Essay La Cibai

Sample Argumentative Essay 2
ESSAY WRITING: ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY

Question:
In ‘Law Abiding Citizen’, the character Clyde Sheldon took matters into his own hand when he experiences injustice at the hand of the judicial system. Do you think that his actions in the movie are laudable? Write your response in the form of an argumentative essay of not less than 350 words.
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Answer:

(Introduction)
In ‘Law Abiding Citizen’, we can see that the character Clyde Shelton suffering injustice at the hand of the judicial system when his family is slaughtered in a home invasion and one of the principal perpetrators goes scot free. However, Clyde manages to exact his revenge on the murderers and after unleash his personal vendetta upon the corrupt judicial system in an extreme and gruesome style. I am of the opinion that Clyde’s actions in the movie should not be lauded at all. (Thesis Statement) This is because in the movie, his actions results in the taking of the lives of the innocents, him being mentally unstable as well as the possible chaos that could trickle from his action of taking matters into his own hand.

(Body paragraph 1)

(Topic Sentence 1) Firstly, Clyde’s actions the movie should not to be lauded because he kills many innocent lives. In the movie, Clyde kills attorneys, judges as well as hosts of others who are not directly involved in his case. The most heart wrenching scene in the movie that illustrate this is probably the scene in which he blows up the car of Nick’s protégé, Sarah. Such action is wrong even though he has a convincing reason behind his grudge against the judicial system. Moreover, each individual’s right to live is not only for one person to decide. Also, Clyde should have spared their lives because definitely, he would not want the same thing to be happened to people that he knows and loves.

(Body paragraph 2)

(Topic Sentence 2) Secondly, Clyde’s actions also pose negative psychological impact on him. Throughout the movie from the beginning till the end, we can see Clyde’s transformation from being a benign family man to a psychotic, murderous villain. In the film, vengeance is the only thing that concerns him as he deals with other matters in a cold blooded manner. This is pictured in scenes where he plots the death of so many people without thinking about their innocence as well as leaving trails of destruction along the way. His sense of humanity seems to be drained from him as he exact his revenge on people who he thinks should be hold responsible to the killings of his family members.

(Body paragraph 3)

(Topic Sentence 3) Thirdly, Clyde’s actions are wrong and should not be viewed as a good way to punish a corrupt judicial system. This is because if everyone chooses to emulate his behavior, the society will be in chaos, for everyone will take matters into their own hand as they wish. Law and order is established with the purpose of keeping situations in order. If it is disrupted, everyone will live in fear and anxiety. In the movie, the strings of terror unleashed by Clyde alone while avenging the death of his wife and daughter is enough for the mayor of the town to declare emergency. Therefore, it is of tantamount importance that law and order is upheld rigorously.

(Body paragraph 4) – Opposing other view

However, it is easy for one to sympathize with Clyde and his predicament. This is because we can see a basis behind his action, which is the injustice that he suffers. Apart from that we are also being shown the ill practices within the judicial system in which arrangements that will benefit the court and power players are made. However, Clyde’s actions are still unjustifiable given that many people who do not have anything to do with him and his cases get caught up in his path. Furthermore, it is selfish of him to generalize the wrongdoings of a few people to others and makes others to bear the consequences.

(Conclusion)

In conclusion, (Restatement of Thesis) Clyde Sheldon’s actions in the movie is wrong because his vendetta involves the killing of innocent people, changes him for the worse as well as the possible causing of social unrest. It is therefore not necessary for us to feel sorry for him altogether because he too has his fatal fault.