Who exactly is a good person and what about them makes them a good person? In David Foster Wallace’s Good People, the question of what a good person is brought up. Lane and Sherri are Christian college kids who attend the same junior college. Sherri got pregnant before marriage and decides to keep the baby, and while Lane decides to stay supportive he has lost feeling of love for his girlfriend. Two different definitions are brought up, the question is which one is the true meaning of a good person? A good person is either a person who does good deeds but doesn’t truly mean them from the inside or a person who is down to earth from the heart but may not always do good deeds.
Doing good deeds makes one a good person, right? One definition of a good person is someone who does good acts but doesn’t truly mean and feel it in their heart. Lane A. Dean Jr. is an example of
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Lane A. Dean Jr’s girlfriend was one of these people. She does things because she feels it from her heart not because it is what God and society wants to see in a good person. She is pregnant before marriage, despite being Christian, but instead of giving up her baby to look good in society, she decides to keep it after birth, to “have it and love it” (228). She even puts zero obligations over Lane saying that she “releases him” and wishes him “joy and all good things” (228). She doesn’t just do deeds to look good, after all , she could have made Lane has equally responsible for the baby, but instead she set him free to finish his education and enjoy his life. Like Lane’s mother says she is “down to earth” and said one could tell because Sherri made it “evident in little ways” (225). Her actions come from the pureness of her heart and soul, she does little things to show the goodness in her heart and doesn’t believe in doing drastic good deeds to show society how she
The motion picture A Few Good Men challenges the question of why Marines obey their superiors’ orders without hesitation. The film illustrates a story about two Marines, Lance Corporal Harold W. Dawson and Private First Class Louden Downey charged for the murder of Private First Class William T. Santiago. Lieutenant Daniel Kaffee, who is known to be lackadaisical and originally considers offering a plea bargain in order to curtail Dawson’s and Downey’s sentence, finds himself fighting for the freedom of the Marines; their argument: they simply followed the orders given for a “Code Red”. The question of why people follow any order given has attracted much speculation from the world of psychology. Stanley Milgram, a Yale psychologist, conducted an experiment in which randomly selected students were asked to deliver “shocks” to an unknown subject when he or she answered a question wrong. In his article, “The Perils of Obedience”, Milgram concludes anyone will follow an order with the proviso that it is given by an authoritative figure. Two more psychologists that have been attracted to the question of obedience are Herbert C. Kelman, a professor at Harvard University, and V. Lee Hamilton, a professor at the University of Maryland. In their piece, Kelman and Hamilton discuss the possibilities of why the soldiers of Charlie Company slaughtered innocent old men, women, and children. The Marines from the film obeyed the ordered “Code Red” because of how they were trained, the circumstances that were presented in Guantanamo Bay, and they were simply performing their job.
The good who is not so good and the bad who is not all that bad.
A Good Man is Hard to Find, there are two main characters whose faith should be analyzed: “the grandmother” and “the Misfit”. We can use Paul Tilloch’s six components to analyze their faith. The grandmother seems to have a great understanding of what faith is in five of the The Misfit is not “ultimately concerned” about his faith. The Misfit was confused as to why he was sent to prison and why he was punished in the ways that he was.
Also, it could be said that one can be a ‘good person’ and a valued
The definition of “good” is not as black-and-white as approval and disapproval according to Aquinas. He defines “good” as more “enticing” or “desirable”. The most universal type of goodness is the idea that everything is good as everything is being.
In deciding whether or not a person is good, all of their characteristics must be looked at. That person might look good on the outside, but if their heart is exposed, they may not look as perfect as they thought. In Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, Brutus is a perfect example of this idea. He is sympathetic, kind, and generous, but when his motives are questioned, he does not look so sensitive. Brutus is not an honorable man.
The central idea of “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” by Flannery O'Connor deals with the struggle to change a person in a positive way through religion. A person can be easily changed if grace, properly experienced, changes one's personal qualities (O'Connor qtd. in Hendricks). Attempting to change a person through religion becomes difficult when that individual demands to witness a miracle in order to believe: “if the Misfit had been able to see the miracle of Lazarus for himself, he would have believed that Jesus was the son of God, and he would have been able to live a conventional Christian life” (Hendricks).
In the short story, “The Good Man Is Hard to Find” the grandmother describes a “good man” vaguely. The grandmother pertains the label “good” broadly, putting a shadow over the definition of a “good man” until it loses its meaning completely. She first applies it to Red Sammy after he furiously complains of the universal untrustworthiness of people. Red Sammy states, “Two fellers come in here last week, driving a Chrysler. It was an old beat-up car but it was a good one and these boys looked all right to me. Said they worked at the mill and you know I let them charge the gas they bought? Now why did I do that?” (1,045). The grandmother said he did this because he is “a good man.” She next relates the label “good” to the Misfit. After she identifies him, the grandmother asks, “You wouldn’t shoot a lady, would you?” (1,049). Even though he hates to admit it, The Misfit says, “I would hate to have to” (1,049). Because being a lady is such a meaningful part of what the grandmother believes as being ethical, the Misfit’s answer confirms to her that he does not share the same moral principles as she does. The grandmother begins to desperately call him a good man and that he comes from ...
Many have written entire novels on the topic of good versus evil. Philosophers have spent their entire lives researching and debating and providing theories to somehow find an answer that will never be clear. What makes a person evil or good? In her short stories, “A Good Man is hard to find” and “Good Country People,” Flannery O’Connor explores the theme of good versus evil and differentiating between them and what that conveys about the complexity of human nature.
When thinking of themselves as the good guys they keep from doing any wrong. Erik J. Wielenberg puts it best when he lists the rules of the good guys. He lists them as follows: "1. Don’t eat people. 2. Don’t steal. 3. Don’t lie. 4. Keep your promises. 5. Help others. 6. Never give up." (Wielenberg 4). All of these rules also have Biblical implications behind them. These rules are taught by the father to his son. Although the father does not always follow them.
Being able to be around another person who is doing virtuous acts rather than doing virtuous acts by one’s self, gives the good man more realization that he is in fact an excellent person.
David Foster Wallace’s “Good People,” is a very touching, powerful story about a young, unwed, Christian couple facing an extremely difficult decision and the moral and religious implications that may result. As the story begins, we are allowed into the head of Lane Dean, a college student, as he sits on a park bench with his girlfriend, Sheri. Lane and Sheri find themselves faced with an unplanned pregnancy, which causes them to battle with several moral and religious dilemmas. Both of them are devout Christians who have built their moral beliefs upon God and their religious upbringing. Although torn Sheri schedules an abortion, which weighs on Lane deeply. Lane, frozen in fear and not having the courage to freely talk to Sheri about the situation, has a conversation with her in his own head which leads him to question love, morals, religion and life. As they face this unwanted pregnancy, Lane, controlled by fear realizes that sometimes in life certain situations are too complicated to solely be answered within the rigidity of religion. People are human and regardless of how strong their faith in religion is, the battle between right and wrong will forever exist. Ultimately, Sheri decides to carry the child, which Lane assumes is a statement of Sheri’s faith in him. Inspired by her leap of faith, Lane decides to break free from the fear, muster up some courage and ultimately makes a leap of faith of his own and decides to give loving her a try. Lane’s epiphany leads to the central idea that sometimes it takes breaking the confines of fear and having faith in love or in another person to win the battle between right and wrong, which Wallace conveys beautifully.
Wallace, David F. "Good People." The Norton Introduction to Literature. 11th ed. New York: W. W. Norton &, 2014. 149-55. Print.
Additionally, Thoreau explains that doing good is not “[feeding] me should I be starving, or [warming] me should I be cold, or [pulling] me out of a ditch if I should ever fall in one” (Thoreau 54). These actions are not goodness because these actions are not leading by example. Essentially, Thoreau believes that people need to teach others how to solve problems, not solve other people’s problems. So, those who do instead of teach are not helping society, and therefore, are not doing good. By not doing good, these people are causing more problems in society instead of helping society, because the people that need help are not receiving what they need.
...ly or mentally, a conscious effort to injure others that is no obvious benefit to the human race is not good. I believe that people try to do good most of the time. For example, the person had a motorcycle accident. He hated by a car on the local road and stocked under the car. The car was flamed. This news is from the yesterday of FOX25. When I saw many people stopped and together to get the car off the person and being without thinking about the flames, I am so grateful. The man was saved and no life injury and the story have a good ending. Accordingly, people are innately good. I think I am actually a good person. I like to open doors, push in chairs, listen to people, and help little kids. No meter outside the world how changed it doesn’t influence my good personality at all. I agree Carl Rogers’s theory people should be capable of becoming conscious good.