The Emperor's Club

1. Do you think Professor William Hundert did the right thing? What are the ethical and moral dilemmas would he have experienced? Did his choice help or hinder Sedgewick? No, I do not agree with Professor William Hundert’s decision. According to me he did not do the right thing. A teacher is a person who directs and teaches a kid the importance of ethics and moral. He is the one whose suppose to show and make the children realize the difference between what’s wrong and right. There act as a mentor, a role model for the students. After parents it is they who teach the most valuable lessons of life to a kid. They act as representatives of diligence, honesty and loyalty, dignity and respect for family values and traditions. As rightly said by one of the character from the movie Mr. Deepak Mehta, “A great teacher has little external history to record. His life goes over into other lives. These men are pillars in the intimate structure of our schools. They are more essential than its stones or beams, and they will continue to be a kindling force and a revealing power in our lives”.

William Hundert was a strict, stern, and even stuffy teacher who predictably cannot be content with his initial purpose and tries to bring his students up in the spirit of high moral ideals. At first he concealed Sedgewick Bell’s cheating at the prestigious contest contradicts to this image completely. By doing this he did not only sacrificed his honor but also compromised on his ethics and self respect. The moral and ethical dilemmas that he would have experienced were lack of fairness and lack of respect. Hundert feels devastated but admits that this painful experience may teach him something. I consider the fact that Mr. Hundert lowers the score of Blythe to be unpardonable and violation of professional ethics, no matter what its purpose is. William Hundert is now too old to correct his mistakes and to make use of these lessons. One of the ideas of the movie is that a man does