Survival, Self-interest, and Morality For some people to survive they have to take into consideration their best interest and sacrifice moral values. John Steinbeck expressed in The Winter of Our Discontent, “It’s so much darker when a light goes out than it would have been if it had never shown.” In other words, Steinbeck believes that when people learn the truth it can cause shock and realization of how bad some situations really are. John Steinbeck was correct. Being in the unknown about something and finally knowing the truth could lead to finding out something worse than imagined. One example that helps prove Steinbeck right is through the nonfiction book Escape from Camp 14 by Blaine Harden. This memoir is about Shin Dong-hyuk, who
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Shin and several other classmates picked her up and carried her home to a pig farm not far from the school. Later that night, she died” (Harden 25). Shin and his classmates were brainwashed to believe that people deserve to be beaten or even killed for their wrongful actions. This is an example of how bad it really is in North Korea, a little girl was killed for having corn kernels in her pocket. These prison camps are just like modern-day concentration camps, the only thing different is that the North Korean camps have been gone on for decades punishing many generations. The world was so oblivious to the fact that the prison camps are viler than they seem from the outside. Shin has gone through several horrific experiences growing up in Camp 14 and has suffered throughout the years, “Stunted by malnutrition, he is short and slight - five feet six inches and about one hundred and twenty pounds. His arms are bowed from childhood labor. His lower back and buttocks are scarred with burns from the torturer's fire. The skin over his pubis bears a puncture scar from the hook used to hold him in place over the fire. His ankles are scarred by shackles, from which he was hung upside down in solitary confinement. His right middle finger is cut off at the first knuckle, a …show more content…
One real-life example of this is a personal experience of when I had first learned that my mom was sick and was in the hospital. Nobody had told me what was wrong, all I knew was that she was not feeling well. Months later I became aware of the fact that she was not getting any better as the time passed. I decided to take it upon myself to find out what was wrong and when I did I was shocked. My mom ended up having a disease that affected her stomach causing her to not eat or barely get up. Steinbeck’s quote relates and is supported by my personal experience because once I had found out the truth of why she was in the hospital it was surprising to me that she was sicker than what I expected. If I had not discovered what was really wrong then I would have kept on thinking that she was sick from something else like pneumonia. I had not considered that she could have been sick from something more serious. Another example that supports Steinbeck’s quote, is the point in history in which people started to notice the toll that cigarettes were taking on people. Smoking, both active and passive, can cause a number of diseases and illnesses. America was astounded from finding out the health effects smoking can have on a person. People had not questioned smoking and once scientists gave the truth about it, America reacted by trying to stop
Shin and several other classmates picked her up and carried her home to a pig farm not far from the school. Later that night, she died” (Harden 25). Shin and his classmates were brainwashed to believe that people deserve to be beaten or even killed for their wrongful actions. This is an example of how bad it really is in North Korea, a little girl was killed for having corn kernels in her pocket. These prison camps are just like modern-day concentration camps, the only thing different is that the North Korean camps have been gone on for decades punishing many generations. The world was so oblivious to the fact that the prison camps are viler than they seem from the outside. Shin has gone through several horrific experiences growing up in Camp 14 and has suffered throughout the years, “Stunted by malnutrition, he is short and slight - five feet six inches and about one hundred and twenty pounds. His arms are bowed from childhood labor. His lower back and buttocks are scarred with burns from the torturer's fire. The skin over his pubis bears a puncture scar from the hook used to hold him in place over the fire. His ankles are scarred by shackles, from which he was hung upside down in solitary confinement. His right middle finger is cut off at the first knuckle, a …show more content…
One real-life example of this is a personal experience of when I had first learned that my mom was sick and was in the hospital. Nobody had told me what was wrong, all I knew was that she was not feeling well. Months later I became aware of the fact that she was not getting any better as the time passed. I decided to take it upon myself to find out what was wrong and when I did I was shocked. My mom ended up having a disease that affected her stomach causing her to not eat or barely get up. Steinbeck’s quote relates and is supported by my personal experience because once I had found out the truth of why she was in the hospital it was surprising to me that she was sicker than what I expected. If I had not discovered what was really wrong then I would have kept on thinking that she was sick from something else like pneumonia. I had not considered that she could have been sick from something more serious. Another example that supports Steinbeck’s quote, is the point in history in which people started to notice the toll that cigarettes were taking on people. Smoking, both active and passive, can cause a number of diseases and illnesses. America was astounded from finding out the health effects smoking can have on a person. People had not questioned smoking and once scientists gave the truth about it, America reacted by trying to stop