In the text Twenty Questions by G Lee Bowie, I chose the chapter “Why Shouldn’t I Be Selfish”? In that chapter the two selections that were chosen were The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins and The Virtue of Selfishness by Ayn Rand. The two discuss and give examples of how selfishness is simply for survival and how being selfish can benefit that individual. The term selfishness stated by Ayn Rand is defined as “concern with one’s own interest” (525). In both selections of the chapter both philosophers compared how ones selfish action is based on the question, who benefits from it? Based off of both selections “The Selfish Gene” and “The Virtue of Selfishness” it can be agreed that when one is selfish he thinks of only the benefits he gain from it and not his rival.…
Another example that illustrates that a selfish deed is not always bad is when Brother takes Doodle to the kitchen in the go-kart for breakfast. Towards the middle of the story, the narrator explains what happen when Brother and Doodle entered the kitchen. Brother said, “At breakfast on our chosen day, when Mama, Daddy, and aunt Nicey were in the dining room, I brought Doodle to the door in the go-cart just as usual and had them turn their backs… I helped Doodle up, and when he was standing alone I let them look” (5). That day at breakfast Brother wanted to show his parents and aunt what he accomplished, and that he would not let Doodle embarrass him anymore because he taught Doodle to walk. Then when his parents saw Doodle walk they couldn’t help but cry and hug Doodle for what he accomplished and Doodle told everyone that Brother taught him to walk and everyone hugged him and cried. The short story written by James Hurst “The Scarlet Ibis” demonstrates a selfish deed is not always…
People are often encouraged to promote and work towards their self interests, however when a persons self interests don't coincide with what is considered good, it can create a problem. In the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, the poem "Power" by Corrine Hales, and the play The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare, the characters struggle to show empathy and instead choose to promote their own interests, which ends up causing problems for them. Lack of empathy will often come back around and hurt you, as displayed by Curley, the siblings from “Power,” and Shylock.…
The success of a society is reliant on individual sacrifice. Ambitions driven by selfishness are detrimental to a community. Numerous instances of human history and literature have demonstrated the importance of limiting self-interest.…
Have you ever been so selfish and greedy about something that you did not want to share? In the story, "Both Sides of The Fence”, a greedy and selfish man named Alberto learns a very valuable lesson from his neighbor Juan. Alberto learns a lifelong lesson that his selfish pride is very foolish, and being kind and generous is more rewarding.…
Conclusion: Selfishness' therefore can not be defined unless you factor in morals and values. The attack on selfishness' is an attack on man's self-esteem; to surrender one, is to surrender the…
Society functions because of what people do within their societies. The impact of the way people interact with each other allows power to be distributed to individuals. Individuals experience many different ways of life as seen throughout many different aspects of literature. Humanity is based on the interaction between humans and how acts of compassion, especially from strangers, evokes emotion. All across the world exists class systems, and extensive ways of thinking that shape the people that live within them. Within the literature from an expanse of authors, these readings allow a great insight into the world and a deeper examination of different regions and how they operate.…
We all have the same needs: food, shelter, love, acceptance, support, etc. but little do we know that the difference between groups is minor compared to the similarities we all share. One of our many similarities is behavior including: selfishness, and the act of believing what we want to believe; one may analyze this among reading “The Other Wife” by Colette and “War” by Luigi Pirandello. It is our instinct to try and best each other, even in times of great communal strife as well as silencing others to strengthen our own beliefs.…
The author blames the surface attitude towards economic, family and personal problems in the society. The play directs the reader to an obvious conclusion that such lack of humanism is caused by excessive preoccupation with material success. It suggests the necessity to keep our family and friends as the only real values of human…
“What kind of society isn't structured on greed? The problem of social organization is how to set up an arrangement under which greed will do the least harm”. This famous quote by Milton Fredmen sadly dictates what the fundamentals interests of society have become. In this short story, “Heartache” Anton Chekhov created a main character “Iona” who had recently lost his son. Iona throughout the story had tried to find someone who he can share his sorrows with but ultimately failed. It showed the selfish nature of society and its effects on Iona which in turn became his “heartache”. The author used the plot as a powerful tool to create a mood of darkness and despair which in turn helped to create the theme of the dying morals of society.…
Tolstoy’s short story – “How much land does a man need?” — is a religious-morality tale which can be interpreted in a variety of ways, but which seems primarily concerned with the destructive consequences of human ambition. The story is about a man named Pahom – a peasant farmer — who desires to acquire more land, acquires some land, but is not satisfied and needs to acquire more. Eventually he over-reaches, forfeits all his accumulated wealth and causes his own death. (*See below for a Summary of story). The message to take from the story may be as simple as a warning against biting off more than you can chew, or we could say simply that the story shows how human nature pushes us to want more and more. We are never content with our lives, no matter how well off we may be; and , while trying to improve our standard of living, we put ourselves in danger of ending up with nothing.…
"The giant was a selfish giant," says the story "The selfish giant" written by Oscar Wilde from Ireland, who wanted to bring forth a special moral which has been a serious topic for many centuries, and no less these days than ever before. He uses many characteristics of fairytales to create a conscious fairytale about the problem that is to this day the reason why the world is the way it is. Therefore I am going to write an analysis of his work on what the moral is, and what messages that was sent through the fairytale, as well as looking at the means he used to write the story.…
When I was 12 years old, I saw the list of bar top-notches on television and I promised that I will never settle for mediocrity and be the next bar top-notcher. I grew up along with the legal cases that my family has been trying to win for years now. They were fighting for the lands that some people stole from my grandfather. Seeing my family suffer is what motivates me to become a lawyer.…
There is a proverb which is “Every man for himself, and the devil takes the hindmost.” It totally reflects the human nature. As a matter of fact, Human beings are selfish when they are born.…
Opponents of this view argue that because of increasing materialism, concepts such as ‘’ mine’’ and ‘’ yours ‘ now start in early childhood; therefore, children are becoming more selfish, and they may have a point in that. However, parents play an essential role in this situation. If they teach their children that being selfish has negative impacts on others’ thought about them, their children will deal with this problem.…