (22). Since Larry payed attention to what society said then what his family needs he causes a great deal of pain, especially for his mother. If he had not overreacted and ended his life, essentially noticing that the security of his family was more important, the Kellers would have had less pain. Miller shows that one should side with their family through Larry by showing the horrid trouble his death caused his family.
I don't agree with Miller's view on ethics, your family is important, but not important enough to kill for. Everyone is related and has family, which means that if you kill a person, there is someone out there mourning just as you would be if a relative of yours was murdered. If what you're doing is hurting others, even if it is for your family, it isn't okay. It is more surprising to see that a father killed his son rather than just some stranger murdering a boy, but it is the same crime and either way a life was ended. People are all equal and to sacrifice one for another becuase you share blood or closeness is not right. A life is a life.