fandomhigh | Ethics [Thursday, December 10, 1st period]

Yes, Anakin had tried to get in some lightsaber practice before class.

Yes, it had turned into a candy cane.

No, he wasn't very happy about that.

So a very cranky Anakin stalked into the classroom and began speaking. "There's a very famous story on this world, of the lady or the tiger. For those of you not from here, the short version is that there was a fictional king with his own sense of justice: instead of a court system, he had an arena with two doors. Behind one door was a beautiful woman, handpicked by the king. Behind the other was a tiger. If you chose the tiger, you were eaten and declared guilty. If you chose the lady, you were considered innocent and married the lady. The king didn't care about your previous marital status or sexual orientation, apparently."

He began pacing. "One day the king discovered that his daughter had been having an affair with someone far below her station, so the man was arrested and tossed into the arena. Now the princess knew which door has what behind it, and her lover looked up to her for advice. She had two choices: watch her love die, or marry another woman. The story ends with the princess telling him which door to open, but leaves us hanging as to what waited behind it."

Anakin smiled. "Your task today is two-fold. First, pair up with a classmate and decide what the princess did. Then tell me what you would have done in the princess's place."

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Which way do you think the princess went? Was the guy marrying some beauty, or totally tiger food?

Tara drew a tiger in her notebook as she waited for a partner. She hoped she knew what the princess chose.

Edited 2009-12-10 04:39 (UTC)

"You want to pair up?" Hayley asked Tara. "I think I know what she'd do. I think."

"Me too, I think," Tara said. "It's ... kind of obvious unless she's totally insane."

"I mean, even I think she's picking the lady. Because if ya love someone, you don't want to hurt them, let alone kill them," Hayley said.

"Seriously," Tara agreed strongly. "You have to wonder what was wrong with the guy who made this up that he thinks it's a hard choice."

"I guess he thought either she'd be really selfish, or that she'd think he couldn't live without her," Hayley said. "I mean, I might think about it for a couple seconds, but still. It's not like he's the only dreamy person out there, right?"

"Right, and if you let him die ... how would you live with yourself?" Tara asked. "I'd be afraid he would turn into a ghost and haunt me forever."

"...Golly, no kiddin'," Hayley said, not having thought of that. "And then she'd be miserable forever."

Bobby's ideal scenario possibly wasn't one that the king-dude had had in mind when he came up with his brilliant plan. Still, he waited dutifully for a partner to discuss the answer.

Raven was just a liiiiitttle fretful about sitting close to someone because she still wasn't convinced her powers were wonky again, but Bobby would understand wonkiness. As long as she wasn't making him be in love with her. And she was trying to concentrate really hard on that.

"I do not think we could answer this question without knowing more about the princess," Raven said. "If she is truly a good person, and those were her only options, she would wish him to live, would she not? But if she were selfish, she might prefer him dead rather than with another."

"I know I'd never send anyone to die," Bobby said. "I mean, I might pretend like I was going through with it, but um. I'd have a rescue planned."

Raven nodded, glad that Bobby wasn't staring at her like Max and Karla had been yesterday. "Yes, I agree," she said. "She should not allow him to risk death."

Jonas...didn't really know what to do. Either one sounded bad for the princess in some way, shape or form. She, apparently, had luck like his.

Edited 2009-12-10 12:17 (UTC)

Elena raised an eyebrow at the other boy. "You'd think the king would make up his own mind," she said.

"From what I've read about royalties and monarchy, indecision can be a downfall," Jonas said, agreeing somewhat. "It seems to almost be entertainment for him."

"Maybe that's the point," she said. "He wants her to agonize over it. If he ordered the man's execution, or forcibly married him off to someone else, she could weep and blame her father ... but this way, she determines his fate."

Which would make the father into a sadist.

"And he lets her which makes him..." Jonas trailed off and shook his head. "...oblivious to the feelings of his own daughter at the very least. It sounds like she would be to blame either way. If she tells him, something unfortunate happens. If she doesn't, I'm certain he'd have to choose anyway."

"At least she can save him," Elena mused. "His life, I mean. But knowing that the only way to save his life is to have him marry another ... that's cruel. She can't win. Either door leads to pain."

"Parents have an amazing capacity to do that to their children," he said quietly. "It's kind of frightening."

"Isn't it, though?" Elena laughed, and there was a bitter tinge to it. "Perhaps that's why some people bother having children. To fuel their own social experiments."

"It wouldn't surprise me," he said, shaking his head. "Children become more of a symbol of something instead of their children."

"Parents wanting to re-live their own glory days," she sniffed. "Father was interested in jewelry-making, so therefore, all his children need to study it. They can't have their own minds."

Re: Decide his fate! [12/10]

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"I'm the princess," Emma drawled as she waited for someone to join her, examining her nails. "If I had enough balls to sneak around behind my father's back in the first place, I doubt something like a forced marriage is going to stop me from getting what I want."

Ellie was thoughtful as she waited. She had an idea of what the princess would have chosen.