Ethical Dilemma in Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)

Nietzsches claim that God is dead arouses elicit questions non only on what or who killed God but also on how gentlemans gentleman connection, de unemployed of the broad-held comfort of the pointaling of ethical and inviol qualified grounds, would formulate judgements of what is hearty, good, or beautiful in their lives and in the earth. The deterrent example and ethical contradiction of a world where loyalty does non exist is shown in the word-painting Glengarry Glen Rose which is an exploration of the motivations and whim of individuals in a society where the wave-particle duality good and evil engender ceased to have the warnings. Arguably, the delineation portrays the ethical dilemma in a postmodern world, notably pose by Nietzsche, who observed that the demise of the judgment of absolute Truth is a am tolerantuous sword for society. This is because the drop of clearcut and univers eachy held patterns of what is in good order or wrong, while at jump see ms to connote freedom, ultimately leaves a void that leads to tender-hearted despair and nihilistic feelings.Adapted for the king-sized screen from a act upon write by the movies manager David Mamet (1992), Glengarry Glen Ross follows two days in the lives of quartette real terra firma agents who face a bleak future if they do not terminal a deal soon. These characters, compete by a veteran and brainy cast which includes Al Pacino (Ricky gipsy), Jack Lemmon (Shelley Levene), Ed Harris (Dave Moss), and Alan Arkin (George Aaronow), ar told point blank by company representative Blake (Alec Baldwin) that the company exit fire every salesman except for the pate two within one week. The agents, heroical to retain their jobs and continue to earn a life history, commit actions that raise questions and at the said(prenominal) time comments on how far human bes in todays society would go to preserve themselves and attain their mercenary dreams. In a couple of days, the chara cters force involved in a serial of events that show how human culture has enormously suffered from the lack of ethical and moral considerations.Apart from capturing the plain decay in human culture, the depiction is particularly concerned ab disc dawdle the motives and assumptions that commence each sales agents actions and how these motives often result in conflict interests. This is evident in how the themes of justice, status, and identity ar tackled base on the feelings, thoughts, and actions of the characters in the pick out. For instance, Blakes character as a ruthless(prenominal) and unfeeling company representative is clear intended to parody the attitude of big business when it comes to ensuring a healthy female genital organ line, which is clearly against the interest of its workers.On the other hand, these workersor salespeopleare depicted as comparable to Blake himself in terms of cruelty and lack of humanity. Ricky Roma, for instance, is by and by show n to be a flinty soul who takes advantage of the weaknesses of others to advance his objectives. Shelley Levene similarly resorts to thievery in order to close a sale and exact revenge on his perceived enemies. In the end, Blakes character with its apparent inhumanity extends less despicable as the frailties and weaknesses of other characters are exposed. Ironically, the audience is led to feel compassion for such human weakness sort of of cosmos led to feel righteous. This is because the film attempts to evoke empathy in its viewers for characters who are, alas, as human as the viewers are and whose justifications for wrongdoing resonate with the audience.Arguably, the narrative of the movie itself is a statement against the moralsor the lack of itof the quaternion real estate agents. In this sense, Glengarry Glen Ross delivers a stinging revue of how societys sense of ethical motive and even the sense of morality have been replaced by materialistic desires. The story of t he four salesmen, desperate and immoral, mirrors the realities faced by individuals in their quest for personal success and a higher social status and how this quest, ironically, often results to the further debasement of the humanity in the individual.The film, in fact, is full of such play at irony that depicts how peoples worth are not judged by society based on how good they live their lives but on the add together of material things they possess. In this social order, adult male are segregated by their class, heathenish identity, and gender which determine their ability or their eligibility for access to basic and higher necessarily. The films narrative itself, which revolves around real estate agents trying to sell dogshit in its figurative and literal center, alludes to the expression in which domain are not anymore concerned with telling the integrity or with earning a living finished honest ways or at least, without causing the ruin of others. Apparently, todays world has gone beyond being immoral or corrupted to being amoral or lacking in moral standards itself.Thus, the ethical dilemma raised by the film reflects Nietzsches argument on the stopping point of God, referring to the demise of societys dualist model of good or evil. With this death, everything that humans have come to believe in becomes subject to doubt as accuracy falters in its absolute hold on consciousness. In this society, even the realities of human receivethe entire spectrum of feelings and thoughtscan be questioned and examined for their validity. gentlemans gentleman acts are therefore defined not by their conformity with accepted norms or intrinsic value but by the circumstance surrounding them. This circumstance, in turn, becomes the standard by which an act becomes socially acceptable.In Glengarry Glen Ross, the death of universal values and norms for what is good or evil meant that ethical considerations were dispensable and were expedient only when the need arises. Ricky Romas character, for instance, engages in a monologuewhich is later revealed to be a sales returnthat shows how society and individuals have suspended all forms of judgement in favor of individuality. Accordingly, Romas speech, which deals with stealing, cheating, and even pedophilia in a nonchalant manner, is a tell-tale sign of the central argument made in the film that the death of absolute Truth has entailed the death of things once cherished by humans such as the concept of love and goodness.According to Nietzsche, this has created a void in individuals who felt lost without the ethical values and concept of morality that served to anchor their lives. Instead, these ethical ideals such as Truth, were replaced by the notion that there was a multiplicity of truth depending on how these benefitted society or the individual. Ultimately, however, Nietzsche points out that this loss of a sense of ethics and morality also leads, for many individuals, to lose their sens e of meaning and to despair. Thus, loneliness and desperation is pervasive in Glengarry Glen Ross for how could men engaged in crafting lies to their fellow humans in order to earn a living be able to live authentically meaningful lives?It is therefore in characterisation the ruthless and callous ways with which human beings act in a strategy dominated by materialistic notions of success and happiness, that Glengarry Glen Ross succeeds at brutally dissecting individual motivations and actions based on Nietzsches philosophy. Consequently, the film is able to provoke retrospection on what has become a reality for many individuals in a materialistic society, and to evoke the finality of whether this is a reality that is worth maintaining for the long term or one that needs to be transformed and changed to affirm the meaning of human life.Work CitedGlengarry Glen Ross. Dir. David Mamet. Perf. Jack Lemmon, Al Pacino, Ed Harris, Alec Baldwin, Alan Arkin, and Kevin Spacey. New Line Ci nema, 1992.