void. So there’s no sense in trying to, or in weighing down your conscience if you should realize a personal motive or two that crept behind the scenes of an otherwise selfless act. Even if a man gives a lot of money to a friend in need and says he expects nothing back in return, he’s lying. That man will at the very least expect a good feeling in return, -a raised sense of pride, self-esteem, honor, etc. Giving feels good, and everyone knows it. So, if thought about in the proper light, it can be said that the most selfish man of all is the man that gives, not the man who takes. And this leads to the realization that being selfish is not necessarily a bad thing. It depends on what you’re selfish about. Reuben should have no shame in wishing to preserve his life. Selfish or not, it’s natural, and moreover, it was what was best for Roger, Dorcas, and himself.Reuben’s problem is a faulty conscience. And it’s this faulty conscience that leads to the tragic end of this story. Reuben can’t ever forgive himself for something he never had to feel bad about in the first place. His conscience weighs on his soul until he becomes just a shell of a man, and his marriage nearly as deteriorated as the farm he works. He let’s his correct decision all those years ago become the wrong one by default. For what difference would it have made if Reuben too had died, being that he lived his life like a zombie ever since? And would Roger have given his blessing of marriage upon Reuben and Dorcas if he’d had the foresight to see what kind of husband Reuben would be, or if he’d had the foresight to see just how much Reuben’s conscience would smother and kill everything around it? Clearly, Reuben has fallen very short of his potential, and for that reason, he may well have been better off had he stayed with Roger. Roger tried to give Reuben the gift of life, yet Reuben made that ...
