Rules and Regulations in the Tale of Kieu by Nguyen, Du, and Sanh Thoong Huynh - Article Example

KIEU Essay-Theme 2 Existence of rules and regulations are necessary in every society. The rules are made to ensure peopleare morally guided, and they respect each other. In the “Tale of Kieu” by Nguyen, Du we see a Vietnamese society guided by rules, laws and regulations that may be confusing but were set to ensure the society was morally upright. The main character Kieu, can be said to be immoral because she chooses to join prostitution in an excuse to assist her father and brother. Kieu takes the path of prostitution, and becomes a victim of circumstances. Kieu was well educated and she had a bright future ahead of her until problems befell her family. She is then forced into prostitution out of her wishes. Nonetheless, Kieu can also be considered to be moral, in that she decided to preserve herself until marriage when her boyfriend Kim tried to make sexual advances to her. Kieu makes a moral decision and convinces Kim to wait until they are married. A normal teenager in any society after a boy professes true love the teenager is likely to fall into temptation and agree to sexual interactions. Kieu instead chooses the moral path. Judging whether Kieu’s actions are moral or immoral depends with the society one is coming from. Every society defines morality in their own context. Looking at Kieu’s character it is somehow admirable, because she loves her family above herself and decides to practice prostitution in order to save them. If Kieu was a selfish individual she would have agreed to get married to Kim, and leave her family to suffer. Therefore, in another context, her decisions are admirable and she can be considered to be a bright person. She chooses to assist her family even though it meant going against society’s norms and believes. Nevertheless, her actions cannot be taken to be that of a hero, because the path of prostitution is not a correct path and is not acceptable in any society. Prostitution is immoral and is taken to be lack of respect to oneself and the society at large. Kieu could have made other choices rather than prostitution. Many bright girls around the globe face similar circumstances in life, and prostitution to a morally upright person is immoral. Even though Kieu proved to be morally upright when Kim made sexual advances to her she later proved to be a weak human being who uses family as a reason to practice prostitution. Therefore, we can also say that Kieu is confused character whereby we cannot define her to be either moral or immoral. Morals are ethics that determine whether the behavior of an individual is good or bad. Every society has its own way of expressing moral behavior and ethics. One may be faced by a situation where the moral behavior can be abandoned in order to save another from bigger problems. For instance, Kieu is forced to join the brothel and start practicing prostitution in a bid of saving her father and brother. The moral conduct she chose was to save her father from further problems. The intent of saving her family from problems is an ethical decision, but the choice she made of prostitution was unethical and unacceptable to any particular society. Therefore, morals can be considered to change from time to time depending on the situation facing the victim. Kieu had proven to be morally upright before, by remaining uptight and strong when Kim tries to make sexual advances to her. She instead, promises him that she would remain pure and truthful to Kim. Additionally, she also respect her family values by remaining pure, because the relationship with Kim was not acceptable to her father. Kieu had the ability to remain chaste and pure, but instead she chooses the immoral path to save her family. We can say that she is a victim of circumstances because if her father was well she could remain moral and gain the needed respect of the society. The difficult life they were facing at home forced her to take the wrong path and people ended judging her wrongly. Kieu reason of saving her family could be taken into consideration, and maybe her actions to be considered as just, but prostitution is unacceptable and cannot be tolerated regardless of the reasons that forces one to join the immoral act. Kieu chose prostitution to protect her father and brother and according to her that was a moral decision to make. She wanted to save her family and she did not mind whether the society would condemn her and judge her as immoral. All she advocated to do was to save her father and brother who were in some sought of trouble. Therefore, her choice of prostitution can be taken to be wrong but her intent is pure and just. Kieu’s immorality can also be seen when she refuses to respect her father’s wish and instead decides to love Kim. Kieu could have made other choices other than that of prostitution if she knew it was affecting the entire society. Kieu also decided to break the pledge of marriage she had made to Kim. She resented her past behavior and she refused to marry Kim to protect him from the shame of the society. Kieu acknowledges her past behavior and she is ashamed of what she did. Even though circumstances had forced her to join prostitution, she acknowledges her mistakes and tells Kim he needs a pure wife not a person with an ugly past. The decision whether to judge Kieu being immoral or moral depends on the reader. Kieu proved to be a brave person by deciding to save her family through prostitution an act that was not acceptable in her society. In her heart, she did that to save her father and brother. She would not allow trouble to face her family while she could do something to help. Some readers can also establish a liking for Kieu, because she makes firm decisions for the sake of her family and Kim even though the society condemns her of being selfish and inconsiderate. Moral behavior therefore, is defined according to the society one is living. Kieu makes decisions with her family in mind therefore according to her, the decisions are just and right. Hence, the will to judge her as moral or immoral depends on the reader. Works Cited Du, Nguyen. The Tale of Kieu, Trans. Huynh Sanh Thong. Yale: Yale University, 1983. Read More