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Assignment: Is deception ever justified? (OG P197)
Deception is sometimes justified. When someone is trying to achieve an end, he or she must sometimes use deception as a means. On at least two occasions, the Confederate Army used deception in an attempt to overthrow the more powerful Union Army. Also in literature, Jay Gatsby uses deception to win over his true love.
In the first major battle of the Civil War, The First Battle of Bull Run, the Confederate Army gained a neat victory over the Union using deception. Although the Union appeared to be winning the battle, General Stonewall Jackson was waiting with reserve troops. In fact, he surprised the overconfident Union Army, and drove them back with his delayed attack. Had Stonewall Jackson not used deception, the South would not have won that important battle of the Civil War.
Deception was actually a major element in the South’s overall war strategy. Since they lacked resources and the manpower of the North, they had to make due with what they did have---cleverness. They used tactics such as fierce rebel yelling and false reports to make the North believe that there were more Confederate troops than there actually were.
We also see the necessity of deception in F.Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby when the protagonist uses the façade of his mansion and his parties to impress his love, Daisy. To him, his only goal in love is to win her over, which goal drives him to become wealthy and buy a huge mansion. He holds huge drinking parties merely for the sake of attracting Daisy to his love. Gatsby, however, does not fit into high society. He merely uses these things to attract Daisy. To him, deception is necessary, or else he could not pursue true love for himself.
General McClellan of the North often hesitated to take action because he was always concerned about sending his men into certain death. The South’s façade worked for some time and they had the Union tricked out of attacking them.
On many occasions, deception is necessary. The South had to deceive the North, and Gatsby had to deceive himself and Daisy. For deception to be justified there must be some end that is necessary to achieve. However, deception must have a good cause. Enron’s recent deception was unjustified, because their end was to steal and to embezzle. The confederacywas defending its way of life and Gatsby was in pursuit of true love. Although deception was justified in these cases,mendacity in general should not be encouraged. Lying and stealing are forms of deception that lack a just end. Therefore,deception can be sometimes justified, but at other times not. (442)