When making decisions, many people choose the easiest option but not necessarily the moral one. It is much harder to follow set convictions in actions rather than in words. To put one’s beliefs above one’s safety, or even life, takes tremendous faith and bravery. In William Shakespeare’s classic play King Lear, few endure the consequences of doing what they believe to be right when faced with decisions. Similarly, in Anthony Doerr’s unforgettable best-seller All the Light We Cannot See, moral choices test the valour of many while only some prove their principles to be solid. Despite the risks, both Kent from King Lear and Werner from All the Light We Cannot See act according to what they deem to be right through their acts of courage, defiance,
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In particular, as Werner and Marie-Laure go out into the open streets during the cease fire, he guides her actions and tells her how to escape the city and find refuge by saying, “You run you hand along that wall. Can you feel it? You’ll reach an intersection, keep going straight. The street looks mostly clear. Keep the pillow case high. Right out in front like this, do you understand” (Doerr 476)? Werner puts Marie-Laure’s life before his own by making sure she safely leaves the city by telling her to walk down a specific road and hold up a white pillow case of surrender before he worries for himself. His selflessness puts his own life in jeopardy yet his confidence in his action proves he believes he was doing the right thing. Equivalent to Werner, while inside Lear’s palace, Kent speaks up against the king to correct his rash behaviour and to remind Lear that he only acts out of concern for him by stating, “My life I never held but as a pawn /To wage against thy enemies, nor fear to lose it, /Thy safety being motive” (1.1. 158-60). Kent explains how he willingly lets the king use him and how he will gladly risk his life to speak against Lear just to protect him. His altruistic nature gives Kent the ability to put others before himself and do what is right regardless of any hazards. Both Werner and Kent consider the welfare of others before they consider their own in order to make the proper choices and act according to their convictions. Completely placing another’s wellbeing before one’s own to do what is right is the greatest choice one can make in a moral
In particular, as Werner and Marie-Laure go out into the open streets during the cease fire, he guides her actions and tells her how to escape the city and find refuge by saying, “You run you hand along that wall. Can you feel it? You’ll reach an intersection, keep going straight. The street looks mostly clear. Keep the pillow case high. Right out in front like this, do you understand” (Doerr 476)? Werner puts Marie-Laure’s life before his own by making sure she safely leaves the city by telling her to walk down a specific road and hold up a white pillow case of surrender before he worries for himself. His selflessness puts his own life in jeopardy yet his confidence in his action proves he believes he was doing the right thing. Equivalent to Werner, while inside Lear’s palace, Kent speaks up against the king to correct his rash behaviour and to remind Lear that he only acts out of concern for him by stating, “My life I never held but as a pawn /To wage against thy enemies, nor fear to lose it, /Thy safety being motive” (1.1. 158-60). Kent explains how he willingly lets the king use him and how he will gladly risk his life to speak against Lear just to protect him. His altruistic nature gives Kent the ability to put others before himself and do what is right regardless of any hazards. Both Werner and Kent consider the welfare of others before they consider their own in order to make the proper choices and act according to their convictions. Completely placing another’s wellbeing before one’s own to do what is right is the greatest choice one can make in a moral