Rationalization in Rule-Breaking

Jeff Firsoff Firsoff 1
Ms. Willoughby
ENG4U1
October 11th, 2012

Rationalization in Rule-Breaking

In modern society laws are depicted as necessary rules on how to live life, and if these laws are broken then punishment awaits. Taking action based on what is 'good' is taught as being less and less important as society progresses, but the truth is that fear is eminent to those who do not. In the novels; Charlotte's Web by E.B. White, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis and Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling; often people are faced with the choice between following their morals or set rules. Children's literature teaches us that when this happens one must choose their morals because when an individual follows the rules they become blind to what is really happening around them.
In times of crisis people prefer to be informed of the situation in order to avoid the unknown; which is where fear often roots itself. When people are put through a crisis they must follow their morals or fear will consume them. An example of this dilemma can be found in 'Charlottes Web' at the beginning of the novel. After Fern's mother reveals to her that her father is heading to the barn to 'do away' with a small, weak pig her morals kick in and she takes action, 'Fern pushed a chair out of the way and went

Firsoff 2 outdoors.[...]"Please don't kill it!" she sobbed. "It's unfair!"' (White, 1-2). The crisis that provoked Fern to take action upon her father was that he was going to kill an innocent runt pig because it would supposedly never amount to anything. In this crisis Fern follows her morals by running after her father and even though breaking the rules by questioning her father's judgment, stops him from killing the pig. The fear within Fern was clearly demonstrated in her reaction from the situation at hand. To avoid consumption by the fear of what would happen to the pig if she did nothing, she took action based upon her morality. If she were to follow the rules and ignore her beliefs, she would not have stood up to her father and remained ignorant toward the significance of this pig’s life.
A second example of those in crisis following morals to avoid fear taking over can be found in 'The Philosophers stone' near the end of the book. This quote takes place when Ron, Harry and Hermione arrive at the Gryffindor common room after being caught by Professor McGonaggal near the forbidden door. Harry states that he is going to go back and sneak through the door to attempt to retrieve the Philosopher's stone. Hermione is appalled by his decision, "You'll be expelled!' 'SO WHAT?" Harry shouted. 'Don't you understand? If Snape gets hold of the stone, Voldemort's coming back!'[...]'I'm never going to the dark side!'[...]'You're right Harry." (Rowling, 291-292). This quote clearly demonstrates the morality in Harry's decision to break the rules in order to follow what he believes is right. The crisis that Harry faces is trying to acquire the stone before it is stolen to resurrect Voldemort. In this situation Harry decides to break the rules when faced with the fear of what would happen if Voldemort came back. In a perspective
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Harry's actions were driven from his fear; and his desire to conquer it, rather than be consumed by it.
The search for knowledge, as well as the way an individual lives life in general can often be restrained by following rules. When people disregard their morals to follow the rules they will become unaware of the truth. This can be seen in the novel, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe in the third chapter after Lucy comes back from Narnia and fails in her attempt to convince her siblings where she had been, 'The others who thought she was telling a lie, and a silly lie too, made her very unhappy. The two elder ones did this without meaning to do it,' (Lewis, 27-28). This quote is an example of how Lucy's siblings disregard their morals to follow rules; which keeps them unaware of the truth. In this case, they ignore the fact that Lucy is their sister and that she has not been known to lie, in order to keep the status quo. A place like Narnia does not exist in their world, so they follow society’s rules by not believing Lucy. Keeping the status quo can be considered a form of rule, and when the siblings disregard their morality in Lucy, they become blind to what is really going on around them.
Ignorance from the truth by disregarding morals and following rules instead can also be seen in the novel, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. This quote takes place near the end of the book after Harry wakes up from his battle with Professor Quirell. To his surprise, Dumbledore walks in and talks to him for a while, “Always use the proper name for things. Fear of a name increases the fear of the thing itself.” (Rowling, 320). This quote shows an example of how following the ‘rule’ of not saying Voldemort’s name keeps everybody blind to what he really is. Obviously Voldemort would want people to
Firsoff 4 fear his name; it depicts him as a god-like being. Not hesitating to say Voldemort’s name would be going against what Voldemort would want, and would be moral. The people in the novel who do not say his name remain unaware of the truth; which is that Voldemort is no god, only a dark wizard.
It is through literature that children learn many of their first lessons in life. Following morality in search of truth, as well as to avoid consumption by fear instead of blindly following rules is a message that children’s literature sends out. Children's literature teaches us that when an individual faces the choice of following rules or morals, one must choose their morals because when an individual follows the rules they become blind to what is really happening around them.