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The Parable Of The Sadhu Sparknotes

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The Parable of the Sadhu Analysis
In the Parable of the Sadhu, Bowen McCoy takes a trip to the Nepal with his friend and anthropologist Stephen to trek through the Himalayan Mountains. One man from New Zealand that was in their group but had gone ahead found an Indian holy man, a sadhu, naked and laying on the ice. He brought the man to McCoy and Stephen, but was determined to reach his goal and he left the sadhu in their care. After taking the sadhu’s pulse giving initial first aid, McCoy decides to leave the sadhu with Stephen and their guide. None of the hikers, other than Stephen, was willing to put their personal goals aside and help the sadhu who was in need of aid. Everyone did what they considered “their part”, but would not claim ultimate …show more content…

The guides on the trip should have taken a leadership role to gather some members of the hike that were willing to set aside their own personal interest for the greater good of the sadhu. In John Baldoni’s book, Courage: Stand Up for What You Believe, he states, “When people see their leaders making the tough calls, they feel emboldened to follow suit” (Baldoni). The guides of the hiking trip are the ones that the tourists and mountain climbers look up to. If one of them would have been courageous enough to set aside the goals of the hike to look after the safety of the man, Stephen would have been able to follow their guidance and maybe some of the other hikers would have joined. In addition, he believes that “…people who act on principles when it comes to integrity and ethics are the kind of people that generally draw people to them and set the right example and, in turn, build a culture of caring and commitment.” (Baldoni). If one of the guides would have stood up for what was right, a culture of selflessness could have been created and the sadhu could have received the help he needed. Unfortunately, the guides did not feel as though they should help the sadhu, and as a result, an ethical culture within the group was never established and people acted

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