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Thomas More and Dr. Jeffrey Wigand is a sufficiently complicated character, and one that we sympathize with. To be sure, he's not entirely one-dimensional. Initially, he does what most of us would do in his position: he takes the money and benefits that the company offers him in return for silence.
After all, the guy has a family to look out for. But then Wigand is tortured over his passiveness, wondering if he should take a more aggressive stance with his potentially damaging knowledge. In The Insider the story is about that not long ago Big Tobacco was spanked with billions of dollars in settlement money for class action lawsuits, due largely to the courage of whistleblower scientist Dr. Jeffrey Wigand. The former chief of a scientific research department with a major tobacco company, Wigand was fired for speaking out against the use of lethal, addictive chemicals added to cigarettes. He was also made to sign a confidentiality agreement, effectively silencing him.
Wigand testified, against great odds, about classified scientific studies that indicated that the leaders of all major tobacco companies had committed perjury before Congress. Each of them had acknowledged their belief that tobacco was not addictive, while secretly figuring out ways to increase a cigarette's fix. The issue of ethics is touched upon in the story very carefully but rather fully for the audience to understand what Dr. Wigand was. Wigand is a great character to follow as he tries to balance out everything around him. Tortured and sleepless, his reactions are what you would expect from someone forced to choose between the safety of his family with the gravity of what he knows.
Most of it makes for edge of your suit viewing. Wigand lets it drop that he has some inside information about Big Tobacco, a group of the seven biggest tobacco companies. The information pertains to a chemical put into cigarettes that the CEOs of the seven dwarfs are aware are addictive. Big Tobacco has never lost a personal injuries case because their defense until then has been that they arent sure if cigarettes are addictive. Bergman convinces Wigand to tell his compelling story, and allow it to be circulated throughout the media, by telling Wigand that it is for the good of the country.
Bergman and Wigand grow a bond throughout the movie, but are showered by disappointment when all the different types of media refuse to air the story because of the consequences that come along with it. Finally, they get the story into the newspapers. Based on a true story, The Insiders Bergman and Wigand put their lives, careers, reputations, and family at risk by standing up against Big Tobacco. In comparison to Dr. Wigand the hero of the other story is more harsh, but still the person with the strong ethical principles.
In Robert Bolt's Play, A Man For All Seasons, we are presented with a historical character of inexorable integrity, Sir Thomas More. More is drawn unwillingly into a situation where he must choose between expediency or his principles. More's decision is consistant through out the entirety of the play as he remains intensely loyal to his conscience and is unable to abandon his religious beliefs, even if it ultimately means his own tragic demise. The entreaties of many are to no avail as More proves to be steadfast. In the second scene of the play we see More meeting with Cardinal Wolsey. More's character is exemplified as Wolsey ask's More's opinion about a certain letter that is to be sent to the Pope regarding the validity of the King's marriage to Catherine.
More compliments Wolsey on his phrasing and avoids the content of the dispatch directly, except to say that he feels the council should be informed before it goes to Italy, this response sparks Wolsey to reply: Would you tell the council? Yes, I believe you would. You " re a constant regret to me, Thomas. If you could just see facts flat on, without that moral squint; with just a little common sense, you could have been a statesman. (Bolt 10) More's non-committal response to Wolsey's question is also characteristic of his desire to be silent for the remainder of the play and, despite Wolsey's continuing plea that he should ignore his "own, private, conscience" (Bolt 12) for state reasons, More is unable to approve of the King's divorce. As More and King Henry talk during the King's visit to Chelsea in scene six, More is once again pressured on the matter of the Henry's divorce, now by Henry himself. More states to Henry that he sees his own opinion so cleary that he would choose "not to think of it at all" (Bolt 31).
Henry is obviously disturbed by this and upset with More when he responds: "Great God, Thomas, why do you hold out against me in the desire of my heart - the very wick of my heart?" (Bolt 31). More expresses to Henry that he wishes he could, in good conscience, agree with him and reminds Henry of the promise to not pressure for his support: "When I took the Great Seal your Majesty promised not to pursue me on this matter. " (Bolt 31). This conversation with Henry clearly illustrates More's views on the subject and his disagreement with Henry's argument. It is apparent More wishes to be uninvolved in the issue. As we come to the second act More has decided to give up his Lord Chancellorship, which was due solely to the submission of the bishops in Convocation. More defends his decision to Norfolk by saying that the submission "isn't 'Reformation'; [but] is war against the Church! ...
Our King... has declared war on the Pope - because the Pope will not declare that our Queen is not his wife. " (Bolt 52). He again remains constant in not conveying his own opinion on this matter. More also states his belief that the Pope is "the Vicar of God, ... our only link with Christ. " (Bolt 53). More's resignation proves his willingness to risk everything for what he believes in.
Towards the end of this first scene in act two "More appears convinced that he will not be molested, provided that they refrain from discussing the question of the King's Supremacy, and the matter of his divorce. " (Coles 28). More believes he will have safety in his silence. As Cromwell questions More on "some ambiguities of behavior" (Bolt 67) he, in his own words, reiterates the King's own offer from scene six, "If you could come with me, you are the man I would soonest raise - yes, with my own hand. " (Bolt 34), that if More "could bring [himself] to agree with the Universities, the Bishops and the Parliament of this realm, there is no honour which the King would be likely to deny you" (Bolt 67). More again shows his to sacrifice his religious beliefs, even for the greatest of personal gain.
In the remaining action of the play, More's chastity remains untarnished as his likely end nears. After sacrificing his friendship with Norfolk and becoming a prisoner, More is then brought before the Seventh Commission and does not waiver on his refusal to swear to the Act of Succession. His reasoning is clear in scene seven as, in his discussion with Lady Margaret, he affirms his belief that an oath is a sacred promise to God and then states: When a man takes an oath, Meg, he's holding his own self in his own hands. Like water... and if he opens his fingers then - he needn't hope to find himself again. Some men aren't capable of this, but I'd be loathe to think your father one of them. (Bolt 83) Even after the pleading of his loving wife and daughter, More continued to remain strong up to the very moment of his execution.
Thomas More felt his loyalty to his religious beliefs and his conscience defined his own sense of self. He believed "that without a certain something life was valueless. That certain something was a belief in 'a power above ourselves' - a belief in the scruples of conscience. " (Coles 10). More's refusal to deny his virtue is, in essence, what causes his inability to swear to the oath. More was a very orthodox Catholic and for him an oath was something perfectly specific. It was an invitation to God, an invitation God would not refuse, to act as a witness, and to judge; the consequence of perjury was damnation, for More another perfectly specific concept.
So for More the issue was simple (though remembering the outcome it can hardly have been easy). (Bolt xiii) More did not choose martyrdom, but simply to remain true to his religious beliefs, at any cost.
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Research essay sample on Religious Beliefs Big Tobacco
