Midnight Express

Midnight Express

Billy Hayes becomes desperate at the end of the movie. He realizes that he will never be released and so when he finds the money his girlfriend hid for him, he is moved to try and escape. He tries to bribe Hamidon to let him out. Hamidon takes the money but takes him to an empty room where he is planning on beating Billy. He takes off his gun and puts down his stick. He starts beating Billy. He stops and begins to pull his pants down. Billy seizes this opportunity and pushes him, knocking his head into a peg on the wall killing him. He then puts on Hamidon's clothes, takes his gun and leaves the prison. He is finally out and makes it across the border into Greece.

If I were put into that situation, I think I would act exactly how Billy did. After years in that terrible prison, I would have been in such a state of despair that I would have tried anything to get out. If I had a wake up call like my girlfriend coming in to tell me to get out, helping me realize I will never be released and can not just accept it and lay down and die, I would have made a move to escape. I think I would no longer care about consequences. If Hamidon took me to that room, I would have fought back just as Billy did. I would not think any more about what will happen to me if I fight back because I could have no worse punishment than I had for the years I had been there. I would have done anything possible to get out just as Billy did.

This is a hard question about the ethical appropriateness of his and my actions. I believe that he was acting appropriately. In his situation, he had to get out for not only himself, but for the sake of his family and all his other friends back home. He was unfairly put there and terribly treated and in my eyes justified in defending himself and fighting back against Hamidon. He was pushed to this because of the situation he was put in.

Billy's actions can all be considered ethical when things are put into perspective. Using the relative ethics of where he was, he was justified in his actions. They were treated terribly and that was accepted in that jail. He had every right to act the same way. His escape can also be rationalized on a couple levels. He had to do it to get out, there was no other choice for him. The result of him getting back home justified his method of accomplishing that. He was also almost forced to act as he did.