At some point, every child separates from what their elders have taught them. Either through time or (more often) through a moment of extreme conflict, a breaking point is reached, where we have to choose between following what we believe is morally sound, or what is right according to those who oversee us. These often problematic breaking points essentially serve as a test of one’s innate moral values. Saunders spotlights this moment of transition in both “Escape from Spiderhead” and “Victory Lap” by comparing two individuals’ moral values to the values instilled upon them by higher authorities. In the end of each respective story, Saunders accentuates the moral struggle between the protagonists and their controllers, and proceeds to
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In “Victory Lap,” we see moral struggle and justification from each character, even the kidnapper. Allison justifies opening the door because “people were amazing,” while Kyle legitimizes not helping immediately with the rules that his parents had set for him. The kidnapper defends his actions by citing the past: “In Bible days a king might ride through a field and go: That one. And she would be brought unto him.” Each character exploits some sort of moral vindication for their behavior, except Kyle--Kyle challenges this justification, and “burst[s] out of the creek... and let[s] the geode fly into his head.” Similarly, in “Escape from Spiderhead,” Abnesti, as well as many others, condone their testing by claiming “‘This is science.’” Clearly, both Abnesti and the kidnapper know what they’re doing is wrong, so they resort to justifying it by forcing themselves to believe that they are doing something that’s simply not of their time. Similar to Kyle, Jeff also breaks past his exoneration when he grabs Abnesti’s remote. He recognizes that what’s happening is wrong, and decides to do something to change it, no matter the consequences. Jeff, like Kyle, ignored their elders’ guidance and drastically changed their paths for the
In “Victory Lap,” we see moral struggle and justification from each character, even the kidnapper. Allison justifies opening the door because “people were amazing,” while Kyle legitimizes not helping immediately with the rules that his parents had set for him. The kidnapper defends his actions by citing the past: “In Bible days a king might ride through a field and go: That one. And she would be brought unto him.” Each character exploits some sort of moral vindication for their behavior, except Kyle--Kyle challenges this justification, and “burst[s] out of the creek... and let[s] the geode fly into his head.” Similarly, in “Escape from Spiderhead,” Abnesti, as well as many others, condone their testing by claiming “‘This is science.’” Clearly, both Abnesti and the kidnapper know what they’re doing is wrong, so they resort to justifying it by forcing themselves to believe that they are doing something that’s simply not of their time. Similar to Kyle, Jeff also breaks past his exoneration when he grabs Abnesti’s remote. He recognizes that what’s happening is wrong, and decides to do something to change it, no matter the consequences. Jeff, like Kyle, ignored their elders’ guidance and drastically changed their paths for the