Moral Disintergration of America Exposed in The Winter of Our Disconten

Moral Disintergration of America Exposed in The Winter of Our discontent      The Winter of Our Discontent    The life of Ethan Allen Hawley, which had for so long held to an irrefutable ethical standard, was about to on a lower floorgo an unexpected and irr ever sosible change. Likewise he was not alone progress was locomote upon all of New Baytown manage the jets which swarmed with increasing regularity (196) at the nearby Templeton airfield. With them was coming a parvenue breed, more and more focused on solid wealth rather than honesty and principle. Ethans fourteen-year old son, Allen, was the embodiment of this new morality by which money was God and morals are paintings on beleaguer and scruples are money in Russia (from the movie Sabrina, 1995). There was only one goal for this forward-looking group (141) money and as Allen so understandably states, for them its all dough, no matter how you get it (91). Ethan had always believed ther e existed certain unchanging rules (217) of basic kindness and decency which had always, and should always, govern men. He lived his life entirely and honestly, guided by visions of his grandfather and Aunt Deborah who had, from his early youth, instilled in him this strong moral foundation he was the kid with the built-in judge (153). The rules, however, were changing, and changing rapidly. No longer would virtue be the deciding factor when faced with temptation if one stood to gain from a situation, who gets hurt? Is it against the law? (34). Quite the contrary, by the new standards, it would be a crime to act on ones own behalf. Moral consequences were irrelevant the only consideration was success, and success is never poisonous (239). Those still cl... ...the suppress, Ethans scheme was a success the store was his, and the most important piece of property in town now lay under his name. The Hawley name would once again command respect in New Baytown. He had needed only to ad opt the new morality for a moment, like a man trying on a different suit . . . The only trouble with a well-made suit, it lasts too long (233), a law Baker knew only too well. Too late, Ethan realized that abandoning his entire code of ethics was not so simple a matter even if he did return to his old principles, as if he had never strayed from them, his conscience would be forever marred by his indiscretions. Not hat the rest of the world would ever notice. Maybe hed got a little blood on his fingers, but Ethan had fought the fight and more importantly, hed won. After all, in the end its all dough, no matter how you get it (91).