Serious
moral dilemma time in the book. Aren’t moral dilemmas just so much fun?! More
seriously though, I like to view situations like these from many angles, so
having a whole chapter related to a moral dilemma of Jason’s was an interesting
read. To preface all of this, I feel the need to state my final opinion on the
subject because bias will show up. I agree with Jason giving the wallet back in
the end, however I don’t agree with the reasons why Jason kept the wallet in
the first place (the whole keeping because of complete spite). I just want to
take a look at the scene in a way I read it and compare it to the rest of
Jason’s decisions on a scale of sorts.
Taking the side of moral high ground, I’ll take a bit of a look at the
situation. Initially, Jason does take a moment to contemplate giving the wallet
back, which in itself is a good choice. It kind of goes south after that when
he keeps the wallet out of spite once he sees it belongs to Ross Wilcox. It just
seems petty to keep it for that one reason only and retcon his decision to give the wallet the fair grounds owner. At that point it really is stealing rather than keeping until you find the right person to give it to. Shortly after, he enjoys
seeing Ross in a state of panic where he starts to make plenty of mistakes. It
just seems wrong to get that much joy from the suffering of someone (Personal
note: I don’t fully enjoy Ross’ panic, but there is some satisfaction there).
Once he’s told that that wallet actually has hundreds of pounds in it, he gets
some sense back and realizes that stealing Ross’ wallet really is an issue, but
he’s still not thoroughly convinced he should give it back. He has reasons to use the money, but the ones he mentions really aren't for any other purpose other than personal gain. What makes it worse is that he’s told the
consequences to Ross when he doesn’t bring the money back, he likes it; he
really feels that it would be one of the best things that could ever happen to
him. After a quick talk with his own dad, Jason is hit by sense again and he
decides to finally give the wallet back as is. Morally, he ended in the right
place, but it was a bit rocky getting there. Not the most satisfying way to
think about the scene for many people because the ending of the incident also
kind of makes the revenge seem less so there. It’s there and Ross does end up
with some karma for his actions, but losing his leg is pretty harsh don’t you
think?
Now a
look at the rest of his story that we’ve gotten. I’d say this incident would
actually fall somewhere in the middle of the spectrum. The fact he spent as
much time as he did between either giving the wallet back and keeping it is
really what makes me put it there. I don’t blame him for wanting revenge and to
be honest, the opportunity wasn’t that bad, but I just don’t agree with the
amount of time he spent debating it. In the end though, the decision seems
thoroughly Jason in that he does give it back but before then, a massive amount
of thought that went into it. Can’t help but notice the logical Julia make a
very visible impact on his thoughts and life.
