Times Of Change And Hope Essay, Research Paper

It has been said that while times change, people do not. From my past

experiences, and from things that I have learned throughout the years, I have to

agree with the previous statement. I feel that the morality of a person almost

always rules when it comes to making serious and important decisions. Different

time periods can alter ones thinking in certain situations to an extent. For

example, in The Sea and Poison, Nobu Ueda had moved to Manchuria with her new

husband. While she was living there, she noticed that her neighbors occasionally

hit their maids. While Nobu would not usually hit her maid, soon enough she

started to do so. Her morality was influenced in a way by the norms and stigmas

of her surroundings and time. However, different people react differently in

different situations. Everyone had free will and the freedom to make their own

conscience decisions. When Suguro and Toda were asked if they wanted to take

part in the vivisection?s, both had agreed at first. After taking time to

think about what they were actually going to take part in, they started to feel

awkward. Suguro for instance was definitely having second thoughts about his

decision then later regrets his decision. On his walk to the hospital the day

the vivisections were to take place, he contemplated on going back to his

boarding room. This is his conscience reminding him of his moral standards. All

day before the vivisections, there was nothing for Suguro to do. Suguro and Toda

seemed to avoid each other and did not let a word pass between them. When it

came time for the ?experiment? on the prisoner, Suguro was not able to

follow through on his duties involved in the vivisection. Suguro?s morality

triumphed besides the fact that ?everyone else was doing it.? Toda however

was able to take part in the vivisection but was somewhat uneasy about the whole

experience. The fact that he helped take someone else?s life did not seem to

phase him that much. Throughout the book Toda seemed to be more apathetic to

such things than Suguro. Toda has no moral strength. That is just the type of

person he is. The Old Man felt the vivisection would make a contribution to

science. However, after the vivisection takes place, we see the Old Man peering

into the operating theater looking troubled. The Old Man feels he was trained to

save lives, not take them. In the end all are troubled and destroyed by the

vivisection, especially Suguro, but no one reveals their feelings. In

conclusion, the decision in general all depends on the particular person. I

personally feel that in the case of the vivisection if the right person were

asked, they would have declined. Suguro was not able to participate in the

vivisection because of his own personal feelings, however, others were able to.

If I was asked to participate in the vivisection I would definitely decline the

offer, however I am sure there would be others that are distorted enough to do

so.