Escape From Spiderhead and Remains of the Day

Escape from Spiderhead presents a lot of ethical issues and questions of free will. It seems, throughout the story, Jeff is unable to freely make decisions as he is constantly drugged. Jeff is forced to spend time at Spiderhead, as a test subject, as an alternative to serving time in jail. A power dynamic exists between Jeff, as a test subject, and Abnesti who is managing Spiderhead and running the tests. This story relates in some ways to my summer reading book, The Remains of the Day, in which the main character Stevens is a butler under the control of Lord Darlington. Unlike Jeff, Stevens entirely accepts and even embraces his role as a butler. Stevens spends his entire life serving Lord Darlington and never considers his alternatives or tries to escape. As a result, Stevens loses much of his humanity and his individualism. In contrast, at the end of Escape from Spiderhead, Jeff attempts to regain his humanity by making an escape by committing suicide. Although Jeff does not survive, Jeff acts out of free will and is able to regain his humanity as he attempts to break from the binary.