Gentlemen, Your Verdict

             "I could condemn my whole crew to death or sacrifice fifteen and save five, and am going to join the others. Good-bye, sir." (P. 25). Those were the last words from the captain in the short story "Gentlemen, Your Verdict". Lieutenant-Commander Oram was faced with a moral dilemma: he must sacrifice the lives of some of his crew in order to save as many men as he could. His actions following the incident demonstrate that he is a great commanding officer who at the same time exhibits humane traits.
             Almost immediately after the accident, Captain Oram took charge of the situation by giving orders to his crew, who were still in shock. This shows that he was calm under pressure. His first instruction was to stop the engines. This reflects his mechanical knowledge of the submarine. Certainly, this is an important requirement of a naval captain. Once his crew reported that the situation was beyond their control, he then ordered the radioman to call the shore station. This demonstrates his awareness of when to seek for external help. Unfortunately, he found out that help was about a week away, but they had only enough air for less than two days. Upon hearing the news, he turned pale, and "for nearly a minute sat staring blindly" (P. 23). His reaction was very human indeed. He was stunned and was in shock after hearing a catastrophic piece of news.
             Shortly after hearing the news, Captain Oram "roused himself" (P. 23) in order to carry out his plan to sacrifice the lives of fifteen men to save five. Here, he is fulfilling his obligations as a commanding officer by making the best decision for his crew. This is not a quick decision made by a cold-hearted man. Rather, it shows that as a captain, he understood that this situation called for urgency because they were running out of air. Every second he delayed could mean one less life saved. Moreover, he also had to make the immediate decision of who s...

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Gentlemen, Your Verdict. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 09:28, March 28, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/8586.html