Based on Fara's disgrace and social abandonment, evaluate A.E. van Vogt's message about virtue in his story "The Weapon Shop."

-- Anonymous, March 14, 2005

Answers

I think there are two main virtues discusced in this story, honest and helpfullness/charity. The Weapons Shop would only help those who were honest. At the same time the Weapons Shop helped people by giving information and tools/technology. They helped Fara by first setting into motion most of his disgrace and then saving him from it. At first this may seem cruel, but Fara ends up a much better person and more honest to himself about reality.

-- Anonymous, March 14, 2005

I think van Vogt's message about virtue is a fairly straightforward one: Virtue is relative. Fara, through his entire life, finds it virtuous to follow the Empress and to remain loyal to the Empire. The Weapon Shop, however, teaches him that virtues can be found on any side of an conflict, be it yours or not.

-- Anonymous, March 15, 2005

I concur (sort of). It seems that the story is saying not to be defined by one's belief system to the point that other ideas are immediately dismissed. Fara is so wrapped up in his fawning view of the Empress that, even when presented with contrary evidence (the empress being horrible to her lover), he immediately dismisses it is a farce or a fake perpetrated by the "evil" weapon shops. It seems to be better to have ideas than beliefs. Ideas can change - beliefs are harder (thanks Dogma)

-- Anonymous, March 15, 2005

I think the author is saying your virtues (ideals) must or be able to change. Fara is so obsessed with the idea that everything else is evil, that the outside world is terrible but here the whole time its not and helps him in the long run, that changing what he thinks and belives can be for the better

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-- Anonymous, March 15, 2005

I think that Fara's disgrace and social abandonment is not based on his virtue (which cannot really be questioned). Instead, it is based on his relationship with society (and the Gun Shop) and his own standing (economically and socially). His disagreement with the gun shop is not immoral. Instead, this is simply a misunderstanding of the purpose of the gun shop. Part of Fara's disgrace is caused by his overzealousness for the Empress and against the gun shop. His disgrace is also based on his economic standing (after the bank takes away his money and his shop is bought out). Vogt is probably saying that morals are good but can be misapplied when someone refuses to believe in the fault or goodness of something. Boy, that was convoluted.

-- Anonymous, March 15, 2005

I think Vogt is trying to say that blind loyalty is an anti-virtue. He's trying to show that questioning things for yourself, and being open to change are very good virtues. Fara dismisses everything he does not blindly believe in as blasphemy and tyranny. The only tyranny in this story is the lack of independent ideas. I think Vogt made the building a weapon shop because it seemed out of place and almost violent, so that the reader might reject it as a bad thing. Obviously the other characters see it this way as well, and their their loyalty (especially Fara's) is almost aggravating.

-- Anonymous, March 15, 2005

ALong with that, I think Vogt is stating that beliefs can not be formed by blindly following whoever comes first but instead by testing and questioning before forming a belief system. Virtues seem to be shown as individual traits and that there is no purely virtuous side in the real world and every virtue can be viewed as the opposite. Fara's loyalty towards the empress is viewed as self- service in the courtroom, which starts the process of Fara's disillusionment.

-- Anonymous, March 16, 2005

In the beginning, this story seems to say that virtue is crushed by the politics of modern life, as Fara seems like a virtuous person, and his good intentions are snuffed out by the mega-conglomerates of the Weapons Shop and the repair shop. The second half of the story redeems virtue, saying it's an essential part of human nature that works successfully to battle wrongdoing, even in the face of modern unscrupulous business practices and an impersonal government.

I also believe, without knowing its origin or its rigorous definition, that the word "Boss" was invented to describe this story.

-- Anonymous, March 16, 2005

I think Vogt is saying that overall it is best to be a virtuous person, but sometimes it will be difficult and require sacrafices. Fara went through a hard time, but in the end his virtues allowed himself to become better off than he was before.

-- Anonymous, March 16, 2005

The message about virtue seems to be that virtue is not based on any specific organization. The weapons shop may have done good in the end, but before that they did destroy Fara's life. They crush those who oppose them but want to bring freedom and such. It seems that although they are much better than the Empire they are still an organization that can be subject to wrongdoing. They helped to dismantel Fara's life simply because he stood for what he believed.

-- Anonymous, March 16, 2005