A Simple Plan by Sam Raimi Essay Example

A Simple Plan by Sam Raimi can be considered as a film of skillful thinking, drawing the audience step by step to the consequences of criminal activities. Hanik Mitchell is the central character in the movie. The film highlights the issues pertaining to actions and consequences among others. Immanuel Kant's ethical standards provides a perspectives of how individuals should live and related with other another. Ethics by definitions are codes of conducts that guides how individuals behaves and relates with other another. Deontology, autonomy and Kantianism are ethical concepts explained by Kant and can be used to analyze the film a Simple Plan by Sam Raimi.

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The word Deontology comes from the Greek word deon which means duty. As explained by Kant, deontological ethical concept guides individuals in believing that they must act in a given way based on the moral laws (Poignantboy par. 1). What it means is that individuals need to make a decision based on established moral laws, or simply what is morally right. In the film A Simple Plan, Sarah tries to convince Hanik to take the money they had collected from a crashed plane. Sarah believes that such a decision was morally right because the money didn't belong to them (Singer 1). She had a dream of what would make her happy if she had cash. She wished she was able to plan week's dinner without the need to check the coupons. Despite the need for cash, Sarah thought it was right to return the cash, if not all, at least some of it.

As proposed by Kant, Kantianism refers to ethical principle focusing on the need for individuals to act appropriately. Kant proposes in this principle that individuals should not treat others as a means to an end. In the film, we can see Hanik treating his brother and the friend as a means to an end (Poignantboy par. 1). He does this to ensure his brother can keep a secret. He hopes that the two can keep the secret and divide the cash later.

The concept of autonomy as addressed by Kant refers to the process where individuals have to the free will to make decisions resulting in a given action or consequences (Poignantboy par. 3). The three individuals decide to make keep the cash, and it is this action that results into the various committing crimes (Singer 1). Importantly, Hanik also uses his wife as a means to end, manipulating her to keep the secret as well.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Kant's Ethical principles can be used to evaluate decisions made by the characters in the film A simple Plan. The principle of autonomy, deontology, and Kantianism can be used to evaluate decisions made by these characters. The choices made by individuals in the film results in various consequences, moral lesson being, we should learn to evaluate the decisions we make.

Works Cited

Poignantboy. "A Brief Summary of Kant's Categorical Imperative." Cogito, 19 Sept. 2013, poignantboy.wordpress.com/2012/05/01/a-brief-summary-of-kants-categorical-imperative/. Accessed 19 Nov. 2018.

Singer, Matt. "Classical Filmmaking: The Theme That Drives All of Sam Raimi's Movies." IndieWire, 6 Mar. 2013, www.indiewire.com/2013/03/classical-filmmaking-the-theme-that-drives-all-of-sam-raimis-movies-128305/. Accessed 19 Nov. 2018.