1) How do you feel about the men's treatment of Nolan and of their strict adherence to the policy of never letting Nolan hear of the United States? What would you have done had you been aboard a ship with Nolan? Why?
2) Is there ever a time when breaking a rule is the right thing to do? Why or why not? Explain.
2 comments:
1: I think that the treatment of Nolan was pretty fair on the ship. They treated him as a guest and such, except for the part of not mentioning the United States. The adherence to that policy seems unfair, but it’s their duty to follow it. I understand that the navy has to follow its orders, but I don’t believe that civilians have to, since the punishment has no legal weight. I very much doubt that such a sentence could have ever existed. If I were on a ship with Nolan, I would simply answer his questions that did not directly refer to the United States (i.e. “Is Texas still a part of the territory of Spain?” as he’s asking about Spain more than the United States. I would simply say, “No. Texas won independence and joined the nation of Mexico. Texas then won independence from Mexico and established its own nation.”). Out of respect for the order, I would not mention the United States or news directly concerning it. But if he was dying as he was, I would probably have said it, since he’s not going to live to think back on it very long (or tell anyone about it… or me).
2: Definitely. Rules that obstruct obvious justice should be broken whenever needed. If rules were always adhered to, the United States would not even exist. Rules are nothing more than instructions established by a body of authority; they do not necessarily exist in the aim to establish justice. Breaking rules is like lying; it’s better to avoid both, but both are subject to the circumstances. If someone in a gang asks you if you want to smoke a cigarette, say yes, say you’ll use it later, and throw it away. If someone tries to rob a house and tells you not to call the police or else, agree and call them anyway.
These circumstances are not always common, but they are possible and they are cases where not lying is idiotic. It applies to breaking rules, too. If it were against the rules to swim in a lake that someone is drowning in, following the rules would be rather stupid. If it were against the rules to use a fire exit except for a fire and there’s a murderer inside the building, it’s better to ignore that rule. If it were against the rules to drink an alcoholic beverage at the age of 17 and you’re dying of thirst in a desert, no one will scold you about it if you do it anyway.
Rules aren't perfect and don't exist in knowledge of every possible situation that they could be used in. In times where they apply badly, they should be broken.
1. I feel that the men's treatment of Nolan and their adherence to the policy of never letting him hear of his country was a bit mean and unfair. I think that they want to follow the order to the letter for fear of being demoted or put in a similar position as Nolan for not following their instructions. Those people probably want to shun Nolan so nothing bad would come to them if they did not have much to do with him. I also think that some truly view Nolan as a traitor of the United States. If that is the case, the people who think so might not feel so bad about his punishment. I do not think they should have treated him the way they did because if he ever did feel that he did not want to ever hear of the United States again, after a few months of isolation from his country would make him remorseful of his earlier statements or actions. If the people on the ship were in that position, I am sure that they would want to hear news of their country after being stuck on a boat and cast out from the United States after a while. If I were aboard a ship with Nolan, I would have treated him nicer and maybe given him slight hints of what is going on in the U.S.A. so as not to let others know. I probably would do that because I feel sad that he was cast out from his country and most likely deserved better than the punishment that he got.
2. There probably are some times where breaking a rule is the right thing to do. If the rule in question is immoral, unethical, or something along those lines, it would be okay to break it. That might be because the rule itself probably is causes unhappiness of some kind to something. In order to correct any injustice of that kind, the rule causing it would most likely need to be broken, and it would be the right thing to do. Also, if there is a better solution to something and the old solution/rule needs to be broken or changed for improvement upon whatever is going to be improved, it would be the right thing to do to break the rule.
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