Do you think your tolerance for lying and stealing would change in desperate times?

Woody is known for stealing; do you think your tolerance for lying and stealing would change in desperate times?

That’s a hard question to answer. I don’t know that anyone knows exactly what they would do to save their family or themselves in dire circumstances. Would I steal from a store or from someone who has more than they need to feed my family or myself? I probably would.

Yes- if your safety or your life or your family’s is in danger and lies or theft are what you need to do, so be it. Steal food, lie about your identity, con your way into a place of safety, yup. If it can prevent you from being harmed, I would do what needed to be done. Causing harm to another is more difficult, but if it’s life or death, I will fight.

I would imagine hunger would eclipse my principles and I would do whatever necessary for my survival, and even more importantly, the survival of my family. Considering Woody and the tragic environment he came from, it only further bolsters my empathy for the choices he has to make.

I very recently read another BookBrowse selection, The Nurse's Secret. In this book, the main character also had to steal to cover her most basic needs. I think having read about these instances of law breaking back to back and being asked to consider how I feel about the characters' behavior and my reaction to it- -I'm asking a different question. How can we develop a better safety net for the most vulnerable of our society in the most devastating of times-be it a natural disaster or tragic personal loss? The real shame, in my opinion, belongs to the country who would not/will not protect or care for its youngest, most helpless, or poorest citizens. The United States has a long history of making poverty a "character" or "work ethic" problem. Following the Great Depression/Dust Bowl SOMEONE had the money to invest in giraffes, while at the same time American citizens were living in Hoovervilles and having to nick an apple here of there to just stay alive.

Two points first I also read The Nurse's Secret and think acstrine made some excellent points that weave the two books together from the perspective of looking at society and how individuals who are are vulnerable can survive and get help during the most difficult economic times without compromising on their true identity. Second, generally people who are desperate straights whether just hungry or desperate for a job might have to compromise who they are to survive. So we must ask is society as a whole or the individual who is responsible.

Without a doubt, All animals, including humans, need to meet basic needs to survive food, water, shelter, space, and air and will do what it takes to meet those needs for self and those closest to them.

Never having been pressed into such hard times as the folks faced during the Great Depression or WWII, for example, I know I have not been tested. However, if stealing a loaf of bread help keep me or my family from starving, I think I would steal the bread. I would try to do something to earn the money, but those times were extremely hard and even earning money was hard.

yes, absolutely. I have never wanted for anything , especially the basic life necessities, but I do believe I would do what I needed to do to keep from being hungry or being sheltered.

I would do exactly what I had to to care for my family. Desperate times may mean desperate solutions - so anything is possible.

I would do what I needed to do to keep my family from starving. These were desperate times. I have never been tested but I think I would have done what Woody did to find shelter and to eat. The Old Man understood Woody's behavior and forgave him these slips during their journey together. When Woody realized the Old Man did not hold his behavior against him, he became a better human being and his character evolved toward maturity.

I've never been tested, but I believe I would do whatever needed for survival.

I think we, humans, have the same instinct as other animals to survive at any cost. Most of us are fortunate enough to never experienced such desperation. But as the saying goes: "desperate times call for desperate measures."

Woody lived through more desperate times than (I'm assuming" anyone reading the book today. He was starving. He knew he had to eat. I don't think this was a moral dilemma for him. I'm pretty sure that I would have done the same.

I agree that I have never been tested the way Woody was, and don't know what I would do. What I do appreciate was that Woody never forgot it was wrong to steal and lie, and even reluctantly stole a second motorcycle. This confirmed that he was basically a good person and was just doing what he had to to get by at the time.

I never "walked a mile" in those shoes, so I believe that we never know what we are capable of doing until faced with the situation. Was Woody stealing or surviving? I believe I would lay down my life for my family, so I guess I would steal. I hope I never have to find out.

Yes, I am pretty sure I would do whatever was necessary to keep myself and my family alive and/or out of danger. There is a large gray area between "healthy and happy" and "completely down and out" though. I'm not sure where I would draw the line. It's a hard question to answer since I have fortunately never been in that situation.

If my family was starving, I would probably lie or steal for them and for me. I hope when things were better economically that I would show compassion to those in need and advocate and vote to pass legislation that provides a better safety net for our citizens.

I honestly don't know what I would do, but hope that I would have the strength my mother and grandmother had. I don't think we have an inkling of what hard times really are. My mother was a child during the Great Depression. In addition, living in far southwest Kansas, her father was a farmer in the middle of the Dust Bowl. And finally, to add insult to injury, her father had a major stroke in 1932 at age 38 which resulted in paralysis on one side. He died when he was 41. She told us about her mother fixing she and her twin sister pancakes one morning and telling them after they ate that it would be their last meal for awhile as that was the last of the flour, eggs, and milk and there was no other food in the house or money to buy it with. The cow had dried up and the hens had quit laying. A neighbor came by a couple of days later with some surplus she had. Yet my grandmother would have walked through fire before she asked for help or stole from someone.