Niccolo Machiavelli, who was an Italian philosopher, once said “The End Justifies the Means,” which is a statement that seeks to highlight the extent to which human beings would go with an aim of having to achieve desired outcomes or goals. In most cases, this can be seen from the fact the actions that people take fail to conform to what is expected of them from a societal perspective. Most of the people within the society tend to agree with this position, as this does not only seek to reflect on how people are expected to behave but also serves as a justification of the actions that people take to achieve set out goals. Different works of literature have also been on the forefront towards supporting the statement by Machiavelli, as they seek to provide a clear connection between unjustified actions and justified outcomes.
In Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery,” the question of whether the end would justify the means can be seen from the fact that the society had held a tradition that allowed the people to engage in actions that involved stoning persons to death. From any reasonable perspective, this can be considered as an immoral action considering that it constitutes or results in the death of a member of the society in a manner that cannot be justified. However, for the people in this community, the stoning of individual to death was viewed as being justified arguing that this would serve as one of the factors that would define their survival. Consequently, this meant that the people would embrace the belief that their actions resulting in killing would justify their survival within the society.
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Most people in the society do not consider the impacts that their actions are having on those that they engage with or whether their actions are appropriate based on their societal expectations. Instead, the people only seek to justify their actions by considering the outcome or consequences, which are reviewed based on the expected impacts to the people in the society. That serves as proof that indeed the people tend to believe that their engagement in negative actions can be viewed as being positive depending on the outcomes. In the current society, the question on whether to use the death penalty as a key aspect to help in reducing crime rates has been raised. The death penalty serves as the unjustified actions that would be taken, which would involve the actual execution of individuals convicted of a wide array of crimes with the intention being towards ensuring that the crime rates would reduce.
“Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night,” which is a poem by Dylan Thomas presents a similar justification as “The Lottery,” as it seeks to provide a justification on the fact that people ought to work towards taking full advantage of their lives before they die. The poem builds on a proactive justification on the fact that most people would justify their end, which is death, based on their actions while they were alive. That means that the people often find themselves believing that regardless of how good or bad one is, the end outcome is that one would die, which is the justified end. The overall result of this is that it seeks to change the way in which people tend to view their worlds, as people often find themselves embracing actions that would be considered as justifiable.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper,” which reflects on a woman who is suffering from severe depression, also builds on the understanding of the quote by Machiavelli, as it seeks to portray the general perception on how women are treated within the society. The fact that the story builds on a feminist view can be justified from the fact that it seeks to create a significant avenue through which to highlight that the society has failed to advance the position of the women. That has become extremely challenging in trying to create a general change in the way people embrace the role of the women. However, for the people in the community, as described in the story, that would justified from the fact that this was a tradition that the people were expected to embrace irrespective of their positions.
Although the people reading these texts may consider the authors as lacking what would described as a justified understanding of negative actions, the people must also embrace the fact that the society we live in today is immoral and lacking ethics. The actions by most people tend to highlight the fact that indeed immorality is rife within the society, which reflects on a general understanding that indeed most people engage in actions that can only be justified by the outcomes. The authors use their understanding of the society in creating works of literature that would provide readers with a clear justification of what would be expected in terms of trying to understand the overall functionality of the society. The authors are able to embrace reasoning in their messages, as they seek to provide information that can reflect on what is to be expected within the social institution.
