Moral Dilemmas In Tom Godwin's The Cold Equation

In The Cold Equations by Tom Godwin and Homestead in Idaho by Clinton F. Larson, Marilyn Lee Cross and Geneva have similar moral dilemmas in the way they react. In The Cold Equations, Marilyn is a stowaway on an Emergency Deployment Ship, or EDS, the contains fever serum. The ships have minimal fuel, so Marilyn’s added mass is fatal to not only herself but the pilot and the six sick workers who requested the serum. Geneva, from Homestead in Idaho, is bit by a rattlesnake. Geneva decides to bleed the poison out, but she cuts to deep resulting in her bleeding out. There is no around for miles; Geneva knows she will die. Marilyn is forced to accept the possible outcomes of her actions, displaying moral sensitivity. Similarly, Geneva is forced to think of how her death

After Marilyn accepts the possible effects of her actions, she fully understands what must be done. She must be jettisoned because there is, “Not enough fuel - I can understand that… But I have to die for it. Me alone…” (Page 7, The Cold Equations). Marilyn displays her acceptance of death, and her acceptance of responsibility for her actions. In Homestead in Idaho, Geneva is dying and struggling to stay alive. In a panic to save her children from suffering, “She took the gun again and turned it to the crib… You will be with me… The trigger once, then again...” (Section 7, Homestead in Idaho). By shooting her daughter, Geneva accepts responsibility for making Solomon, her husband, feel as though he had to go to town to work for her to be happy. Both Marilyn and Geneva experience the same moral dilemma. They use moral motivation as a way to reconcile their deaths as an action to save others from suffering. Moral dilemmas are brought up in different ways, but different people can act similarly. Death is the ultimate sacrifice to save another’s