Archer was facing a dilemma. It was spring term, senior year and he was getting a new car. It doesn’t sound like a dilemma but things weren’t that simple. Archer and his parents had a great relationship. He respected them a lot and felt they returned that respect. They had their problems now and then but were always able to listen to each other and talk through those problems. Back during Archer’s sophomore year, his mum and dad told him that if he maintained a B or higher in his classes and followed the rules of the school and the family and never got involved in anything illegal, they would buy him a car for graduation. Supposedly Archer had done just that and his proud parents were rewarding him next month with the promised car. The problem was the “supposedly” part. Archer had a secret, and if he shared it with his parents, he would lose the car he wanted so badly.
Two months ago Archer had borrowed his parents’ car, had a few beers, and driven off the road into a fence. Instead of telling his parents what happened, he called and told them he was staying over at a friend’s house. He then slept off the beers and headed home in the morning. When he got home he told his parents a deer had jumped into the road on his way home that morning. Archer’s house was in a rural area and it was common for deer to be in the road, so his parents bought his story. At first, Archer just felt relief. But, after a few days he felt pretty guilty. He considered telling his folks about the real reason he had messed up the car, but he didn’t for two reasons. The first reason was that he didn’t want to let them down. They thought he was an amazing kid who always did the right thing. The truth was that he drank every weekendand this last one had finally caught up with him. The second reason was that he wanted a car. Badly.
Now that getting the car was moving from an idea into reality, Archer felt pretty bad. He wondered if every time he got into that car he was going to have to think about how he got it. Despite his weekend of partying, Archer felt like he had worked hard for his achievements and rewards. The idea that he would have gotten his car based on dishonesty and disrespect made him feel sick. Quite honestly, if he could just know whether that sick feeling was going to stick around or not, that would help him decide how to handle this dilemma. If he was only going to feel awful for a while, keeping the car was still pretty viable. If he was going to have this “pit” in his stomach forever, he didn’t think he could keep it. The worst part of this whole thing was imagining his father’s face if Archer told him what really happened. He had no idea what to do, but he had to do something soon.
- What should Archer do? Is that what you would do?
- What role do you think guilt is playing in determining whether or not he tells his parents?
- Archer says that if he could be sure that keeping his secret wouldn’t make him feel bad for very long, he wouldn’t talk. Have you ever been in a situation where the degree of guilt you thought you’d feel made a difference in deciding whether or not to do something you believed was ethically wrong?
- Is a person still ethical if the only reason he/she is doing the right thing is to avoid feeling guilty? Is there ever a “bad” reason to do the right thing?
- Have you ever lied to your parents because you thought that telling them the truth would change how they looked at you?
- Do you respect Archer? Why, or why not?
- Have you or someone you know ever felt like you had to hide parts of yourself in order to still be seen as a good person in the eyes of others? Why do you think that is?