On the Water Front

In the movie, On the Waterfront the difference between a "stool pigeon" and someone who is an "informant on criminal activity" is very defined. Our main character, Terry, struggles on whether to tell information about the mob or to keep quite. He knows that he might put himself in danger if he tells but he listens to his consiance and tells anyway. Although Terry makes a decision to stand up for what he believes in, many other characters view him as a "stool pigeon". These characters include the mob, Johnny Friendly and even his brother Charlie.
In my opinion I think it is right to tell about criminal activity. If someone was put in danger, or killed I believe they should be punished, and stopped from ever repeating this kind of activity again. However, I can understand why someone would be viewed as a "rat" for giving up insider information but I still believe that it is the moral thing to do!

All My Sons

Throughout the novel, All My Sons, multiple characters must make many decisions based whether they believe that the welfare of the society is greater, or that of the family. One character who strongly believes that the welfare of the family is greater then that of society is Joe Keller. We know this about Joe, when he confesses to Chris that he did send out the faulty cylinders, he states, "It was all for you! It was for your Chris, a business for you!" (69). Joe obviously thinks that the welfare of the family is more important then that of the society, because if he was more focused on the society he would have jeopardized the business, and his family instead. On the other hand Joe's son Chris takes a very different point of view on the matter. He insists on the country being more important then the family and himself when he states, "Do you not have a country? I was dying everyday" (70). Chris's view of how society is more important then family is clearly given when he rages at his father for what has happened. In my opinion Chris's head was in the right place.
I believe that when it comes to the welfare of society or that of the family, I think society should come first. If one does something that effects the whole society it can make a huge impact not only in that person's life, but also the life of many others. I truly think that communities as a whole should help and support on another instead of seaming and harming each other. Thus if one is to make a decision that would effect the society more then that of the family, in my mind harming the family would be a less severe consequence in the future.