“cell one,” and “the Very Old Man with Enormous Wings,” Response

Characters in “Cell One,” and “The Very Old Man with Enormous Wings,” are faced with a choice where they can choose between a seemingly happier life or a more troubling one. In “Cell One,” Nnamabia’s parents have an ethical choice presented to them when Nnamabia steals his mother’s jewelry. His parents can decide throw Nnamabia in jail to teach him a lesson, which will cause him pain and suffering, but he will learn his lesson. On the other hand, they can choose to not punish Nnamabia and hope that he changes on his own without having to face the troubling consequences that come with jail time. In the end, his parents decide not to throw him in jail and hope that he will be a good person in the future. “The right thing” in this story is to avoid suffering and try to find a solution to the problem at hand without having to go through a troubling situation, which his parents end up doing. Unlike “Cell One”, “The Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” presents a situation in which the characters choose “the wrong thing”. Pelayo and Elisenda have two choices. One is to help out the Old Man and let him go once he is healed. This choice would not result in a life in which they are free of their financial burdens. Another choice they have is to give the Old Man shelter and food, but to offer him to the public for show. This decision brings wealth, but it comes at the cost of the well-being of the Old Man. In the end, Pelayo and Elisenda choose to offer the Old Man to the public for show in exchange for money. Their choice results in the mistreatment of the Old Man, who is burned by the public and scorned. “The right thing” in this story would have been to take care of the Old Man in a more comforting way, so that he did not have to face the scorn of the public. However, Pelayo and Elisenda wanted to live a more comfortable life, which could be achieved by putting the Old Man on display for the public. In my life, I have experienced situations similar to both stories. One time, I was playing fetch with my dog with a tennis ball. I accidentally threw the tennis into the gutter high up. I could either have chosen not to tell my dad about the ball, which would have resulted in me not getting yelled at, but the gutter would overflow. On the other hand, I could tell my dad about the ball, taking the blame, which would give him time to clear the gutter before it overflowed. In the end, I chose the right thing and told my dad about the ball