Money Or Conscience In The Movie 'Margin Call'

651 Words2 Pages

ChangWook Hong
Professor Horwitz
BUS 3223
Third Essay
Money or Conscience

We need to make many decisions while living our lives. Sometimes, it is very trivial that it does not take long. In this case, we do not need to think deeply by spending much time on it. Even if there is something wrong, we can fix it. But, sometimes, it is so complicated and huge that our decision impacts not only us but also others who are not really related to it. From the movie “Margin Call”, we can learn how we should make decisions considering others.
The movie “Margin Call” begins with a scene where there is a round of layoffs happening at an investment banking firm and risk management specialist Eric Dale is one of them. The scene where Eric Dale is fired shows the climate of uncomfortableness of the situation. A woman who talks like a robot delivers the news, packages, and options of his retirement. Like this way, 4 out of 7 employees of the firm are fired. Eric Dale goes to pack up his things in his office. Before he leaves the elevator, he gives an USB to Peter Sullivan who is a very brilliant lower-level analyst and asks Peter to check it out with a last word “Be careful”. Later on that day, Peter finishes a report which Eric Dales was working on and figures out that not only the entire economy is going to be collapsed but also their firm may not survive. He contacts with his co-worker to come back to company with their boss. After having an explanation of the crisis which the firm is facing from Peter, there are a series of contacts with upper level employee like a ladder. As a result, emergency executive meeting is held including the CEO who is John Tuld. Something funny we can know in this part is that every time Peter explains about the si...

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...s us clearly know that she was Sam`s former wife. She says “You don`t live here anymore” and “The alarm is on, so don`t try to break it” to Sam. The movie ends with the digging sound of Sam even after the screen fades out.
Even though Sam made a decision which is good for him and the company, he does not look happy. There is nothing left to him. Money seems no more useful because there is nothing he can spend the money on. The dog seems to symbolize Sam`s own being or his loyalty to the firm. In the last scene, it looks like he is digging his own grave suffering from feeling guilty. This movie tries to show that making a decision for pursuing self-interest regardless of impacts to others is wrong. We need to make decisions which consider others.

Works Cited
Margin Call. Dir. J. C. Chandor. Lionsgate, Roadside Attractions, and Benaroya Pictures, 2011. Film.

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