Morals or Goals?

674 Words2 Pages

The main purpose of a machine is to obey and follow orders. Whether the machine is to kill or to produce a good, the machine’s job is to follow orders. Like machines, people also have duties that they must accomplish in their lives. People receive these duties and jobs because they have a purpose. Whether the purpose is to make money or to gain respect, the person trying to reach their goal must complete the duties they are given. No matter how brutal and how horrifying the after effects will be, people will have to carry on their duties to achieve their goals. The environment of war is no acceptation. In a state of war, every soldier has one common goal, to win. No matter how brutal the duties are, the soldiers complete the duties to be one step closer to their goal. When accomplishing these duties, personal principles cannot exist. If such principles go before their goal, they will never accomplish their goal. As a result, it would be impossible for personal principles or personal morals to exist in such an environment.
The book “Guests of the Nation” clarifies the fact that morals is not in present in such an environment. No matter how close the relationship of the soldiers and the prisoners had grown, they both had a goal to accomplish. Because of the death of the soldier’s allies, killing the prisoners symbolized revenge. Without revenge, the morale of a battalion would decrease. In the state of war, this could mean the difference of a win or lose. As a result, the soldiers are faced with a dilemma: follow their duties to achieve their goal or follow their morals risking the achievement of the goal. To accomplish the goal of winning the war, all soldiers must put aside their morals and fulfill their duties.
In the story ...

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...se of the squad’s failure. If morals were not an aspect in this war like environment, the soldier would have chosen to not jeopardize his squad and the mission and kill the innocent people.
Morals and personal principles are something that does not belong in a war like environment. People in war have a common goal and morals usually become an obstacle for people that want to reach their common goal. If people want to accomplish their goal, even though it is not in a war like environment, they would have to put aside their morals and focus on the duties that they are given.

Works Cited

Lone Survivor. Dir. Peter Berg. Perf. Mark Wahlberg. Universal Pictures, 2013. Film.

O'Connor, Frank. Guests of the Nation. New York: Macmillan, 1931. Print.

Wanted. Dir. Timur Bekmambetov. Perf. Angelina Jolie, James McAvoy, and Morgan
Freeman. Universal Pictures, 2008. Film.

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