Sunday 5 January 2014

Sonya ,George and Alligators


This is a famous story named Alligator River Story, which I use in my classes on perception , attribution and learning.

Once upon a time there was a woman named Sonya who was in love with a man named George. George lived on the shore of a river. Sonya lived on the opposite shore of the river. The river that separated the two lovers was teeming with man-eating alligators.  Sonya wanted to cross the river to be with George. Unfortunately, the bridge had been washed away by a heavy storm the previous evening

So she went to ask Sindbad, a riverboat captain, to take her across. He said he would be glad to if she would consent to go to bed with him before he takes her across. She promptly refused and went to a friend named Ivanhoe to explain her plight. Ivanhoe did not want to be involved at all in the situation. 

Sonya felt her only alternative was to accept Sindbad's terms. Sindbad fulfilled his promise to Sonya and delivered her into the arms of George. When she told George  about her amorous escapade in order to cross the river, George cast her aside with disdain. Heartsick and dejected, Sonya turned to Slug with her tale of woe. Slug, feeling compassion for Sonya, sought out George and beat him brutally. Sonya l was happy to see George  getting his due. As the sun sets on the horizon, we still hear Sonya  laughing at George. 

Rank the characters (  1 is the best and 5 is the worst) - Sonya, George, Sindbad, Ivanhoe and Slug in terms of their behavior and level of responsibility and their values and beliefs.  

11 comments:

  1. My ratings : 1 - Sindbad, 2 : Sonya, 3:George, 4: Slug, 5: Ivanhoe. I will elaborate on the reasons after two days. Till that time, I want response and ratings from you with your reasons .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Reasons for my ratings :

      1. SIndbad, He was very clear about what he wanted and he kept his word .
      2. Sonya : She loveed George and by hook or by crook wanted to be with him. Though she was guilty about her act, she told George the truth. This shows that she was truthful, transparent and clear headed.
      3. George : George loved Sonya but he could not stand the truth. He had a weak personality and he did what a traditional man would have done. This shows that his love was also too worldly which could not stand the test.
      4. Slug : Slug , after hearing Sonya's tale, went and beat him brutally. He should have found out more about what was right and wrong - he should have heard George's side too. He went with the heat of the moment and without reason committed his brutal act. Ao, he seems to be a foolhardy and whimsical person
      5. Ivanhoe : He is the worst of them all. He was too self centered and selfish. He was neither a good friend nor he showed any compassion or interest.

      Delete
  2. 1. Sindbad, 2. Slug, 3. Ivanhoe, 4. George, 5. Sonya

    ReplyDelete
  3. 1. Sindbad 2. Sonya 3. Slug 4. Ivanhoe 5. George

    ReplyDelete
  4. 1. Sindbad - He helped her to get across and also got what he wanted
    2. Sonya - I am not sure if she was right or not. Maybe she would have waited some other sailor to ask or could have passed her message to george from any of the sailors around and then george might have figured out a solution. Maybe he could have asked a sailor to come through where Sonia is.
    . However i would rate her 2nd best because in the event of being rejected she might have thought that there is nothing now for her so why let George go . So did right to take help of slugs to beat him up.
    3. Slug - For beating George up on hearing Sonya's concern
    4. Ivanhoe - Being a friend he should have helped her but he didn't
    5. George - He should have understood the situation Sonia has went through. And the most important thing is that she told him the truth.

    ReplyDelete
  5. 1. Sonya - she was driven by love and wanted to unite with George for which she looked for available options and made a choice. While the choice meant resorting to unfair demands and can be unacceptable, but she could not have otherwise united with her lover, which was her sole objective. In hindsight, she could have said no to Sindbad and waited for a better alternative and even George would have understood that as he was aware of the situation (i.e. the broken bridge and the aligators) too.
    2. Slug - beating is not the best way to make someone understand of their act. While I applaud Slug for taking a stand and acting true to his own self, but could not control his emotions that took the best of him. Leadership is also about keeping your emotions in check and act responsibly
    3. Ivanhoe - sometime it is best to say no and stay away when you cannot offer an appropriate solution
    4. Sindbad - he is bad. He too undue advantage of his position at that moment and asked for inappropriate favors in return of his help. He is an opportunist with an evil heart.
    5. George - he is a man with no guts, and deserves nothing, leave alone the love of a woman like Sonya. He did nothing to unite with Sonya, and showed no respect or gratitude that they were together now, instead rejected her for what she did.

    ReplyDelete
  6. 1. Sonya - she was driven by love and wanted to unite with George for which she looked for available options and made a choice. While the choice meant resorting to unfair demands and can be unacceptable, but she could not have otherwise united with her lover, which was her sole objective. In hindsight, she could have said no to Sindbad and waited for a better alternative and even George would have understood that as he was aware of the situation (i.e. the broken bridge and the aligators) too.
    2. Slug - beating is not the best way to make someone understand of their act. While I applaud Slug for taking a stand and acting true to his own self, but could not control his emotions that took the best of him. Leadership is also about keeping your emotions in check and act responsibly
    3. Ivanhoe - sometime it is best to say no and stay away when you cannot offer an appropriate solution
    4. Sindbad - he is bad. He too undue advantage of his position at that moment and asked for inappropriate favors in return of his help. He is an opportunist with an evil heart.
    5. George - he is a man with no guts, and deserves nothing, leave alone the love of a woman like Sonya. He did nothing to unite with Sonya, and showed no respect or gratitude that they were together now, instead rejected her for what she did.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Ivan Hoe: He is on top as he knows very well how to maintain a personal-professional balance. He did not put his hands as it was none of his business professionally. In 21st century if one is into personal things too much one's professionalism gets hampered.

    George: He did exactly what a man with good ethics should have done. His personality was not weak but too strong that he let his love go for the sake of his ethics.

    Slug: He reacted instantly and that's a leadership quality to take decisions instantly irrespective of what may follow.

    Sonya- She did her task, but that was hard work nor smart work so she stands fourth.

    Sindbad: His personality was cheap. Such people may be influential but in a long run people start hating them , even their colleagues and managers hence their downfall begins.

    ReplyDelete
  8. 1,Ivanhoe,he is straight forward fellow expressed his incapacity to help Sonya.2Slug, headstrong but his attitude is right, to punish the wrong.3.George,insensitive who failed to understand the depth of Sonya's love.4Sonya, she is a foolish woman who does not understand that a good end, achieved by evil means is disastrous.5.Sindbad is a mean fellow who unscrupulously takes advantage of Sonya's helplessness .

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hi Ananya !
    here are the ratings.. loved the exercise

    1. Sonya- she loved George with heart and soul and in order to get united with him she did not mind sleeping with Sindbad as her love was pure . she knew what she was doing was not right and was guilty but had no other option as her friend refused to help her by getting involved in this... later she tells everything to George , this shows how honest and truthful she was

    2. Slug- An extermely emotional person, with very strong feelings for Sonya, felt eqally hurt by Georges disdainful behaviour and punished him.

    3. Sindbad- alhtough an opportunist, did keep his word

    4. Ivanhoe- did not make any false promise to Sonya. was very clear about his stand. a selfish person without any wrong intentions. .. well not that bad.

    5. George- completely overlooked the sacrifice and the emotional turmoil that Sonya had gone through in order to be with him. The purity of body became more important than the purity of soul robbing Sonya of all the happiness that she had dreamt of. deserved all the beating and bashing.

    ReplyDelete