Karem tells Geeta "Sometimes to do the right thing, you have to do the wrong one first." What do you think he means?

Karem tells Geeta "Sometimes to do the right thing, you have to do the wrong one first." What do you think he means? Do you feel he's correct in his assessment? If so, can you think of other examples where this might be true?

It sounds like a rephrasing of "The end justifies the means." I'm not sure I do feel he's correct. I may just lack imagination, but I'm having trouble coming up with a situation where this would be acceptable. I'm wondering if anyone else has any ideas about this?

While it's true that sometimes good things happen after pursuing a strategy one knows to be "wrong," I think it's hard to justify making that approach a deliberate choice.

Then, I'm wondering, are kimk and laurap not at all fans of Greeta and the girls' actions?
I would say that the main theme of the book would be the women doing wrong things to make a right thing.

I agree with crk. Sometimes the path to the right thing leads through some "wrong" things, and sometimes there seems no way out other than to do something that is wrong. When things seem hopeless, it's not easy to see what the right way out would be.

Absolutely, I know every time I choose a wrong thing I almost always learn something valuable
That being said, it makes it easier watching the kiddos in our family making some decisions I know they are probably going to regret but are hell bent on doing lol knowing that they will get where they need to be eventually and will learn something about themselves and other people

This was a line I noted down. I think that there is a lot more 'gray' in the world than just black and white on issues. Sometimes something that is done that is 'wrong' may be unkind or not nice, or not moral, but is in the big picture necessary.

Obviously it is not a good thing to take justice into your own hands, but by doing what the ladies did and then bonding together as bonobos, they will create a stronger group that other women will be able to benefit from and eventually stand up with more resolve. So sometimes good can come out of bad.

I assume that he means that sometimes one has to break the rules, the law, the norms, etc. in order to reach a higher purpose. Being brought up to be a rule follower that would be somewhat foreign and difficult for me, but I realize that often in history, real change was not realized until individuals and groups went outside the law to reach the greater good. To me, most prominent examples in US history are the pre-Civil War abolitionists defying the law via the Underground Railroad, etc. and more recently the marches, sit-ins, etc. in the civil rights movement. Internationally, Gandhi's civil disobedience stands out. Initially, when thinking about this question, my thinking was that violence should never be resorted to, but when I think about WWII and the French, Italian, etc. resistance movements, I become torn. Those brave individuals were integral to overcoming Hitler and the Nazis. Yet I see some of our citizens moving in the direction of violence in order to get their candidate elected to the White House and that is terrifying. In the end, I suppose it's all situational regarding the rightness of committing a wrong to get to a right.

I think there is always push and pull between right and wrong. Everyone knows that people do not always do the "right" thing. However what is right for one person is wrong for another. We can only grow by testing these apotheosis out. I don't think that one thing is more wrong than another thing, it is just the consequences that have been attached to the act that designate the differences.