Marco, Cassie, & Selfishness

[blue_rampion]

So, I was just watching the most recent Opinionated Animorphs video on #19, and one thing that particularly struck me was poparena's argument that Marco was the least selfish of the Animorphs, while Cassie is the most selfish. And thinking about it, I have to say that I agree. And yet if you just looked at both of them superficially, you'd think it was the other way around.

Marco constantly complains, and often suggests that they should all go an use their powers to get rich instead of fighting the war. He's usually the one saying that they shouldn't do a mission on account of it being insane and they may end up dead. Most people meeting someone like Marco would just assume that he's a self-absorbs selfish bastard. And yet he had a completely valid reason for not fighting in the beginning, one that was more about being concerned for someone else for himself, and unless I've missed something he never actually does back out of a mission. He always goes along.

Cassie, on the other hand, is someone you would assume is not selfish at all when you first meet her. She saves animals. She is concerned about right and wrong. She's compassionate and understanding. Normally all traits you would associate with someone who is not selfish. And yet under the surface, Cassie's actions are often concerned with what she wants for herself. She argues for the moral action not to protect others, but because she wants to be someone who does the right thing. Take David, for example - she traps him in morph not because it is better for David, but because doing so lets her take what she sees as the more moral option, and not have to have blood on her hands. And in book 19, she leaves the group not for other people, but because she doesn't want to become the person the war is making her into. It's an understandable reaction to have, but it is still one born of her being more concerned about herself than about the other Animorphs, or the rest of the world.

There's also a lot of other interesting thoughts on Cassie in #19's Opinionated Animorphs video, buuuuut if I started talking about them too this post would go on forever. So, thoughts?

Comments

[shrapnelshrike.livejournal.com]

She argues for the moral action not to protect others, but because she wants to be someone who does the right thing.
But the moral right IS the moral right because it benefits many or prevents harm. She thinks that killing is wrong unless there's no other option, so when she HAS another option, she takes it. She believes it is better to survive, even in a ... reduced state, than to die, because where there is life, there is hope. Her beliefs guide her actions. That's an inherent aspect of humanity, not selfishness.

I don't think Marco is any more selfish than the others, but his "unselfish" reason for his reluctance is a single person, just like Cassie's decision to leave in 19 is for a single person.

Marco's reasons are more sympathetic than they first appear, but you can't claim that Cassie is a bad person just because she's not always willing to take the most expedient path, or because she's reluctant to take an action that she views as inherently immoral. I'm personally willing to bend on "absolute" morals to achieve goals, but you can't claim that someone is more selfish than another simply because they're not willing to participate in a course of action or policy that they believe could or will result in more future harm.
The ends do not always justify the means, and Cassie is the person who consistently voices that concern. That doesn't make her selfish, it just means that she's thoughtful and aware that the choice she makes today impacts herself and others tomorrow, above and beyond the single obstacle or set of obstacles she's facing at that moment.

[blue_rampion]

I should state that I'm not arguing that Cassie is a bad person - just because someone is selfish doesn't mean that they are bad or immoral. And I can't really blame her for not wanting to become that kind of person who kills and doesn't feel anything (and I think a lot of us, if put in the Animorphs' situation, would feel a lot like Cassie does).

But I think morality is more complex than just being always about what benefits many or prevents harm. Is it wrong to kill an innocent child to save many others? Most people would say yes, even though in that case the moral option in fact harms more people, because more people die.

And morality also isn't the same thing as being selfishness. Morality is about what is right and wrong, whereas selfishness is more about a person's motivation. And I think poparena explained why Cassie is selfish better than I did, but it's like...in #19, she leaves not because she believes that fighting in the war is morally wrong (he actually does believe that the war needs to be fought). She leaves because she doesn't like the effect that the war is having on her. It's her motivations that make her selfish, and she is completely capable of being both selfish and morally right at the same time.

[shrapnelshrike.livejournal.com]

I definitely see what you're saying, but I don't think you can separate Cassie's self-interest or self-serving actions from her morality. For her, that's a major influence on the value of an action, and a significant part of her intrinsic motivation. I'm balking at the idea that morally driven actions are "selfish" simply because morality usually focuses on the impact of an action, and weighing the costs and benefits.

I think what's setting me off is the word "Selfish", actually. It's got a lot of loaded value judgments behind it. I agree that Cassie's morality has a lot of interaction with her self-interest, and this gets translated into (apparently) self-serving actions. But I also think that self-interest in the context of any of the Animorphs is incredibly complex. It is in their self-interest to defend themselves against invaders. It is against their self-interest to risk their lives. They are a great big motivational mess.

[blue_rampion]

Oh, for Cassie they are definitely connected. Cassie wants to be a person who does what's morally right, and so when she's being moral she's also acting in her own self interest at the same time. I'd argue that morality doesn't always necessarily focus on the impact of the action, depending on the kind of morality someone ascribes to. Some moral systems of belief will take the view that certain actions are inherently wrong in an of themselves, regardless of circumstances, while others will be more focused on what results the best outcome (...ironically, the latter appears to be Marco's system).

You are right about the word 'selfish' being a loaded word. But, as I said below, I actually like that Cassie is selfish. It rounds her out more, and makes her more human. She's is concerned with doing the right thing, but she also isn't perfect. All the Animorphs have flaws, and this to me is one of hers.