Reflection of Anthem by Ayn Rands

      "Man—every man—is an end in himself, not the means to the ends of others. He must exist for his own sake, neither sacrificing himself to others nor sacrificing others to himself. The pursuit of his own rational self-interest and of his own happiness is the highest moral purpose of his life."

     This is realized in Equality 7-2521 when he lives with the Golden One out in the woods and he finds all those books in the house and he reads them. He finds the word I and learns what it means. He comes up with the explanation above and sticks with it for the rest of his life.

      "I owe nothing to my brothers, nor do I gather debts from them. I ask none to live for me, nor do I live for any others." (Chapter 11, pg. 110) With this statement Equality is taking hold of his own life and not depending or having to be dependent to anyone but himself

      As for the question at hand,  how does our understanding of virtue change if we alter the question as follows:  When a character acts selfishly against the prevailing vice(s) of the dominant social order, true virtue exhibits itself? I believe it all depends on the predicament the character or person is in. In Anthem, Equality is in the predicament where the social vices are holding him back by making him be equal or less than his brothers in anyway possible. This in human kind is impossible, some people are smarter than others, some more athletic and some more popular. We are equal because we are all humans and should be treated as such, but we should also strive to be the best we can be and not be held back by our peers. On the other hand, in To Kill A Mockingbird sacrificing yourself for one person because everyone else is against them, makes the most sense because the court is trying to hold Tom Robinson accountable for crimes he did not commit and is holding him back from being the best he can be, the same as in Anthem. 

     I believe both questions make sense due to the fact that these two books portray opposite worlds and in both books the characters are exhibiting true virtue against the vices of the social order, the difference is however that these vices are different in each book. In Anthem they want none to be better than others and have little variation so the vices do everything to keep the people that way, whilst in To Kill A Mockingbird the vices are persecuting people based on differences in life styles and are doing everything in their power to keep it  that way so their lives can be easier. In both books the vices are trying to keep everyone in one in place to make the higher staus lives easier and better.

Reflection on To Kill A Mockingbird

       The characters of To Kill a Mockingbird, Boo Radley, Tom Robinson and Atticus Finch, all portray true virtue when they act selflessly against the prevailing vices of Maycomb County. Boo Radley displays true virtue when he acts selflessly against all the critisism that has been put on him over the years by Maycomb, and saves Jem and Scout Finch from their attacker late in the middle of the night. By saving these two kids from Bob Ewell, Boo stops hiding and shows himself for the good of Jem and Scouts lives even though he considered a murderer in Maycomb and defies the rest of the town's view of the kids being hurt because Atticus defended someone he was not supposed to. Before this Boo leaves his possessions in the tree for Scout and Jem to find. He is going against the prevailing social order's vices by being friendly and a little out going  instead of mean and locked up in himself. Along with the last line Boo put a blanket around Scout when she was freezing during the house fires.

     Atticus Finch shows true virtue when he acts selflessly against the prevailing vices of the social order. Atticus depicts true virtue when he says he will defend Tom Robinson at a fair trial to the very end. This shows true virtue because it is showing that every man is equal and should be equally defended even though they live in the south united states in the 1800s. He goes against the prevailing vices by giving his all to defend Tom Robinson, while being criticized and when the whole town believes that Tom is the culprit when all evidence is against it Atticus defends him. The south disliked the blacks and if they could blame a white person's crime on them they would, which is the vice of the prevailing social order and Atticus doesn't believe in this so he acts against it and displays true virtue.

     Tom Robinson Displays true virtue when Mayella Ewell asks him to help her with the chores for money, because she was not able to do so herself. Tom said yes and that he would help the lady with what she needed and exhibits moral excellence to help her even though he is Black and She is White he helps her out of the goodness of his heart and against the social vices that blacks should not work for whites unless employed. He says he feels sorry for her when black people are not supposed to feel sorry for white people.

     These are examples of how these characters show true virtue

Reflection on John Steinbeck's The Pearl

          "The Artist probes the central mystery of life as he sees it, the paradox of how evil comes out of good, the tear at the heart of laughter, the dream doomed to the disappointment in the moment of dreaming, the despair conjoined with hope,with which humanity, if it wise must learn to live."(129 Stienbeck) I believe that the story of The Pearl beautifully fits the outline depicted on page 129 of notes. To begin with the story overall outlines the basic paradox of how evil comes out of good when Kino finds the pearl after his son is bitten by the scorpion and he has not enough money to pay the doctor. That is the good obviously but, the darkness is waiting just outside Kino's view and strikes in the form of the doctor, trying to steal the pearl from Kino and willing to kill him to do it; and the Pearl buyers giving an awful price for the magnificent pearl.
         As for, "The tear at the heart of laughter," the seen in the story that shows me this most clearly is when Kino is enjoying his life in his hut with his wife and newborn son. He is entirely engulfed in his happiness until a scorpion starts a catalyst of events that suddenly sends Kino and his family into a spiral of death and evil when no such events were asked for or even considered in Kino's life.
          Kino's dreams were smashed and failed when the pearl buyers refused to give him a fair price and instead of making money, Kino walked away from the dealers. He soon had thoughts of despair such as no new clothes as he once dreamed, no education for his son and no wedding for himself and his wife. He had dreamed them and planned them but, they may not come to be true. In all this despair though came the hope of the capital. This hope was, he may be able to give his family the life they deserved by going to the Capital to sell his beloved pearl. Even when Kino and Juana fled to the woods Kino would never give up to get the best for his family. It was this hope that drove him over to kill the trackers and their master.
         I believe the couple has learned to live with the paradox of, "The Artist probes the central mystery of
life as he sees it, the paradox of how evil comes out of good, the tear at the heart of laughter, the dream doomed to the disappointment in the moment of dreaming, the despair conjoined with hope,with which humanity, if it wise must learn to live."(129 Stienbeck) This belief is due to the fact that these two characters had been through so much that nothing can really compare to them being almost killed and the loss of their firstborn child. They have learned to live with despair even when the amount of hope and realty is so great.

         As for the connection to the novel study topic, at first I though Kino himself was acting selfishly wanting to improve his life with the money by buying new clothes, getting properly wed to his spouse and sending his son to school. As I go over what I just stated as selfishness I realize most of this was not for him. He wanted to send his child to school so the entire population of his people could learn along with his son and become educated. Getting properly wed was for his wife and how he could make her happier by being "legally" married to her. Finally the clothes part was put into a group I thought to name as providing better for his family or family protection.The main virtue in this story was how hard Kino fought to try to improve the living standard of his family and people.