MAAN Post 1

Though all of us have been told that lying is morally reprehensible, we are all guilty of it at some point or another. Though often we are wrong in our actions, there are some times when it may be ok to tell a lie. Sometimes the truth can be much more damaging than the consequences of a lie. When a lie is told only in order to help someone else, it can be ok. However, if the lie is told to benefit oneself or to harm oneself it is still considered unacceptable.

Dishonesty, while in itself is not admirable; it can be when done to help a friend or neighbor. Often lying can be good when the truth is unnecessary and would just hurt someone. For example, for Christmas this year I bought my little sister a hermit crab. The order actually came with two, but one was already dead when it came (yikes!). On Christmas morning my little sister asked if it only came with one crab. I said yes even though that wasn't the truth. Nothing good would have come from lying to her, and it only would have made her upset. When the truth only hurts someone, it is alright to omit it. Also, when it is possible to help a friend a lie might be ok. For example, the Prince helps Claudio when he pretends to be Claudio to get Hero to fall in love with him. He makes this clear when he states,” And tell fair Hero I am Claudio, and in her bosom I'll unclasp my heart" (II, 1, 260-261). Though the Prince did lie to Hero, it was only to help them both with their relationship. Only when it is to benefit someone else is lying ever acceptable.

Though there are exceptions, in almost all circumstances lying is morally reprehensible. Anytime that someone changes the truth to hurt someone else or for their own personal gain it is unacceptable. This has occurred in Much Ado about Nothing many times. Don John, who loathes Claudio lies to him by saying, "Sure my brother is amorous on Hero and hath withdrawn her father to break with him about it. The ladies follow her and but one visor remains (II, 1, 127-130). Don John lies to Claudio saying that the Prince is trying to take Hero for himself. He does this only to make Claudio upset. This sort of lying is unacceptable because it causes nothing but harm. This is often the case when gossip is started about someone. The rumor is only created to hurt someone and therefore is morally wrong. When a lie is told to harm another, it is ethically wrong.

Poetry

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost uses a central metaphor to compare making decisions in life to traveling on two different roads. He describes a traveler who is at a point where he must choose which path to travel in the wood. He decribes one road by stating, "And looked down one as far as I could/ To where it bent in the undergrowth;" (4-5). Though he does not go out and say it, clearly this road is less popular because it hasn't been cleared. He describes the second road by saying, "Because it was grassy and wanted wear" (8). This road is definitely more popular than the first. In the end Robert Frost suprises the reader by taking the less popular road. This is like the decisions in life because often one is forced to choose between what is popular and what isn't. Robert Frost uses this metaphor to convey that while its more difficult, sometimes we must go against what everyone else is doing.

This poem meant a lot to me when I began to read it. It tells the message of doing what is right even when it is hard. This means a lot to me because I think it is always very important to stick with what you think is right, even when everyone else is doing something completely different. This poem really describes what it is like to make a decisions. I often envision two different roads I must choose from. I think this poem is wonderfully written and has a great message.