The Bad of the Good

In all honestly, I really like George Saunders’s “Escape from Spiderhead.” While there are some creepy/weird events that occur, such as the experiments, I do think they make the story more interesting. One of the biggest themes that I see is good vs. evil.

 During one of the experiments at Spiderhead, Jeff is forced to watch Heather be given Darkenfloxx, a drug that causes feelings of despair, fear, and pain. The purpose of the experiment was to see if Jeff had any lingering feelings for Heather, a girl with whom he had recently made “love" to. At the beginning of the experiment, Abnesti, one of the scientists asks Jeff if he “acknowledges.” But the problem was that Jeff didn’t want to acknowledge. 

Despite Jeff being a convicted murderer, he has the humanity to point out that “Every human is born of man and woman. Every human, at birth, is, or at least has the potential to be, beloved of his/her mother/father. Thus every human is worthy of love” (Saunders, pg.69). It is interesting to see that Jeff has such feelings of humanity towards Heather despite his past. While on the other side of the spectrum, Abnesti, a seemingly good person is pressuring Jeff to participate in the experiment.  Abnesti even tries to make himself the moral one by reminding Jeff of the time when he got him athletic cream, how he remembers birthdays and has five children. Yet, he is still willing to give Heather Darkenfloxx. 

And when Jeff asks Abnesti if Heather is okay after the experiment, Abnesti tries to excuse her poor condition by replying, “This is science. In science we explore the unknown” and Verlaine, another scientists says “It’s not even us, its science.” The fact that the scientists are using science as an excuse to treat other humans inhumanely shows just how bad the “good” people can be. But I also think this story makes one rethink what is considered good. It seems that the heart of the scientists are in the right place. But they act so blindly. Jeff, on the other hand, sees the inhumanity of the experiments yet has killed someone. In my opinion, I believe that Jeff is morally superior. But, I also feel that my opinion is bias because the story is written from Jeff’s point of view. If it was written by, say Abnesti or Verlaine, the story might be different.