Oroonoko's Love for Imoinda

In addition to the fact that the narrator understood that murdering someone is wrong, the narrator has a motive for killing the old man. Right off the bat, the narrator tells the reader why he wanted to kill the old man. He says, “I think it was his eye! yes, it was this! One of his eyes resembled that of a vulture—a pale blue eye, with a film over it. Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold; and so by degrees—very gradually—I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye for ever.” This indicates that he had a clear rationale for killing the old man and is guilty of first degree, or premeditated murder. Some may argue that the narrator is mentally insane and killed the man because over an irrational fear caused by his mental illness. However, an insane person would not wait to terminate a powerful feeling of paranoia and to assassinate the person causing such fear.

"I protested I was not a warrior. Verily I made all the excuses and pleadings that I could imagine might have effect upon this rude company of beings. I demanded that the interpreter convey my words to Buliwyf, and yet he turned away and left the hall, saying this last speech: ‘Prepare yourself as you think best. You shall leave on the morning light.'"

In life, people are guided by moral beliefs and principles. Whether their beliefs are good or bad, their decisions are based on them. In Plato “The Crito”, Socrates emphasizes his moral beliefs and principles when he decides not to escape from prison. Although Socrates had the opportunity to escape his death sentence, he chose not to do so because he had a moral obligation to commit a sacrifice.

Once returned with armor for Palamon, the fighting ensues amidst the feuding cousins. Before their dispute concludes in death, the wise knight, Theseus, along with his wife and Emily, the cause of the knights’ quarrel, happen upon them in the grove. Although both former prisoners, and one forever exiled from the land of Athens, Arcita and Palamon truthfully reveal their identity and the motivation behind their duel as “chivalry [requires] knights…to swear loyalty to their superiors” (Thierry). Arcita and Palamon, with all loyalty to the Duke, unveil their true identities, a brave act of chivalry that nearly results in the execution of the devoted knights. Theseus, moved with compassion at the plea of the two women, pardons both Arcita and Palamon, knowing that only those in love “can be called a fool” (Chaucer 46). Theseus’ amnesty emulates the “ideal chivalric knight,” one who “[is…] compassionate [and] just…to those in distress” (Thierry). In

Socrates and Euthyphro cross paths one day at the courts of Athens. At the time, Euthyphro was there to prosecute his father for murder. Socrates takes the opportunity to ask Euthyphro what the meaning of piety is. In this paper, I exam the issue at hand, how Socrates uses his question to doubt Euthyphro’s thesis, and give an explanation as to what this question means for someone who maintains that God is the origin or foundation of morality.

Therefore, appealing to action does not clarify what constitutes piety. Moreover one god may perceive Euthyphro’s action as just, while another deplores is as unjust. Another proposition is that piety is what is universally loved by the gods, and impiety is what is universally hated by the gods. However, is the particular action pious because it is loved by the gods or loved by the gods because it is pious? Is piety intrinsically virtuous or virtuous because external praise by the gods? Socrates poses a remarkably timeless question. For example, is it unjust to kill Syrians because human life has intrinsic value, or is it unjust to kill by consensus? Is there an objective moral duty to preserve human life, or is the value of life merely dependent on social

Topic: Discuss the ideas developed by the text creator about the individual’s capacity for self-sacrifice in the face of compelling circumstances.

The short story “The Death of Dolgushov” by Isaak Babel is a gut wrenching story, at times literally, about the dilemmas of killing. Babel, a master of the short story, challenges readers’ morality by contrasting two soldiers plights. On the one hand, a soldier, Dolgushov, pleads that he has “had it (241),” meaning that he wants his comrade to kill him after being mortally wounded by machine gun fire; while on the other hand, another soldier, unnamed, cannot bring himself to kill Dolgushov. Throughout the story, war is depicted as a game until a soldier gets seriously hurt. This device, combined with the vivid imagery associated with both soldier’s plights, complicates how readers’ judge the act of killing and war in general.

He immediately felt guilty after he shot them, saying “Holy Mother of God, not to suffer! She was a good girl—not to suffer!” (Cather 104). This shows that he truly did not want to hurt his wife, but his fit of rage took over him. Alexandra and all of the other people who loved Emil and Marie were devastated by their deaths and Alexandra, especially, was never the same. This example of self-sacrifice, whether it was the ability to or not, shows how there are both pros and cons to this difficult ideal.

“He thought Almighty God had dealt cruelly and unjustly with him; and felt; somehow, that he was paying Him back in kind when he stabbed thus into his wife’s soul. Moreover he no longer loved her, because of the unconscious injury she had brought upon his home and name.” (Chopin 83).

sacrifice for the rest of the people Omelas. “The door always locked; and nobody ever comes…”

In both stories the men became enraged by a single eye. In “The Black Cat,” the man disfigured the feline, for he could not bear the feeling of transparency. In “The Tell-Tale Heart,” the man’s eye made him so uncomfortable, that he felt he had to destroy it permanently. They both felt that killing was the only course of action open to them.

The proceedings which take place before the Duke of Venice show heroism on the part of Desdemona, who stands up to her father before the body of senators with whom he has worked for years, but in a respectful manner: “My noble father, / I do perceive here a divided duty.” She elects to remain with the Moor. The general himself, in narrating how he wins the hand of Desdemona, gives testimony to his own valor during many battles. He concludes: “She loved me for the dangers I had passed, / And I loved her that she did pity them.”

the benefits of this sacrifice are not confined to those who respond to it with an explicit act of faith” (Nash, 1994, p. 103). Nash breaks down the definitions and uses Scripture to back up his points very well.

The drama “Death and the King’s Horseman” written by Wole Soyinka tells a story that relates to the burial of the dead king of the Oyo, which is held by the ancient Yoruba in Africa. According to the tradition of the Yoruba, after thirty-day of the king’s death, his horseman Elesin must commit suicide in the rite in order to accompany the king passing through the holy passage towards