Ethical Dilemmas In A Few Good Men By Aaron Sorkin

In life, we encounter many dilemmas and often have to determine what is right and wrong for the moral good of ourselves. One person’s morals may completely differ from another 's and this book displays it vividly. Men that dedicate their lives to serving their country sometimes find themselves in difficult debates quite like these. In the book, A Few Good Men, by Aaron Sorkin, Colonel Jessep was faced with the decision to either defend his nation or to let two of his own men take the fall for Santiago’s death. A similar ethical issue is when Corporal Downey and Corporal Dawson have to make the choice between being faithful marines or good people that are aware of right versus wrong. An example of Colonel Jessep picking the unethical road to solving things was when he chose to Code Red Santiago. In Jessep’s eyes it was ethical because he proved why he thought it was the right choice. However, his choice had a negative effect on the marines, making it unethical. Corporal Dawson and Corporal Downey were trained to follow orders and commands without any questions and Colonel Jessep took advantage of that. Colonel Jessep strongly believed he was correct about the entire situation. His emotions in the …show more content…
A person’s ethics are constantly evolving as they mature and go through different experiences, but at some point they stop evolving and become set standards. While the characters in A Few Good Men were expected to follow a certain honor system, some obviously did not agree with the conditions that were outlined. Jessep is a prime example; he should have probably never entered the Marine corps if he did not have the ability to control his impulses. I believe that when it comes to making commitments that directly involve the use of one’s moral compass, the individual must make sure that their compass is