Murders are something that is usually never fully justified, even in the scenario of punishment for crime. While it is commonly argued that not even the death penalty is appropriate for murderers themselves, as it is suggested that two wrongs make a right while relying on the current law system to be wholly accurate (and thus risking killing an innocent person which is full as unethical as the murders,) surely it can be argued that killing is almost never justified. The most commonly excepted response to this is the case of self-defense, where killing is essential in saving one’s own life. Suicide is not typically classified as murder, but is regardless a killing and normally regarded as unethical to some extent. It is hard for most people to argue when suicide is fully acceptable, except in the case of euthanasia where the easing of pain towards eventual death is seen as a release. Much literature is concerned with these issues, as is Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Telltale Heart,” Susan Glaspell’s “Trifles,” and William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily.” While in all of these cases the deaths are tragic and involve the protagonist, the reader is never left to side with the protagonist in the justification for their actions. Rather, the reader is presented with the intimate thoughts and actions of the killers so that they are understood or even empathized or sympathized with, followed by the continued and clear thought that their actions were not justified and wrong.
Poe’s work concerns a man on the brink of insanity. He is not fully insane, yet shows tendencies towards mental instability. This becomes full-blown in his increasing irritation from the man he lives with, who contains physical features that disgust him so much that he wants to see him gone. The protagonist carefully premeditates the murder and carries it out. The reader is left with a sense of evil and understanding of the man’s perspective, and a sense of guilt for being able to identify at all with his emotions. The killer has a sense of guilt too, though the level in which he has resulted in him not being able to keep his secret and confessing to the authorities. The guilt was not immediate while he took immediate delight as apparent in “I smiled, for what had I to fear?” (Poe p.5) following the killing and disposal through dismemberment and buril. As it was not an act of self-defense, or even revenge, the murder in the tell-tale heart was cold-blooded and unjustified, while the reader’s only condolence is that the man confessed, was remorseful, and was apprehended for his actions.
Glaspell’s work is similar to Poe’s in that it was a murder that took place, however, the conditions revolving around the murder resulted in a deeper motivation for the killing. In Poe’s story, the motivation was generally shallower, based on looks and similar traits, however in Glaspell’s work the motivation was based on action. A wife murdered her husband for killing a bird, which resultantly had removed passion from her life. The wife decided it was appropriate to remove all passion from the man’s life as justice. While more reason than in Poe’s story, the actions are clearly not even equal let alone justified, and we are left with another unjustified murder in any traditional ethical sense.
Faulkner’s story comes closer to a justification because the protagonist, Emily, considers to chose to take her own life rather than someone else’s. While the motivation was a love complication, as is common in literature, it is not seemingly an immediately apparent ethical reason to commit such an act. Regardless, one can argue that an individual has the freedom to do as they wish with their lives so long as it does not infringe on the freedom of others, and in any case, has the right to take their own life should they wish. It is debatable whether or not this constitutes “justified,” and while the motivations and justification are much purer than that of Poe’s or Glaspell’s tale, there is still an absence of wholly appropriate reasoning. While Emily may have not violated anyone’s rights, it can be argued that she still had a decent and healthy life left to live and thus should not have considered taking it.
Death is a controversial subject in nearly every category, and the literature discussed helps us to better consider a variety of circumstances. Through this continued consideration ethical thinking evolves and attempts to provide better answers for what is right and wrong.