Maisie Erin M.
Tan
2018-00648
The Life of Another: A Breather Film Reflection
In the lib, in my normal spot
I was struck with an interesting thought
As reality faded from my sight
I was faced with a moral plight
2 train tracks appeared before me
6 people were there, tied, can’t flee
To my left, I happen to see
A runway train from the far away tree
Unable to stop as their brakes were busted
Their backup brakes have also been rusted
In about 3 minutes, the train will come
The people run over will just turn to chum
As the train sped with increasing velocity
A lever appeared and gained my curiosity
I walked toward it and took a quick look
On the other end attached to a hook
I pulled on it to see what it did
The track changed lanes as the metal skid
So in my hands, I held the decision
Who would survive the deadly collision
One of the tracks held 5, the other 1
I was stuck there, I couldn’t run
I thought to myself, “this would be quick.
1 life vs 5? Quite an easy pick”
I wouldn’t want to cause more people to
die
That’s 4 more families who have to say
goodbye
Philosophy 11 MUV
Oct. 14, 2019
If only 1 has to perish that’s better than 5
That means 4 more souls have been kept alive
My hand hovered over the lever arm
Finally deciding who would be in harm
But then a piece of paper flew down from the sky
“Those 5 are criminals, now choose who will die
The other person is an innocent so to speak
Would you want their blood to splash on your
cheek?”
Now having about 2 minutes left on the clock
I’m still stuck and can’t even walk
I thought to myself, “If only I could move
And go to the other track so I can remove
The ropes on the innocent so that they could flee
And so this track would be person-free
Pull the lever so that the track could switch
The train can pass by without a hitch
No one has to die and it saves the day
Call the police to haul the criminals away”
But that can’t work in my current state
I’m stuck here and have to face my fate
Logically, my previous plan was fine
1 vs 5, my current baseline
But then the problem, I can’t decide
Do I change with the information supplied
It’s still 1 vs 5, the same as before
with morality there, there’s so much more
 Previously, I’ve thought “Oh, they’re all same”
With choosing 5 over 1, I wouldn’t get the blame So why would me being here, change that in this
Now it’s different, what will I choose
Criminals over an innocent?, I want to refuse
I can’t be the one to punish these crooks
They need a trial, go by the book
But how is it fair for an innocent to be dead?
When these criminals can be the ones punished
instead
Now it’s a problem of numbers and morality
Who would be safe and who’d get brutality?
Both would be bad and gruesome as well
But one set is “bad”, can’t afford to dwell
If I go with my head, 5 over 1
If I go with my heart, that can’t be done
If I save the 1, that won’t sound fair
How important is their life than those over there? So this would join the worlds of mind and heart
If I pull that lever, it’ll go back
To it’s original position, straight ahead on the
track
Running over the 5 famous outlaws
That was when I took a pause
If I’d never gone here, what would occur?
That’s impossible to do now, but i’ll try to infer
When I first came, the track was there
Going straight towards the criminals, as far as I’m
aware
If I weren’t here that would just ensue
The train would speed and go straight through
So why would I change something like that
That would just be the same outcome, I’d be
getting at
It was already meant to happen in the first place
case
I pull the lever again to its original position
Returning the track its the initial condition
Wouldn’t me messing with the position of the
lever
Basically mean I have ill will to whomever
But if I just stand here and leave it alone
It would just fulfil things I’ve already known
If the purpose is to prevent more demise
Look at this problem with wider eyes
There are chances that an innocent can kill
But what are the chances a criminal will
By probability, it’s a simple fact
With 5 criminals, the odds are stacked
somehow
I can’t keep thinking about this problem anyhow
My 2 minutes is up and the train keeps speeding
I can’t do anything, my decision is proceeding
As the train was about to hit the first person who
was tied
I woke up from my nap, my eyes snapped open
wide
I made my decision but it didn’t matter
The blood on their bodies didn’t really splatter
That was fine so no lives were on the line
Still thinking about it sent shivers up my spine
This dream left me with something I thought
about
Was I responsible for the death and destruction I
was forced to carry out?