Who Is Victor Hatherley Unethical

In Arthur Doyle’s short story The Adventure of the Engineer’s Thumb, a young engineer named Victor Hatherley, learns the lesson of misjudgment. A code of ethics bounds an engineer, yet Hatherley neglected to take notice and ultimately leads down a path of self-destruction. The story revolves around Victor Hatherley, a hydraulic engineer who accepts a job without any explanation of what needs to be done. With his mind clouded by the promise of fifty guineas, Hatherley is plunged into a trap that costs him, his thumb. As it turns out, Colonel Lysander Stark was a counterfeiter and was using Hatherley to repair the hydraulic press in order to continue his scheme. One would have assumed that with so much secrecy, Hatherley would have been able

It was nothing more than financial instability. Hatherley had started a new business expecting it to flourish, but suffered setbacks instead. Hatherley’s “gross takings [amounted] to 27 pounds” every two years, in addition, the story was set in 1889 London, which was experiencing its last sparks of the industrial revolution (Doyle). A time of prosperity and innovation for businesses; Hatherley did not want to be left out of this golden age of opportunity, therefore, with such pitiful income and conditions; his actions seemed justifiable when it came to accepting the job. In terms of the engineering code of ethics, however, Hatherley broke a simple, yet obvious rule and that is “to avoid deceptive acts” (Code of Ethics for Engineers). Colonel Lysander Stark was an obscure figure that practiced secrecy well; his attention was constantly on Hatherley. Indicating that there might have been an ulterior motive rather than just fixing the machine. Hatherley doesn’t take notice until setting out towards the countryside. A question loomed over his mind, which was that the “explanation of the fuller's-earth was [not] sufficient to explain the necessity for my coming at midnight” (Doyle). For an engineer working in daylight or a well-lit area is optimal as it can prevent oversight and other misgivings. However, Hatherley “promoted [his] own interests at the expense... of the profession” and ventured on into the unknown (Code of Ethics for