The Competition for the Secret of Life in James D. Watson’s Novel the Double Helix

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With a competitive spirit, people are driven to act in ways that they would not otherwise and the results can be drastic. In the case of James D. Watson and Francis Crick, in Watson’s novel the Double Helix, this sensation of competition leads to one of the greatest discoveries in biology. But the actions of Watson, Crick, and their competitors may or may not be justified for the results that they yield; the powerful conflict of rivalry has beneficial, detrimental, and questionably moral consequences that shaped the pathway to DNA’s structure.
At times, regardless of the setbacks, rivalry can be advantageous by giving people the inspiration to continue. Debating on whether to give up the race, Watson realizes the full implications this scientific competition has: “But if I went back to pure biology, the advantage of our small head start over Linus (Pauling) might suddenly vanish,” (Watson 144). The grand quest for finding the structure of DNA is too great for Watson to pass up. Not only does this head start inspire Watson to continue studying DNA, but it convinces him to work even harder. While the desire to quickly find a solution can be too daunting to appease, even the notion of being in the lead can be enough incentive to strive for the goal which is a definite positive effect for Watson. But for every positive advantage, there is a negative setback that other competitors may impose.
In this case, the reward for winning the “competition” is so significant that better opportunities are overlooked and some are left without the aid they need. When Watson and Crick ask Rosalind Franklin’s opinion on their model of DNA, the result they are looking for is far from what they had hoped: “Rosy did not give a hoot about the priority of...

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...ed some credit. People see the novel as a poor presentation of who she was and how important her ideas really were. However, I see that both are to blame. Franklin could have worked closer with Watson instead of withholding her results; Watson could have mentioned her in his work earlier on. I believe that this competitiveness between scientists was beneficial overall. This rivalry provided motivation and even though defeat seemed so near at times, they were able to persevere. There are several ways that Watson and Crick could have found the answer but I believe it is for the best that these events occurred the way they did because the ending result justifies all previous actions. The rivalry that sparked between these scientists yielded some negative results but it led to something even greater: the secret of life.

Works Cited

The Double Helix by James D. Watson

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