In a popular song by The Fray, a line reads: “Sometimes the hardest thing and the right thing are the same”. Even though some choices are often difficult to make, they can lead to the right outcome. In The Cold Equations by Tom Godwin, the characters are Marilyn, and the pilot Barton. This book portrays how difficult it can be to make the right choice, as Barton the pilot is forced to determine the fate of the teenage girl Marilyn. He is forced to decide to let Marilyn live for a while longer which would eventually kill her and seven other people, or to jettison Marilyn so he can save a group of people. There is no other choice that Barton has, and he has to jettison Marilyn so he can save the other people and himself. He is forced to do this because the laws of the government regulate him to do this, and there are also physical laws and laws of nature that affect his decision.
Barton is forced to eject Marilyn because it complies with the law. Specifically, it states in the book of laws in their society that stowaways must be ejected once they are found. The law reads “Any…show more content… For instance, in the EDS there is only a certain amount of gas which only allows a determined amount of weight on the EDS to get to the destination safely. The narrator explains, “They could not, however, foresee and allow for the added mass of a stowaway”(10). This is a major factor that affects Barton’s choice to eject Marilyn. Additionally, the narrator explains that even though Marilyn isn’t heavy, even the slightest weight can affect the path of the EDS. The narrator says, “Such a slight weight, yet enough to add fatally to the mass of the shell-thin bubble that was an EDS”. This physical factor is a major cause of Barton’s decision to eject Marilyn. As a result, Marilyn has to be ejected because of the physical factors such as the extra weight and not enough
