Jonathan Haidt's Hard Times

Through each of Bradford's, Winthrop's, Rowlandson's, and Bradstreet's stories, I was able to gather a universal theme of a strong sense of moral characteristics, such as integrity, honesty, and steadfast, even in times of despair whilst living in what some may consider as a hellish period of time through colonial history. They each shared a principle of God in each of their actions, and for that, I am certain that they were helped graciously through all of the struggles they endured.

In many novels, the society created by the author is surrounded by wealth and corruption. Numerous amount of times these settings are produced based on the life in which the author lives. Charles Dickens is no different. In the midst of most of his novels, Dickens exposes the deception of Victorian England and the strict society that holds everything together. In Dickens' novel Our Mutual Friend, a satire is created where the basis of the novel is the mockery against money and morals. Throughout this novel, multiple symbols and depictions of the characters display the corruption of the mind that surrounds social classes in Victorian England.

Mark Kingwell, in his award winning book In Pursuit of Happiness, asserts that the pursuit of happiness is meaningful and that the benefits far outweigh the risks. In fact, Kingwell’s argument is centered on the idea that people who want to be happy will be happy if they would only pursue what is that brings them joy. For this reason, he disagrees with the idea that biology is the main indicator of a person’s happiness. The idea that “you are either happy or you’re not” (414). Though studies conducted by various universities and esteemed psychologists have reached the same conclusion. In a study conducted by Dr. Jerome Kagan, a prominent psychologist at Harvard University, he concludes that there is a clear connection between dopamine levels

Being unfaithful to your spouse is vile and shouldn’t be an activity that your son sees you. He’s showing his son that cheating on your spouse isn’t wrong. Raymond’s mother said that Clevie always had a girlfriend. Even after they got married Clevie still had mistresses. To me Clevie either knows that his wife has knowledge of his mistresses and just doesn't respect her enough to stop or he thinks she is completely clueless and is getting away with cheating. But she had known since the beginning of their relationship. One time Raymond’s mother found a lacy handkerchief and a tube of lipstick on the floorboard of their car. The way she would get Clevie to talk if she wanted to know the information he was keeping from her was clever. She would place his hand in warm water while he was sleeping. Doing this caused Clevie to talk in his sleep, revealing the information about his mistresses and what he was doing with them. Clevie wasn’t faithful and his wife knew, he was disrespecting her and setting a terrible example for his son

To kill a mockingbird, a novel which teaches us many themes like empathy by always following right morals and doing what is right. Inside those life lessons the novel also teaches us something important as well. Readers can see the power of an 8 year old to defeat a mob, making them acknowledge what they are doing and “stand in the shoes of another”. We read that a total stranger who is isolated from society (Boo Radley) helps a pair of kids and ends up saving their lives. People do bad acts because of power, maybe they don’t know better or (most of the time) people choose bad because if they do what is right it is not going to benefit them. People who do right when it doesn’t benefit them often do it because of morals and having a conscience

Imagine you are a lawyer tasked with an impossible case, and everybody in your community is against you, but still there is a shred of hope you cling to. What might that be you ask? That to which you cling are your morals. In To Kill a Mockingbird Atticus Finch had been given the Tom Robinson case, where a black man was convicted of raping a white woman. As a single father of two children, he continues to reinforce his values throughout the trial and during his daunting task of raising his children. In To Kill A Mockingbird what Harper Lee suggests about the nature of morals is that you should try to stand up for what you believe in even if people oppose or reject your ideals. Even when faced with an insurmountable opposition you should stand up for your morals because in the end if your don't follow your beliefs you are just contributing to the problem. We should try to create a voice for what we believe in and impress that upon the next generation so they can continue to exercise their beliefs to make the world a better place.

When being morally courageous you have the ability to overcome barriers created by society and others. One fictional character who demonstrates moral courage is Atticus Finch. Atticus welcomes Walter Cunningham into his home for that night’s supper as he would any other house guest. He does not treat him differently just because he comes from a financially struggling family. Atticus respects Walter for who he is and does not let their differences get in the way. As a result of Atticus’s equal treatment to all, he engages in conversations as he would with any other adult. “While Walter piled food on his plate, he and Atticus talked like two men to the wonderment of Jem and me. Atticus was expounding on farm problems” (Lee, 27). One of the most important characteristics of morally courageous person is that they remain with their beliefs despite consequences. In this case, treating all maycomb members equally including the cunninghams is a small act that shows much morality. Atticus puts aside what maycomb county members think about the cunninghams such as walter, but treats him like any other adult maycomb county member. Atticus’s behaviour in conversations, help reflect his primary character trait, such as

Roger states that he wronged his spouse by marrying her because she was young and he was old (“Mine was the first wrong, when I betrayed thy budding youth into a false and unnatural relation with my decay”). Elizabeth takes the blame for her spouses’ betrayal by saying that she lacked affection for her spouse (“Suspicion kissed you when I did; I never knew how I should say my love. It were a cold house I kept!”). Because both Elizabeth and Roget took the blame for their spouses’ betrayals, Roger and Elizabeth realized that they left themselves

The Help is a novel that explores the lives of black maids living in the racially unjust, Mississippi in the 1960s, by using the perspective of two black maids and a female, white writer. Minny and Aibileen are the two maids who are close friends and like many other maids, have spent the majority of their life cleaning up after white families and raising their kids. Skeeter is the third character the novel centers around; she fondly remembers her own maid, Constantine but lacks information about her disappearance and current whereabouts. Her ambition to write and love for her childhood career lead her and the maids to eventually come together and become involved in a dangerous project which puts all their lives at risk.

Dickens and Zusak illustrates how people who live in poverty can still live an ethical and moral life. Charles Dickens displays the main protagonist, Scrooge, to be someone

As stated in the prompt, compromise is unselfish but the author provides an example of selfishness performed by one the characters in the act of being unfaithful. When someone in a relationship is unfaithful, they are solely thinking of the pleasure they gain in the end disregarding the idea of it being completely wrong. They are not thinking of the consequences until after the matter is addressed. Therefore the character did not scrutinize how his or her partner might feel upon finding out they were cheated on. Without trust there can be no

A cheater would not be regarded as a good person but rather, a bad person and a liar.

Charles Dickens’s novel Hard Times critiques the use of extreme utilitarianism as an acceptable means to governing a society in which citizens are able to lead happy, productive, flourishing lives. “Just the facts,”19th century English utilitarianism argued, are all one needs to flourish. Those answers that we can arrive at by way of mathematical, logical reasoning are all needed to live a full human life. Hard Times shows however that a “just the facts” philosophy creates a community inhospitable to the needs of one another, a society nearly void of human compassion, and one lacking in morality. Underlying the novel’s argument is the Aristotelian concept that the primary purpose of government is to

Utilitarianism and Charles Dickens - The Analysis of Impact of Utilitarianism in Hard Times towards Humanity

In Hard Times, Dickens presents life philosophies of three men that directly contradict each other. James Harthouse sees one’s actions in life as meaningless since life is so short. Mr. Gradgrind emphasizes the importance of fact and discourages fantasy since life is exactly as it was designed to be. Mr. Slearly exhibits that “all work and no play” will make very dull people out of all of us. He also proclaims that one should never look back on one’s life and regret past actions. Dickens is certainly advocating Sleary’s life philosophy because the subjects of the other two philosophies led depressing and unhappy lives. This is made clear when Louisa realises her childhood of fact without fancy has ruined her, when Tom’s life falls apart after leaving his father’s home in rejection of his strict parenting, and when Mr. Gradgrind himself realises the faults in his own philosophy and devotes the rest of his life to virtue and charity.