Morality of puddnhead wilson

Morals pay a big role in every decision we make in our everyday lives. In the book Pudd’nhead Wilson by Mark Twain the main characters have to make moral choices threw the story. Roxy switches her baby with the baby of her master. “Tom” robs the houses of the townspeople to settle a gambling debt. All of these actions require moral choices although they might not be moral in their actions.

Roxana also known as Roxy is a slave owned by Percy Driscoll. She doesn’t look black because she is only one-sixteenth black. She gives birth to a son who she names Chambers who she later switches for another baby. She is described as tough, intelligent, and resourceful. She is the most threatened by slavery although she is freed when Percy Driscoll dies.

Valet de Chambre, Roxy’s son, is switched for Tom at a very young age. He was a very spoiled, vicious, and dissolute person. He falls into trouble when his gambling problem leads him into debt. His uncle, Judge Driscoll, frequently disinherits him, only to rewrite him into the will again.

Thomas a Becket Driscoll, Tom, is the son of Percy Driscoll but is switched with Chambers at a very young age. He was raised as a

When Roxy switches the babies she was using them as a means to an end. The switch was the means to the end of her baby’s slavery. She wanted to keep him close to her so if she switched her baby with the baby of her master he will always be close by although she won’t be able to be with him. Kant’s golden rule states “Do on to others as you would have them do on to you”. I believe that Roxy would have wanted her son to switch her if he were in her position. Although I don’t think that Kant would agree that what she did was moral. Kant believes the categorical imperative is moral because it treats people as ends to themselves. He feels the hypothetical imperative isn’t moral because it treats people as means to ends which is using a person for self gain.

Kohlberg would say that the relationship between Roxy and “Tom” is moral. In his moral stages his second stage states:

Right action consists of that which instrumentally satisfies on’s own needs and occasionally the needs of others. Human relations are viewed in terms like those of the marketplace. Elements of fairness, of reciprocity and equal sharing are Present, but they are always interpreted in a physical, pragmatic way. Reciprocity is a matter of “you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours” not of loyalty, gratitude or justice.

Kohlberg’s studies show that Roxy switched the babies because she wanted a better life for her baby. Kohlberg puts his fifth stage in a more condensed form: “Life is valued both in terms of its relation to community welfare and in terms of life being a universal human right”. She switched the babies so that her child would be in a better standing then she could give him.

Some topics in this essay:
Judge Driscoll, Landing Roxy, Percy Driscoll, Mill Mill, Mark Twain, Aunt Patsy, Chambre Roxy’s, Driscoll Percy, Pudd’nhead Wilson, Dawson’s Landing, robbing houses, percy driscoll, judge driscoll, “tom” robbing houses, “tom” robbing, dawson’s landing, gambling debt, pudd’nhead wilson, moral treats people, golden rule, debt paid, kant’s golden rule, kant’s golden, vicious dissolute person, settle gambling debt,