Comparing Immorality in The Rise of Silas Lapham and The Octopus

Jim Williams is an oddity in Savannah. This "socially prominent antiques dealer" (Bellafante 79) is arrogant and pompous, but unlike those who are this way because they believe they were born with the right to be so, he is this way because he knows he has earned the right. It is because of this, though, that he is not truly accepted by his neighbors. For instance, there is the Oglethorpe Club, one of the highest class social clubs, even by Savannah standards. It would make sense for one of the richest aristocrats to be a premier member of the club. This is not the case, however. According to Berendt, bachelors from middle Georgia who sold antiques were not likely to be asked to join (6). This doesn't bother Williams, though. He is as prejudiced towards the local elite as they are towards him. In his own words, "Blue bloods are so inbred and weak. All those generations of importance and grandeur to live up to. No wonder they lack ambition" (4).

In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, we are introduced to two families in Chapters 1 and 2, the Buchanan’s and the Wilson’s. Between the two families, Tom Buchanan and Myrtle Wilson participate in an affair because of their unhappy marriages. Only Daisy Buchanan, Tom’s wife, seems to realize, between her and George Wilson, Myrtle’s husband, that the affair is going on. This results in a circle of lies and facades. The distrust exhibited by Tom and Myrtle show that Fitzgerald’s attitude towards truthfulness was that the idea of being truthful and trusting partners and family was something Fitzgerald saw as being difficult to achieve for most families.

"His family were enormously wealthy – even in college his freedom with money was a matter for reproach – but now he’d left Chicago and come East in a fashion that rather took your breath away: for instance, he’d brought down a string of polo ponies from Lake Forest. It was hard to realize that a man in my own generation was wealthy enough to do that."

At the turn of the century, American readers were interested only in stories with happy endings, where goodness was praised and evil was punished. They did not particularly care if that was a false interpretation of the way life really was. When men such as Frank Norris, the author of The Octopus, wrote angrily of the injustices and poverty to be found in America, readers turned away. The Octopus made them change their minds. The course of the novel and the reality of its characters held the readers’ attention. It is so powerful a book that people had to care about the wheat growers, almost against their wishes.

He too abandons his morals; illegally earning the money that he believes will win back the heart of his lost love Daisy. When they had a love affair long ago, she wouldn't marry him because of his financial standing. The details of his business are sketchy, when asked he usually ignores the question. Tom though, after some investigating finds the true nature of his profession.

Some who are only chasing for profit regards ethics as barrier. However, lots of researcher approve that managerial ethics are not mutually exclusive with profitability.

In “Cheating in a Bottom Line Economy,” author David Callahan explains the fundamental reasons for the decay of simple business ethics in today’s economy in order to meet bottom line standards. Callahan draws conclusions from everyday businesses such as auto mechanic services, law offices, and even professional medical firms to prove that people will almost always choose financial stability over integrity. The economic life in America has transformed itself into a vast land of professionals focused on achieving “lean and mean” businesses in efforts to achieve the “American Dream,” but in essence lose sense of their morals.

“Great ambition is the passion of a great character. Those endowed with it may perform very good or very bad acts. All depends on the principals which direct them.” This is a quote by Napoleon Bonaparte. Ambition is a theme that is visible within the novel “The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz” and the film “The Wolf of Wall Street”. Both Duddy Kravitz, the main character of the novel, and Jordan Belfort, the main character of the film, are both are excessively ambitious and would do anything to accomplish their goals and to become a successful individual. Growing up in poverty may provoke ones ambition; however it has the ability to cloud ones judgement and morals, and may guide one on the path of illegal activity.

person to unleash such a terror on the world to benefit only himself and his

In the late eighteenth century arose in literature a period of social, political and religious confusion, the Romantic Movement, a movement that emphasized the emotional and the personal in reaction to classical values of order and objectivity. English poets like William Blake or Percy Bysshe Shelley seen themselves with the capacity of not only write about usual life, but also of man’s ultimate fate in an uncertain world. Furthermore, they all declared their belief in the natural goodness of man and his future. Mary Shelley is a good example, since she questioned the redemption through the union of the human consciousness with the supernatural. Even though this movement was well known, none of the British writers in fact acknowledged

In the Buchanan household, which has been relocated several times to escape the bad publicity wrought by affairs, this kind of behavior is to be expected, showing how even the educated upper class is unable to escape the corruption of America, and what it stands for. The general lack of concern for affairs continues when Gatsby believes that he can turn back the clock and rekindle what he and Daisy once had. Gatsby not only hopes that Daisy will wait for him, but expects it, scoffing at Nick’s assertion that things have changed over time, and that Daisy is now married and a with a child and therefore uninterested in him: “Can’t repeat the past?...Why of course you can!” (116). Gatsby believes that Daisy will be willing to give up what she has for him, building his whole life on the assumption that she will be willing to forget all she has for him. This attitude of indifference for marriage is mimicked in the actions of Tom as well as Myrtle Wilson, showing that it may be widely held. Tom takes advantage of Wilson, replying to Nick’s concerns by simply saying that Mr. Wilson “thinks [Myrtle] goes to see her sister in New York. He’s so dumb he doesn’t know he’s alive” (30). Myrtle’s ability to easily lie to her husband shows that the marital corruption of the upper class is prevalent in the lower classes as well. Fitzgerald uses the diverse characters, from the removed yet decidedly elite character of

Becker (1963) originally coined the term ‘moral entrepreneur’. This is commonly used when describing law making officials who make particular ‘criminal behaviour’ illegal. He believed that illegal behaviour is continually changes over time, and therefore suggests that the criminal act is ‘impertinent’ to the concept. His theory focuses on how individuals and society react to others with a ‘criminal label’ and how they work together. A label on a person can become a constant status and all their other associated labels, characteristics and behaviours will be overlooked.

A corporation is an artificial person established by the law. It nurses the same rights as humans contrariwise; they are not equally responsible for their actions. A corporation cannot face the same charges a human would: if illegal actions took place. Bakan illustrates the traits of a corporation to closely resemble the traits of a psychopathic individual human being. These traits are, but not limited to: “1) unconcern for others, 2) incapable of maintaining relationships, 3) disregard for others safety/health, 4) repeated lying, 5) incapable of experiencing guilt, and 6) failure to conform to social norms.” Therefore, executive’s means for earning high returns for shareholders can be seen as a trait of a psychopath. Yet, the corporation’s attributes are not based on the qualities of the executives outside of their careers. As Bakan would say, “the people who run corporations are, for the most part, good people, moral people.”

The movie “Glengarry Glen Ross” presented a series of ethical dilemmas that surround a group of salesmen working for a real estate company. The value of business ethics was clearly undermined and ignored in the movie as the salesmen find alternatives to keep their jobs. The movie is very effective in illustrating how unethical business practices can easily exist in the business world. Most of the time, unethical business practices remain strong in the business world because of the culture that exists within companies. In this film, the sudden demands from management forced employees to become irrational and commit unethical business practices. In fear of losing their jobs, employees were pressured to increase sales despite possible ethical

Frankenstein was a story written by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley while she was on her vacation in Switzerland with her husband. The story got published in 1818 without letting the public about the author. It was in 1831 when the novel revised edition was out and Mary Shelley name mentioned as an author. The novel focused on social, cultural and political facet of the societies during Mary’s lifetime. The fictional character in the novel clearly shows the battle against the pre-established people’s attitude during that time. Religion and science always create a controversy in the society with religion always differencing from any scientific principles and experiments. Shelley’s tried to addresses the above controversy and showed how science and modern technology is sometimes wrong. She tried to show how scientists and inventors are sometimes selfish only care for achieving their plan without evaluating the end result.