'Common Good In The Ugly Duckling'

Being taught that everyone should be treated equally, and that no one is better than the next should be the way of the world, but that is not always the case. What are ethics? Ethics are standards of behavior that tells one how human beings are to act in the many situations in which they find themselves. Ethics are not the same as feelings, they do not have anything to do with religion and ethics is not science. In researching which ethical standard lines up with the fairy tale “The Ugly Duckling”, the choice was made to go with the Common Good approach. The Common Good should work in a manner that benefits everyone. Which includes public safety and security, along with a healthy community.
In the fairy tale, “The Ugly Duckling”, which begins
Then one day he just decided that maybe it was best for him to venture out and live on his own. No matter where this duckling went it seemed as if the animals were simply not willing to accept the unique features of the duckling. To not be accepted by other animals made the duckling feel like an outcast. He felt as if it was his fault that no one liked being. That left the duckling feeling down. There was no escaping the unfair treatment that the duckling was receiving. Living on the farm became so dangerous that even the mother thought that he should
There seemed to be no place that the duckling would be able to fit in and call home. The animals that were willing to allow him around only wanted him there if he did what they asked of him. After he failed to do what was expected of him, the animals kicked him out to be by himself, once again. Sad to say, but this duckling just did not seem to fit in with any animals. The contemporary ethicist, John Rawls, defines the common good as, “certain general conditions that are…equally to everyone’s advantage” (Better Choices). One day after being out on his own the duckling came across some beautiful swans and wish he could fly off with them. The “ugly duckling” was left out in the cold winter by his lonesome to fend for himself and to hopefully make it through the winter season. Once the winter season left and the lake was no longer frozen, the duckling looked down into the water and saw that his features had changed. He was no longer the little “ugly duckling”, in fact he was something opposite of ugly, he was beautiful. This beautiful animal had discovered that he was not a duckling at all but a beautiful swan. While on the lake, he saw the other swans who he had seen before and they accepted the newly discovered swan and welcomed him into their environment with