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Post by Trevor Brownlow on May 28, 2010 10:29:52 GMT -5
On page 219, Ben lies to Gerry about the fate of their father because he feels that “the truth was cruel.” Instead of suggesting to Gerry that their father may be deceased, Ben offers that a fishing boat would have “already found Dad by now.” Is Ben justified in masking the potential truth about the fate of his father? Is telling the truth the best option in all situations? Is this simply a matter of choosing the lesser of two evils—lying or revealing a harsh reality?
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Post by Lisa on May 29, 2010 16:22:16 GMT -5
I definitly think Ben had the right to lie in this situation. Gerry knowing the truth would be yet another stress on a young boy already in a ridiculously traumatizing situation. While honesty is usually the best policy, this situation(three young boys stranded on a desert island) doesn't fall under the rules--it's beyond normal. I actually don't think lying is an evil at all here. I think the only evil would be to unbalance a small child's pysche(even more).
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Post by Olive Kelly on Jun 1, 2010 10:26:03 GMT -5
I think that it was okay for Ben to lie to Gerry in such a situation as theirs because, while it was giving Gerry false hope (or so they thought at the time), it kept him from being completley devastated by the loss of his remaining parent. I think that honesty is best in most scenarios; however, in this case dishonesty was not completley bad and was the lesser of two evils.
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