Waking Ned Devine

1.  What was the ethical dilemma faced by Ned's friends?  Explain, in your opinion, the situational ethics displayed in the movie and give 5 scenes or situations that best illustrate ethical dilemmas and define situational ethics in each of the 5 scenes. 

I think the ethical dilemma faced by Ned’s friends was whether or not to let the rest of the world know he had died (even though he had no family) and should they claim the lottery ticket, signed by a dead man, and divide the winnings with the town.

1.) The first situation occurs when Jackie and his wife realize someone in their village is the winner of a sizable lottery and they decide to befriend whom ever it may be. Even if it was someone they would not befriend before. An example of this was when Jackie and Michael raced to the pub and bought ale for poor Finn thinking he was the winner. Finn was surprised at the kindness considering they had never offered to buy for him before.

2.) The second situation is of course finding Ned, dead with the lottery ticket in his hand. This spoke a little sadly of Jackie and Michael. The only reason they went to Ned’s house was because he was not at the chicken dinner. Since everyone else had been eliminated as the winner, this left only Ned. Otherwise, someone else may have found him at a much later date. But then, you may consider it fate that Jackie and Michael were the people who found him and in a timely fashion.

3.) After Jackie has the dream, in which he believes Ned is guiding him to share the winnings, the village has to decide if they are morally and ethically comfortable dividing the winnings amongst themselves and perusing the ruse of Ned being alive and well. Considering that the village was Ned’s only family and they believed he was shared anyways, it was easy to make the decision to cash the ticket and share the winnings.

4.) The fourth dilemma is when they realize they can not cash a check written to Ned Devine. Since they do have all of his personal information, they decide to open an offshore account so the check can be cashed and divided. At this point the legal dilemma would concern me more that the ethical dilemma. However, once I had gone this far….. offshore account it is!

5) This was when the lottery agent suddenly presented at Ned’s funeral. They could never let him find out who was in the box or all would have been lost. At that moment in time the Michael that the village knew had to die and Ned was reborn. Very quick thinking and thank goodness for the allergies the lottery agent suffered from!

2. I found myself booing or cheering for several of the cast...who were the good guys or bad guys in this movie for you?  State three good and 3 bad that emerge in this movie and tell me why this is so (6 total).

Good Guy #1 – This had to be poor Finn. He had a heart of gold when it came to Maggie and Maurice. Even if Finn new that the boy belonged to Ned, I believe he would have married Maggie and raised Maurice. He wanted this family enough that approached Maggie’s father for help in winning her over.

Good Guy #2 – I vote for Michael. He had such a sweet endearing personality throughout the entire movie. He was very devoted to Jackie, no matter the circumstances. Even though he was very uncomfortable playing the role of Ned, Michael felt it was for the good of all and took the risk of going to jail to help the village.

Good Guy #3 – While we never got to meet character of Ned, the towns people had a great respect for him and believed, as in Jackie’s dream, that Ned would have shared the winnings with all. Of course, since he signed his ticket, presumably before he died, he may not have intended on sharing. However, I will go with the description of Ned given by the people who knew him.

Bad Guy #1 – This had to be Lizzie. I am surprised the people in the village did not choose to get rid of her long before the lottery ticket. She was mean and condescending. Lizzie showed she was only interested in her self and was willing to turn them in if they did not give in to her demands. I believe that the result of her black mail was fitting. I was happy to see that fate took care of her and no one in the village had to become a bad guy for the benefit of the people.

Bad Guy #2 – Pat was the all around bad guy. Not because of a few actions brought on by the situation, but because he was just no good on the inside. He used his position to torment Finn, was a womanizer and wanted Maggie for himself not because of love, more like a dog with the best bone.

Bad Guy #3 – I did not really identify with a third truly bad guy. If I had to name one, it would probably be Maggie. She was so mean to Finn. Professing her love for him. But not a love strong enough to get past the pig farm. Leading him to believe that Maurice was his child and playing against Pat. She was not enough of a bad guy to be cast out, however, she wasn’t really good either.

3.  Was the welfare of the community worth the 'sin' or illegal activity in the movie?  Explain why.

Absolutely. Webster’s New College Dictionary describes situation ethics as “a theory of ethics according to which moral rules are not absolutely binding but may be modified in the light of specific situations”. The situational questions in Waking Ned Devine were 1) should the money be forfeited and lost to all or 2) with no harm to Ned Devine, allow an entire town to share in the winnings and give everyone a “nest egg” for the future. While this may be an illegal activity, I do not see a “sin”. Had I been a member of this town I would have raised my pint of Ale to Ned and slept very well.