Free Essays - Doing the Right Thing in Their Eyes They Were... Men generally have two choices: help others or help themselves. Hurston's characters choose to help others before attending to their own survival needs. The characters' actions are typical of Immanuel Kant's philosophy of the categorical imperative: actions are intrinsically good and do not find justification in their effects, nor is compensation expected for his actions. In short, one could say that the very lack of reflection on the part of Hurston's characters indicates the characters' unshakable faith in their beliefs and the basic moral goodness they possess. The first event in Hurston's story is the muck evacuation as Lake Okechobee overtakes the lake. the village of characters. Hurston's characters could run away as fast as their legs would carry them, but instead they promptly alert their neighbors. As Hurston describes it, "They shouted as best they could: 'The lake is coming!' and the barred doors opened and others joined them in their flight..." (154). They expect nothing from their actions, but they inevitably save many families. Furthermore, even though Motor Boat refuses to leave the tall house, he still makes as altruistic an offer as possible to his friends: "Why, Mommy's house is yours." "(155). Motor Boat acknowledges his friends' problems, as well as his own, but offers his mother's house as lodging simply because it is the right thing to do. Contrary to what one might argue, the white people on the Six Mile Bridge Bend, however, are not necessarily demonstrating selfishness. There is a limited area of the bridge, and if whites were there first (156), then whites could claim use of it. On the other hand, they could be charitable moving forward afterward a rest period and allowing tired blacks to rest before continuing the journey to Palm Beach or higher ground Hurston may once again demonstrate the perceived differences between the races, but the degree of racism depends on the readers' points of view. Not long after, Tea Cake shows kindness when he notices a man trapped between an electrified tin roof and a rattlesnake. Tea Cake notices the man's predicament and stops to urge him to move to his left. Readers may assume that the man was freed by following Tea Cake's advice, but in the spirit of the categorical imperative, Tea Cake does not wait for laurels..

Topic > Free Essays - Doing the Right Thing in Their Eyes They Were... Men generally have two choices: help others or help themselves. Hurston's characters choose to help others before attending to their own survival needs. The characters' actions are typical of Immanuel Kant's philosophy of the categorical imperative: actions are intrinsically good and do not find justification in their effects, nor is compensation expected for his actions. In short, one could say that the very lack of reflection on the part of Hurston's characters indicates the characters' unshakable faith in their beliefs and the basic moral goodness they possess. The first event in Hurston's story is the muck evacuation as Lake Okechobee overtakes the lake. the village of characters. Hurston's characters could run away as fast as their legs would carry them, but instead they promptly alert their neighbors. As Hurston describes it, "They shouted as best they could: 'The lake is coming!' and the barred doors opened and others joined them in their flight..." (154). They expect nothing from their actions, but they inevitably save many families. Furthermore, even though Motor Boat refuses to leave the tall house, he still makes as altruistic an offer as possible to his friends: "Why, Mommy's house is yours." "(155). Motor Boat acknowledges his friends' problems, as well as his own, but offers his mother's house as lodging simply because it is the right thing to do. Contrary to what one might argue, the white people on the Six Mile Bridge Bend, however, are not necessarily demonstrating selfishness. There is a limited area of the bridge, and if whites were there first (156), then whites could claim use of it. On the other hand, they could be charitable moving forward afterward a rest period and allowing tired blacks to rest before continuing the journey to Palm Beach or higher ground Hurston may once again demonstrate the perceived differences between the races, but the degree of racism depends on the readers' points of view. Not long after, Tea Cake shows kindness when he notices a man trapped between an electrified tin roof and a rattlesnake. Tea Cake notices the man's predicament and stops to urge him to move to his left. Readers may assume that the man was freed by following Tea Cake's advice, but in the spirit of the categorical imperative, Tea Cake does not wait for laurels..