My report examines the concept of selfishness vs selflessness and how it is portrayed in the text. The texts I have chosen are Foreskins Lament by Greg McGee, Dunkirk by Christopher Nolan, Once Were Warriors by Alan Duff and Boy by Taika Waititi. I felt that all these texts displayed aspects of selfishness vs selflessness that work together and can create a picture of what it means to be selfish or selfless in our society today. Being selfish means you lack consideration for others and are focused on things only for your own benefit. Being selfless is the opposite of being selfish, selfless people are concerned more about the needs of other people than their own. The first text I would like to focus on is the 1981 play ‘Foreskin’ by Greg McGee. …show more content…
Tupper shows an act of selfishness in ‘Foreskins Lament’ when he forces Ken to take part in rugby with the knowledge that it could make his previous concussion worse. Jake and Beth in ‘Once Were Warriors’ show selfishness since they prioritise their social life and partying over the responsibility of their six kids. Alamein acts selfishly by going back to Boy and Rocky’s grandmother’s home to retrieve money he buried instead of visiting his children. Alex demonstrates selfishness by how he accuses Gibson of being a German spy and insists that he should leave the boat. All these texts reveal various reasons behind being selfish. For instance, Tupper is motivated to be selfish because he wants his team to win at rugby at all costs, even if it means that Ken gets into injury risks. Jake, Beth and Alamein prioritise their own wellbeing over their children and have a lack of responsibility. Alex’s selfishness is driven by survival instincts because he doesn’t want to have to get off the boat, so he accuses Gibson of being a German spy so everyone will agree with him that Gibson should get off the boat. In the texts we’ve seen, characters tend to show either selfishness or selflessness characteristics which can easily be noticed. Selfish characters often appear disrespectful towards others and self-concerned. Selfless characters often seem more innocent or nave, and usually can easily be taken advantage of for their
In many ways survival requires selfishness in some situations. Throughout the book, “Night” by Ellie Weisel there was some selfishness in different jewish families when it came to survival. I can’t say the same for the, “1972 Andes Flight Disaster” because the survivors weren’t being selfish with the decisions they made. This goes for, “Is Survival Selfish” article by Lane Walker because in the different situations mentioned in the article there was no selfishness involved. It’s about your overall opinion on the situation, here's my opinion.
I believe that the story Night by Elie Weisel, you need selfishness in order to survive the work camp. One piece of evidence when someone did a selfish act was when Block Altesta the person that ran the block said “But you must increase your chances.” “Before you go into the next room try to move your limbs, give yourself some color and most important don't be afraid” (Collections (308). It portrays selfishness because Block Altesta is telling them in order to survive you should just try to increase your chances by moving your limbs and giving yourself some color and his saying just do it for
Yes, we are selfish, and we only care about ourselves. For example, say there’s a tornado and someone else is struggling to get to safety, would you make sure you made it to safety, or would you help them? Most of the time, we would make sure we got to safety instead of helping others in need. We are given the picture known as “Landscape with the Fall of Icarus” by Pieter Bruegel the Elder [page 191]. Icarus didn’t think to listen to his father, and he did what he wanted and flew after his father had told him not to.
WORKS CITED Meyer, Michael, ed., pp. 113 Thinking and Writing About Literature. Second Edition. New York: Bedford/St. Martin, John J., 2001. o Joan Murray, "Play-By-Play".
Selfishness is a common trait in the world, it’s not a hidden factor, but very well-known as being one’s self-interest. The story “Hunters in the Snow” by Tobias Wolff, discusses how each character in the story deals with different kinds of selfish ways. One character, Tub, deals with eating problems and lies about it. Frank deals with a secret life that he is hiding from his wife. Kenny is always comparing something to his liking and if he does not like it then he will complain. Self-absorption is when someone is focused on their self and only themselves. It is known to be a regular’s human’s condition, it’s something majority of human beings have. Selfishness may also kick in during survival incidents. For example, a boy and his friends
Selfishness is a disease of the soul that every person experiences several times throughout their life. To say that it has never been experienced would be hypocrisy. To say that it is a “good thing”, would be erroneous. Although as humans we like to lie to ourselves, it is no question that selfishness can make any person act like a fool. It consumes us and makes us into someone we are not. Whether it leads to getting people killed, falling in love, or buying alcohol, selfishness always leads to destruction.
Dictionary.com defines selfishness as “devoted to or caring only for oneself”. For Abigail to have Proctor
The idea that a person can be purely good and altruistic does not exist due to society’s acceptance and embrace of the selfishness and greed of human beings. People these days are some of the most selfish beings to ever exist but they are not ashamed of their actions because of how the world around them welcomes their self-centered nature with open arms. Selfishness comes is many ways, shapes, and forms. Many businesses need to utilize the greed of mankind in order to make money and prosper; “Greed-for lack of a better word-is good. Greed is right. Greed works” (Wall Street). Even politicians use their greed to run campaigns for themselves in order to win the hearts of Americans. As well as fulfill their ultimate selfish goal to be the man
Selflessness is thinking of others lives and safety before what is to come upon yourself. It is hard to achieve because it means putting someone 's life on the line for other people 's.There are so many book characters out there, many are selfless in some way. However, a few stand out in the books Code Orange, Uprising and Of Mice and Men. The following characters all share the drive to save other people 's lives. In Code Orange, the character Mitty Blake is willing to kill himself to save his city from smallpox. George Milton in Of Mice and Men shows he is selfless by taking in a mentally ill man who can 't care for himself. George opens his life Lennie knowing it will change his life by not allowing him to achieve his dreams, because he has
The ultimate motive of both the altruist and egoist is personal gain. Separating the two ideologies is the method by which this is accomplished. For the altruist, addressing the needs of humanity is purportedly the sole purpose of existence. Egoists, on the other hand, refuse to act if an action does not directly benefit themselves. In The Fountainhead, Ayn Rand addresses the function of altruists and egoists within society through character development. There are four characters in particular who distinctly exhibit the attributes of altruistic and egoistic individuals: Catherine Halsey, Peter Keating, and Ellsworth Toohey possess altruistic qualities; whereas, Howard Roark is explicitly egoistic.
Ethical egoism is diametrically opposite to ethical altruism, which obliges a moral agent to assist the other first, even if he sacrifices his own interest. Further, researchers justify and rationalize the mental position of egoism versus altruism through an explanation that altruism is destructive for a society, suppressing and denying an individual value. Although the ‘modern’ age unsubtly supports swaggering egoistic behavior in the competitive arena such as international politics, commerce, and sport, in other ‘traditional’ areas of the prideful selfishness showing off, to considerable extent discourages visible disobedience from the prevalent moral codes. In some cases, the open pro-egoist position, as was, per example, the ‘contextual’ interpretation of selfishness by famous German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, can be described as a ‘grotesque anomaly’.
For someone who believes in psychological egoism, i t is difficult to find an action that would be acknowledged as purely altruistic. In practice, altruism, is the performance of duties to others with no view to any sort of personal...
Selfishness is a term fairly notorious for its meaning. A lot of people accept that being selfish is wrong, but no one knows how this came about and why it matters. Who has the right to decide whether someone gets to be selfish or not? In his article “The unselfishness Trap”, Harry Browne says that the best way for people to be happy is when if everyone sacrifices but me. Thomas Nagel, on the other hand, argues in his article “The Objective Basis of Morality” that being concerned about others is more important. Being selfish, for many people, is evil. By definition, selfishness is to be more concerned about yourself than others, but that would essentially make every living human being a “selfish” being.
With the development of modern society, many people say that the society has become miserable, and people only care their own profit. The self-interest is becoming the object of attacking. Thereupon, when we mention self- interest, people always mix up the concept of self-interest with selfishness. As we all known, the idea of selfishness is, “Abusing others, exploiting others, using others for their own advantage – doing something to others.” (Hospers, 59) Selfish people have no ethics, morals and standards when they do anything. At the same time, what is self – interest? Self- interest can be defined as egoism, which means a person is, “looking out for your own welfare.” (Hospers, 39) The welfare people talk about is nothing more than
3. Shipley, Joseph T. The Crown Guide to the World's Great Plays. New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1984. 332 - 333.