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"The life of Ethan Allen Hawley, which had for so long held to an irrefutable ethical standard, was about to undergo an unexpected and irreversible change. Likewise he was not alone; progress was descending upon all of New Baytown like the jets which swarmed "with increasing regularity" (196) at the nearby Templeton airfield. With them was coming a new breed, more and more focused on material wealth rather than honesty and principle. Ethan's fourteen-year old son, Allen, was the embodiment of this new morality by which money was God and "morals are paintings on wall and scruples are money in Russia" (from the movie Sabrina, 1995). There was only one goal for this "forward-looking group" (141): money; and as Allen so clearly states, for them "its all dough, no matter how you get it" (91). Ethan had always believed there existed certain "unchanging rules" (217) of basic kindness and decency which had always, and should always, govern men.
He lived his life simply and honestly, guided by visions of his grandfather and Aunt Deborah who had, from his early youth, instilled in him this strong moral foundation; he was" the kid with the built-in judge" (153). The rules, however, were changing, and changing rapidly. No longer would virtue be the deciding factor when faced with temptation; if one stood to gain from a situation, "who gets hurt? Is it against the law?" (34). Quite the contrary, by the new standards, it would be a crime to act on ones own behalf.
Moral consequences were irrelevant; the only consideration was success, and "success is never bad" (239). Those still clinging to Ethan's "old-fashioned fancy-pants ideas" (43) would be devoured by progress like the old Bay Hotel, "now being wrecked to make room for the new Woolworths (11). Under this new law, business was "a kind of war" (115), and as such, casualties were inevitable. To survive, one had to be ruthless, step on anyone who got in the way; "some men had to get hurt, some even destroyed" (239).
Ethan could see this reality, from Baker, who used and manipulated anyone he could if he meant he would profit, to his son, who gladly sacrificed his integrity for a watch an a spot on TV. They were mercenaries, focused only on personal gain, and while Ethan said he " wish[ed he] could admire them, even love them the way... Allen [did]" (196), just like the jets these soldiers " only function was killing" (196); their actions left him with "a sick feeling as though [his] soul had an ulcer" (196). Ethan's initial response to the corruption which had overtaken New Baytown was to fight the change. He rebelled against Murullos idea of "good business" (28) business that didnt give credit, that wasnt kind, and that only looked after "number one" (27); and he rejected Bigger's offers of money because they clashed with his ethical standards.
Right and wrong were unambiguous concepts to him. But, when Ethan tried to imbue his son with these same values, All 3 n responded by saying, "you want me break the law?" (217). Already he had been consumed by the unfettered greed which Steinbeck saw destroying America. At the root of this plague was "the Great God Currency" (168); money had so wholly become the focus of peoples lives that it was a religion, treated with as much reverence and adoration as the Christian God has once been by New Baytown's Puritan forefathers. Without money, a person was nothing, an insignificant peon to be "canceled" (216) or tossed aside like a piece of trash without a second thought; even in the eyes of Ethan's wife, "a grand gentleman without money [was just] a bum" (43). Mary and Allen longed for the chance to "wipe the sneers off the faces" (42) of their prosperous neighbors, and the only way they could see to accomplish their goal was to get money.
Televisions and high society took precedence over the scrupulous standards of an honest grocery clerk. Overwhelmed by the constant attacks on his moral code from others and from himself Ethan finally succumbed to the "law of the fang" (277). With the reassurance that his lapse in honor would exist only to meet a limited objective, he temporarily exchanged "a habit of conduct and attitude for comfort and dignity and a cushion of security" (257); and so began the descent of a good man. Just as he had once been so devoutly upright, as soon as the "game stopped being a game" (275) Ethan surrendered completely to his new course of action; he dedicated himself wholeheartedly to the idea that "man must carve and maul his way to get to be the King of the Mountain" (195), even if it meant carving through innocent friends, like Danny and Marullo. What did it matter that the entire affair repulsed him and left him with "a taste like a spoiled egg" (59) In the end, Ethan's scheme was a success; the store was his, and the most important piece of property in town now lay under his name. The Hawley name would once again command respect in New Baytown.
He had needed only to adopt the new morality for a moment, like a man trying on a different suit... The only "trouble with a well-made suit, it lasts too long" (233), a truth Baker knew only too well. Too late, Ethan realized that abandoning his entire code of ethics was not so simple a matter; even if he did return to his old principles, as if he had never strayed from them, his conscience would be forever marred by his indiscretions. Not hat the rest of the world would ever notice.
Maybe hed got a little blood on his fingers, but Ethan had fought the fight; and more importantly, hed won. "After all, in the end "its all dough, no matter how you get it" (91).
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Research essay sample on Dough No Matter Ethan
