Responsibility Case

"Responsibility"

There are many events in a person's life that have an impact so large, that the person' life is forever changed. Most such events are positive, and help him in his life. However, there is also the undeniable fact that bad things happen. It is not uncommon to hear someone wondering aloud why an event took place. A person's actions come into question, and it is wondered what the person's motivation was.

While watching this silent film and then considering the actions the lead actor took to preserve his store and his only means of income I began to wonder if he ever thought his actions all the way through. By keeping responsibility out of this I felt the store owner had every right to protect his store. But when looking at the responsibility to his actions, I have found that every character in the film had a facet of life that consists of burdens and responsibilities.

The store owners' responsibility to keep his store from being broken into had dire consequences to not think beyond his own possessions. In the space of a heartbeat he put others' lives in danger to secure the investment of his processions. Not considering that by having a guard posted would in turn put that guard's life in jeopardy. Or by rigging the gun, not thinking ahead, what if someone else came into his store. It never shows him actually calling the police the first time he was broken into, or setting up an alarm system that would alert him if someone broke in. It draws me to believe he also wanted vengeance for the one that kept braking in. He was looking to not only stop the brake in but get revenge for all the times he was broken into. Responsibility is not only for his store it should have been about being accountable for his actions but also being conscious of the impact his actions had on others.

The police because they knew his store was being targeted and added no additional checks for his property.

As for the guard, his responsibility was to protect the store from being broken into. But how far should he have gone. Did he actually think ahead about what he would do if confronted by the thief? By being hired to protect the property, wasn't it his responsibility to know what he would do if confronted, to consider what action he would have taken to stop a brake in?

The parents of the child that was killed also had a responsibility to the child. Where were they when the children were opening the window of a store that was locked and in essences braking in to get candy?

The store owner did in all actuality accomplish what he set out to do, stop a thief. But at what cost did his vengeance take when it was not the same thief he set out to ensnare in his trap.

Responsibility-The choices you make and the impact they have on others.