It has been said that while times change, people do not. From my past
experiences, and from things that I have learned throughout the years, I have to
agree with the previous statement. I feel that the morality of a person almost
always rules when it comes to making serious and important decisions. Different
time periods can alter ones thinking in certain situations to an extent. For
example, in The Sea and Poison, Nobu Ueda had moved to Manchuria with her new
husband. While she was living there, she noticed that her neighbors occasionally
hit their maids. While Nobu would not usually hit her maid, soon enough she
started to do so. Her morality was influenced in a way by the norms and stigmas
of her surroundings and time. However, different people react differently in
different situations. Everyone had free will and the freedom to make their own
conscience decisions. When Suguro and Toda were asked if they wanted to take
part in the vivisection’s, both had agreed at first. After taking time to
think about what they were actually going to take part in, they started to feel
awkward. Suguro for instance was definitely having second thoughts about his
decision then later regrets his decision. On his walk to the hospital the day
the vivisections were to take place, he contemplated on going back to his
boarding room. This is his conscience reminding him of his moral standards. All
day before the vivisections, there was nothing for Suguro to do. Suguro and Toda
seemed to avoid each other and did not let a word pass between them. When it
came time for the “experiment” on the prisoner, Suguro was not able to
follow through on his duties involved in the vivisection. Suguro’s morality
triumphed besides the fact that “everyone else was doing it.” Toda however
was able to take part in the vivisection but was somewhat uneasy about the whole
experience. The fact that he helped take someone else’s life did not seem to
phase him that much. Throughout the book Toda seemed to be more apathetic to
such things than Suguro. Toda has no moral strength. That is just the type of
person he is. The Old Man felt the vivisection would make a contribution to
science. However, after the vivisection takes place, we see the Old Man peering
into the operating theater looking troubled. The Old Man feels he was trained to
save lives, not take them. In the end all are troubled and destroyed by the
vivisection, especially Suguro, but no one reveals their feelings. In
conclusion, the decision in general all depends on the particular person. I
personally feel that in the case of the vivisection if the right person were
asked, they would have declined. Suguro was not able to participate in the
vivisection because of his own personal feelings, however, others were able to.
If I was asked to participate in the vivisection I would definitely decline the
offer, however I am sure there would be others that are distorted enough to do
so.