Fresnido, Bethuel L.
BSECE 3
ETHICS
Test I. Reflection Paper from TV Series (Squid Game)
Marbles Game – Squid Game
The Marbles Game of the TV series Squid Game is played in the 6th episode of the
series, titled “Gganbu”, which is a Korean term that in this specific context roughly
translates to “neighborhood best friends” in English. I haven’t watched the totality of the
series yet, nor do I have any background knowledge of it before watching the 6th episode
(aside from the constant upstream of memes I saw on social media platforms by the time
it was trending). Needless to say, I have not any background idea of the characters,
setting, plot of the series, and the happenings that took place before and will unfold later
after episode 6. Nevertheless, I could honestly say that this episode moved me. It has
successfully portrayed heavy moral themes such as deceit, betrayal, and sacrifice in both
subtle and blatant ways. Presented on this paper is my complete personal analysis and
reflection of The Marbles Game from Squid Game. Before the mechanics and description
of the game were introduced to the players in the series, they were instructed to find a
pair, and form teams of twos. The instruction was worded in a way that the players
understood it that their will-be teammate will be their partner. Partners in a sense that
they will be working together to get through the next challenge. This perception greatly
affected their decision making in choosing a partner, as it was in fact supposedly a huge
part of strategy. According to the dialogues of some of the characters, the previous games
only needed the players to be either strong or smart in order for them to survive. This
inevitably influenced each player’s preference in choosing a partner e.g., men in fit
physical conditions are first to find and approach other players to team up with and are
readily accepted, women tend to pair up with fellow women, and those of old age are
neglected. Relations also proved to be a factor in choosing a partner, although not so
prominent as the aforementioned ones. Those who were perceived as feisty and
quarrelsome were not able to get a partner easily, such as what happened to a certain
woman who was left unable to find one. After all the players were transferred to the setting
of the next game, the mechanics were introduced. And it was different to what they’d
expected. The Marbles Game was simple. Each member of a pair was given ten marbles.
Each pair has the liberty to decide on how they would play the marbles as long as after
the games, only one member of each pair could be the winner, and winning is determined
by having all twenty marbles - theirs and their partner’s. The loser will be shot dead, and
violence is prohibited between the players. The players came up with a variety of ways to
play the game, most of them were similar as to how children would play marbles. The
most common one is betting the marbles on guessing whether the partner’s holding an
odd or even number of marbles on a closed hand. If guessed right, the loser will give the
winner a number of marbles equal to how many his/her partner is holding. Another variety
of the marbles game is tossing marbles on a hole on the ground. The first one to
successfully shoot a marble on the hole will get all the marbles on the ground. Another
notable variety of the game was tossing a marble near a wall and the one who throws the
nearest to the wall wins. Players could decide whether they settle the game on a single
round or multiple rounds, or even whether on one or multiple varieties of games as long
as all is within the time limit of thirty minutes. What happens when time runs out and a
pair hasn’t arrived to a conclusion of a winner, that nobody knew. And they didn’t have to.
After thirty minutes, all pairs were reduced to a single member. It should also be noted
that before the game mechanics were introduced, everybody thought their partners would
be their allies, not contenders for survival.
I have mentioned earlier few moral themes the 6th episode of Squid Game has
touched upon, especially during moments of the marbles games in which everyone’s lives
were at stake. Deceit, betrayal, and sacrifice were the most occurring themes presented
and without question, these themes are easily spotted in patterns of sequencing events
especially when decision-making is primarily involved. And considering the lives of the
characters were at stake, their judgement, perception, and even morality could be
clouded and challenged – making those themes easier to rise to the surface. But I would
like to talk about an entirely different theme occurring in this episode. One that, though
not blatantly exposed as one of the driving themes of the episode’s plot, is nonetheless
implicitly significant. I would like to talk about the value of friendship, this one hit closer to
home. I’ve had friends throughout my time in life, though yes I’m still young and I’ll find
many more along the way. In mention of friendship, my mind almost always seems to
wander back to high school where I met a person that made a huge impact on me, and
my personality today. This I believe only happens a few times in one’s lifetime. I graduated
primary school then entered high school as a full-blown introvert. I would often find ways
around tasks in school just to have minimal interaction with other students. This is how I
started off my high school life, and it was more of a choice than a circumstance out of my
control. It didn’t last long though, I’ve made friends during the first months of high school,
or more accurately, this one person helped me become more friendly. He was the shortest
one among all us boys in class, and in usual school setting, one would immediately think
he would be the subject of bullying and jokes but he wasn’t. He was not an extrovert, but
he also wasn’t overtly friendly to just about anyone, he just got this personality type suiting
of a constant companion. And we became the best of friends all throughout high school.
I could go on about the funny stories and experiences that has happened but that won’t
be necessary. The gist of my narrative is that, this person chose me to be his friend and
we helped each other, accompanied each other throughout high school. He might not
have noticed it or he may not know it even until now, but if it wasn’t for him, I don’t think
I’ve ever become this friendly to others as I am now. I’ve learned how to have fun with
others, and overall improve the quality of my interactions in school, and for that I’m
sincerely grateful to him and to all the friends we made along the way.
The value of friendship, I believe, is the leading theme of Squid Game’s 6th
episode. Together with the other themes present in the episode, it almost seems
counterintuitive especially since the Marbles Game was meant to push every character
to the edge of their wits and judgement. But I personally believe it isn’t counterintuitive.
When humans are on the edge of deciding what is morally good or bad, it isn’t always
either black or white, and that you could only choose between the two. There will almost
always be a mix of two, and this grey area is what makes us human, it makes us think in
order to decide. The value of friendship on this episode counterbalances the mixture of
all the other negative themes the fault of human decision-making has brought up on the
games e.g., betrayal and deceit. Having the title of “Gganbu” for this episode solidifies my
statement. Story-wise, it provided drama to an otherwise violence-filled thriller of an
episode. Thematically, it has managed to resurface a facet of human goodness despite
the twisted life-and-death circumstances of the games. Specifically, I’m talking about the
friendship between the old man, and his partner. You could tell their friendship goes
beyond the confines of just winning the game. This is evident because even before the
mechanics of the marbles games was introduced, and even before choosing their
partners, the younger man already showed sympathy and kindness to the old man.
Despite the jarring situations they were in, and who knows how much more they will be
facing afterward, they still managed to choose and show kindness. In time of choosing
partners, the younger man was offered to be partners with other more physically fit,
stronger, younger, and smarter players but he declined them all, and chose the old man.
What drove him to make that decision, I’m not sure. Was it because of pity, kindness, or
perhaps empathy? Whatever the reasoning behind his action, I found his decision moving
and heart-warming – nothing less than an act of goodness. I could relate to this because
I too value good friendship among all the good things in life. That certain friend I made in
high school who has made a huge impact on me, that I’m sure I wouldn’t forget. He
decided to befriend me, and stick with me all throughout. And I chose to be one of his
friends, I chose to be more sociable, I decided it’s much better to not be alone. To decide
who your friends are going to be certainly isn’t like any other big or grand decisions you’re
going to have in life. It doesn’t even require that much thought, analysis, or planning, it
just happens. But it certainly doesn’t make it any less important than every other thing
you chose or decide. It sticks with you throughout your life. The friends you make, and
the friends you have in however long amount of time will be with you, in presence or in
thought. And the friends you chose to be with you and chooses to stick with you through
the hardships in life, are the real ones - and that I think, is the essence of the 6th episode
of Squid Game.
The friendship shown between the old man and his partner wasn’t a part of strategy
for winning the marbles game, that I’m quite sure. And that’s what makes it real, it’s what
makes it sincere and true. That’s why the old man didn’t hesitate to sacrifice himself to let
his partner win, though his partner didn’t notice this at the beginning. Watching this
segment of the series made me realize some things worth noting and to ponder upon.
Upon the subject of friendship, I realized it shouldn’t be limited or prejudiced against
certain groups of people. If I want to have good friends, I shouldn’t just look within my age
group. I can make friends with those older than me. In fact, though younger people have
the energy and strength, older ones have the most experience, and their stories can and
will help me in ways I may not know of yet. I also realized the importance of making friends
not because I can benefit or I can get something out of them, but instead the other way
around. This also applies to friends I already have. I should always think, in what ways
can I be of help to them? Not on how they can be of use to me. Though it is true that life
can be hard and tricky, unjust and unfair, and you should do all you can in order to win, I
also believe you shouldn’t make friends just for the sake of your strategy in winning in life.
That shouldn’t be considered friendship at all. I like to think the old man’s partner in squid
game chose him as his partner out of kindness. No one would choose the old man, and
his decision not just made him win at the marbles game, but also made the old man
happy. As much as I don’t know how their friendship began before the 6th episode, I also
don’t know what has happened to the old man’s partner after. But in conclusion of their
marbles game, I believe both of them won.
Test II. Essay
Question: Based on the module—on its discussion about “freedom”, in what way
players in the squid game could say, “we are free” and/or “we are NOT free”? Please
explain.
All throughout history, theorists, thinkers, and philosophers have raised multiple
varying views on what really constitutes true freedom. Presented on the module were
some of those views, their theorists, and how they apply to conditions present in life. The
TV series Squid Game explores human nature, their behavior, and their skills and
judgment, by putting humans in life-and-death situations. Others may even consider the
games in squid game a true test of human morality as it tests their decision-making skills
in a higher ethical level. In the notion of freedom, I’ll be relating two views - that of Isaiah
Berlin and Jean Jacques Rousseau – to the perception of freedom by players in the
marbles games from squid game.
In his work “Two concepts of Liberty” (2002), Isaiah Berlin made distinctions
between positive and negative freedom. According to him, negative liberty is the absence
of obstacle, barriers, or constraints. On the other hand, the positive liberty is the possibility
of acting, in such way as to control one’s life. In other words, a person always acts as an
active actor rather than a passive spectator or an object which is being controlled by other
people.
This view of human freedom by Berlin makes two distinctions of freedom namely,
positive and negative liberty. Looking at the situation of players in the marbles games, all
of them possess the positive liberty and none of them have the negative liberty. Just by
being on the game, the players were automatically given restrictions and constraints.
Their actions are very limited and they must follow very specific rules in playing the
games. Failure of compliance means death. In the notion of negative liberty, the players
couldn’t say that they are free. In the notion of positive liberty on the other hand, the
players could say that they are free. Though they may be restricted, constrained, and
limited to some actions, they also possess the ability to act. Without question, they are in
control of their lives. They could choose whether to follow the rules or not. Though there
may be consequences, still they could choose whether or not they want to be confined to
all the rules of the games.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778), in his notion of ‘True Liberty” he stated
“Individuals should pursue an ideal of “true liberty” in which they will be able to achieve
their full human potential and live virtuously”. The search for the real human freedom lies
in overcoming the desire for self-love and possessing self-mastery and self-preservation.
Positive human freedom focuses not on overcoming what is forbidden from doing, but on
the action which allows an individual to reach the optimum potentials.
This second view of human freedom involves the concept of doing what is virtuous,
good, chaste, excellent, or showing high moral standards. That, according to Rousseau
is true liberty. True, the squid games pushed the players on the edge of their wits and
judgment. What others call as the “true personas” of the players were revealed upon
facing life-and-death situations. Having all these negative premises of the game, finding
one true liberty according to the definitions of Rousseau is certainly not the easiest. But
on watching the 6th episode of the squid game, I found two. The first one is between the
partnership of the old man and his partner. More than partners, they were friends. Their
friendship isn’t built upon strategy on winning the game. Despite the inherit evilness of
the games, they were good to each other. In that sense, they are free. The same thing
can be said of the partnership of that one lady from North Korea and her partner. They
also became friends, however short amount of time it was. Both of these partnerships
overcame the desire for self-love. This is apparent due to the sacrifices one of their
partners did in the end. They achieved the full human potential and chose to act virtuously.
Needless to say, all the other players who did all they can to win the game without regard
to their partners or to the other players did not possess true liberty.