Enemy of the people: Essay Sample

Essay Instructions

Research Paper and Presentation Assignment and Deadlines

Please choose one of the following topics listed below about whistleblowers for your independent research project, and write an approximately 800-word (3-4 pages plus a works cited sheet) research paper, and prepare to give a ten-minute presentation. You will use a minimum of three sources, at least one of which you will access from the scholarly database. One source can be a film or a play.

Some of the questions to investigate are:

• What evidence and/or scientific facts did this whistleblower have?
• What motivated this person or character to reveal the truth about his or her findings?
• What resistance did they get about this information?
• Why did people not want this person to get the word out, and how did they confront the powers that be?
• What role did the press and media play in the story?
• What motivates many people in society to obstruct the truth?

Topics:

• Dr. Thomas Stockmann / Enemy of the People
• Erin Brockovich — Erin Brockovich (2000)
• Karen Silkwood — Silkwood (1983)
• Kathryn Bolkovak — The Whistleblower (2010)
• Edward Snowden
• Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha

Your paper should have a title suggesting your thesis; your title should not just be the name of the person you researched.

Sample Solution Paper

Enemy of the People

Name

Date

Enemy of the people

Introduction

Dr Stockmann in this case is the whistle blower who is focused on making sure that the health of the society is a guaranteed. Therefore, he is set of notifying the pubic the hazards that are associated with the contamination especially when the mayor is further determined to ensure that the Bath remain open no matter what. Even though both the mayor is seeking similar set of end results, getting to the final result is a major issue. It is the actions of the Dr Stockmann and his persistence to ensure that the bath is closed that he becomes the enemy of the people.

Dr Stockmann actions are based on the professionalism and moral responsibilities to the society (Roshwald, 230). When Dr Stockmann finds out the Bath is a heath to the town and the visitors, he is determined to protect the society. As result he indicates that if Bath remains open, it poses further health risk to the town and therefore the repairs should be conducted when the Bath is closed.

Dr Stockmann faces resistance from the society as well as the mayor even though his suggestions are meant to help in protecting the public and making sure the public health is the major driving force (McConnell, 84). The mayor wants to protect the economy of the society and the town want Bath to remain open. The mayor actions in this case are to influence the public so that they can oppose his way of doing things.

Media plays a key role in influencing the people perception in regards to the doctors’ intention. The mayor uses the media to influence the public and influence the public to oppose the doctor’s suggestions. As a result, the jounaist Hovstad plays a role of the media that is influenced by the mayor.

The media in this case plays a key role in making the whistle-blower Dr Stockmann the most hated person in the town. Even through the journalist is ready to print positive responsive towards the need to close the Bath, the mayors order it to be changed to ensure that the information presented influences the public perception in regards to the suggestions of Dr Stockmann. Being a Doctor, Dr Thomas Stockmann had the responsibility of making sure that the society was well protected irrespective of the impact that this was likely to have on the society. In the play” Enemy of the People” Dr Thomas Stockmann is considered as the enemy of the town the point in time when he suggests that the bath needs to be closed in order to ensure that the renovations needs to be made due to the health issue that it causes (McConnell, 82). However, the main issue in this case is that the society relies on the Bath for economic purposes and at therefore closing it would deny them access to the services they are accustomed to. On the other hand, the bath is also relied upon by the tourists when they visit the town and therefore any attempts to close would face objections from the people in the town as well as from the town mayor.

Once Dr Thomas Stockmann identifies that there is a contamination of the drainage system, his advice is to close the Bath to allow the renovations to take place. His goal is to ensure that every person is aware of the truth and his professional responsibility is to ensure that people have a healthy lifestyle in the long run which is necessary (Ibsen, 10). Dr Stockmann persistent and being a whistle-blower have a negative impact on his life as well as that of his family. Every person within the society is objected to his activities in the town to an extent of intimidating his children.

The actions of Dr Stockmann establish a conflict between the private interests and public health. Instead of safeguarding his own interests, family welfare as well as finances, he is focussed on maintaining the public health. Dr Stockmann is determined to ensure that safety of the people in the town and visitors is well safeguarded. In this case, Dr Stockmann morals and the professional responsibilities come in to conflict with the societal needs and as result receive widespread opposition from the public.

Conclusion

The conflict between the mayor and Dr Stockmann is that they have different in opinion on how the town should approach then repairs at the Bath. At some point Dr Stockmann is concerned on the safety of the family and therefore advices him to change his stand in order to protect the children as well as his family. Dr Stockmann loses his funds when his inheritance is taken away and the mayor vows to ensure that he leaves town even though they are related. In this case, DR Stockmann who is moralist is alienated by the society that he is willing to protect.  DR Stockmann establishes an unbending and independent stand which is guided by his professional which conflicts with the social economy.

Bibliography

Roshwald, Mordecai. “The Alienated Moralist in An Enemy of the People.” Modern Age, vol. 46, no. 3, Summer 2004, pp. 227–233. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=14382059&site=ehost-live.

McConnell, Terrance. "Moral combat in an enemy of the people: Public health versus private interests." Public health ethics 3.1 (2009): 80-86.

Ibsen, Henrik. An enemy of the people. Courier Corporation, 2012.