Blog Prompt 5: Justice Vs. Mercy in MOV
By the end of the trial scene, do you think true justice and mercy was achieved? Reflect and write on the following questions:
1. Is there true justice? Why?
Ans: 'true justice' is relative. It is subjective to the viewer. From the Christians point of view, there was true justice served to Shylock, as to them Shylock was inhumane to not let Antonio go. However, from a more humanitarian point of view, true justice was not achieved, as Shylock lost everything, his possessions, his money, even his religion, even though he was rightfully entitled to Antonio's life.
2. Is there true mercy, as expounded by Portia? Why?
Ans: No. As she play around with the wording of the bond to trap Shylock. Shylock was entitled to Antonio's life, and 'a pound of flesh' is taken to include the blood but Portia twists it so that Shylock is not allowed one drop of Antonio's blood. Also, when Shylock wants to take the money instead of the bond, Portia does not give him mercy and instead insists that he take the bond and nothing else
3. Justice and Law can be manipulated by people in power. Comment on this with reference to the text and other real-life cases and examples.
Ans: In MOV, Portia manipulated justice and law by first disguising herself as a male lawyer, and then by twisting the meaning of the bond to trap Shylock into forfeiting all his property.In real life, I feel that Justice and Law can be manipulated by people in power, one example would have to be Mr Dominique Strauss Kahn, he paid a large some of money to be released out of custody.
Hi Wei Yang, I think your answers could use a little more elaboration. You might also wanna put some expression into your responses so as to convince readers to side with you more easily. Other than that, it's pretty decent!
ReplyDeleteYes, perhaps a little more elaboration would be better. But you raised a good point in your first question, justice is subjective. Well, you are probably the first person who mentioned this and true enough, in the Christian's point of view, there was true justice because of Shylock's evil nature but generally speaking, there was a lack of true justice because Shylock did not receive what he should recieve. However, I feel that in answering this question, we should probably look at things from a general point of view, but it was good that you brought up the Christian's point of view.
ReplyDeleteJack Tan 2O307
Hi Wei Yang, you have raised a very interesting and perhaps controversial point for prompt number one that true justice is subjective. I agree that different people have different viewpoints about what justice means to them and often their viewpoint is twisted to their advantage. However, according to my Collins COBUILD Dictionary 2006, Justice is fairness in the way that people are treated. If you ask me what fairness means, it means that both parties reach the same level, just as what Atticus said, "courts are great levelers". Courts and justice are the same thing as both ensure that people are treated fairly. Hence, I believe there exists a universal justice which feels fair in the eyes of anyone, but it requires the views of infinitely many people and thus cannot be achieved. In conlusion, regarding your statement that justice is subjective, I agree partially but I believe there exists a just decision that is not subjective, only it is impossible to reach.
ReplyDeleteIn fact, even from the Christians point, there was no true justice. To the christians, there were justice, not true justice. SHylock did not get what he should rightfuly get, and he eventually lost everything.
ReplyDeleteDavid, what are you talking about? By the way, I disagree that "true justice" is subjective. In my opinion, "justice" is subjective, while "true justice" is humanly impossible. For policies or laws that involve abstractions, how is it possible to measure the offence and mete out a suitable punishment? Overall, good job though.
ReplyDelete-Liang Hao