Morality In George Saunders Escape From Spiderhead

The sheer importance of science and advancements within this domain are undeniable. Science has been a driving force in improving people’s quality of life, discovering the world in which humans inhabit and answering all questions that may arise. It is a matter of cause and effect, objectivity, inductive reasoning, and data. However, many of the principles and means to obtain the desirable results raise questions about the morality of the experiment; is the cause worth it? George Saunders’ “Escape from Spiderhead” explores this endeavor through the various drug testing done on several criminals. This short story delves into the intricacies of it all, provoking thoughts about both the importance of experiment while also playing into morals in the context of science leaving

Jeff’s character displays this over the course of the story: he is empathetic, sensitive, and perceptive, or in other words, very human. When it came to the DarkenfloxxingTM of Heather, while Abnesti remained as distant as possible, Jeff was bursting into tears full of emotions (Saunders 24). He displayed utmost empathy for Heather: “Poor child, [he] was thinking, poor girl,” (Saunders 23) which further highlighted the more human aspect which should be considered in science. When it came to the potential DarkenfloxxingTM of Rachel, the very thought of him seeing another human suffer through that appalled him so much that he sacrificed himself. He symbolically took control and matter into his own hands when he obtained the remote, and DarkenfloxxedTM himself which ‘freed’ him (Saunders 31-32). Jeff’s character displayed the complexities of being a human being and brought morality into the Spiderhead, making the reader question the ethics of it all while evoking sympathy for him and his inmates as the treacherous tales are told through his