Aaron J Hudson
ENG101
Prof Rimmer
April 24th, 2006
Morally Speaking…
The choices we make in our lives define who we are. The morals we hold
dear and the ethics we live by equally say a lot about who we are as a person.
Suzanne and Alice, two characters in the play New York written by David
Rimmer, are faced with moral choices that have to be made. The ultimatum
given to Suzanne by her husband and the decision Alice makes for the sake of
her family retain a moral value to each individual situation. The following
examples and quotes will give you a better idea of my definition and meaning of
a moral or ethical choice.
The first character I will use to solidify my opinion is Suzanne, the United
Airline pilot. Suzanne is faced with two monumental decisions that show her
dedication and loyalty to her career as a pilot. The terrorist attacks of 9/11
destroyed not only buildings and shattered lives, but caused many Americans to
lose faith and hope in life itself. The basic will to carry on life as usual was
completely altered forever. This also held true for Suzanne upon her first day
back to work after the attacks. She says, “That was the hardest. I can’t tell you
how much hatred was pouring out of me.” (Rimmer 41) The decision to return
to work although she still had so much anger and hate within her, Suzanne
showed how strong and determined she was to carry on her life and to not
allow the terrorists to take away more than they already have. She was not
going to let them take her career that she loved so much. Suzanne’s character is
shown here as a very strong minded person just by the choice she made to
return to work after such a devastating event.
Another situation involving Suzanne placed her in a position to make a
moral choice yet again. This time the choice was between her marriage and her
career. Her husband never wanted her to become a pilot in the first place. She
says, “We made a deal—this was gonna be my last year. And he won’t let me
back out of it. If I don’t quit, he’s gonna leave me. And he means it.” (Rimmer
42) The ultimatum alone has placed a dark cloud above Suzanne’s marriage.
Just knowing that one day soon, she is going to have to make a choice between
the two biggest loves of her life places unwanted or needed stress in her life. The
cliché of being stuck between a rock and a hard place fits this situation perfectly.
She even goes further to say, “He’s saying to me—be a deserter or be alone.”
(Rimmer 42) The husband is drilling into her that he means serious business
with his decision to make her choose. Ultimately, we see in the pilot’s second
scene of Act 2, Suzanne is in the cockpit of an airplane giving her Good Morning
speech to the crew and passengers. Her choice was obvious; she chose to stay in
her career. It is not 100% sure if she divorced her husband, but her loyalty and
dedication to her career won out over that to her husband and marriage. The
choice she was forced to make was unfortunate but again, shows how devoted
she is to her career and how much she is willing to sacrifice to show her loyalty.
My second character from the play is Alice, a middle-aged, separated
mother whose husband cheated on her with another woman. She’s talking on
the phone with her cheating husband while her daughter is lying in bed with
her. This conversation takes place after 9/11 and an ultimate decision has been
made to extend an invitation, to this non-deserving man, for a second chance
with his family. The mother reaches out to him, “Teddy, come home. You
should be here. I’ll forget about Michelle. If you will.” (Rimmer 17) After 9/11,
after so many lives has been lost and so much has happened, the mother realizes
that life is entirely too short to remain bitter at her husband and keep their
family separated. Her decision to welcome him back into the family after his
actions of infidelity shows that she is a big enough person to look past one
mistakes and see the bigger picture. This situation is almost the flip side to that
of Suzanne’s. Suzanne was faced with a choice that threatened to tear her
family apart where here with Alice, she is making a choice to bring her family
back together again.
Both situations involved life altering decisions to be made. Choices that
tested moral issues for both women. Each instance required both women to look
inside themselves and see what was really important to them. Each had to ask
themselves before they made their final choices, “Is this what I really want? Is
this what I really believe to be true in my life?” These two questions define my
belief in moral choices. You have to look inside yourself and fine out what your
true beliefs really mean to you. Then, based on the answer you find is when you
can truly make that decision that could change so much.