On February 13, 2013, my University 112 teacher,
Jane Lucas, gave the class an assignment based on the movie Chasing Amy and the short story “Flying
Without a Map: Chasing Amy and the Quest for Meaningful Relationships.” The
question was how did Holden’s morals, or ethics, differ from Alyssa’s? We also
had to summarize each character’s standards, and consider what values
determined their choices.
In the movie, Holden seemed to think that his morals and
decisions were based on critical thinking about his overall self-worth and what
others thought of him. He didn’t care as much for being young and impulsive but
instead, thought carefully about each option before carrying out an action. On
the other hand, Alyssa looks at her bad decisions as something that is supposed
to happen with young age. She seems to think that every young adult should have
a time to be reckless and impulsive. It’s something that helped her in her
later years because she felt that she learned from the mistakes she made while
she was still young. Even though what she had done with other men is done, she
knows she can not take it back and does not regret it.
There are
most likely major differences in the way these two star-crossed lovers were
raised. Holden most likely had a strict family life filled with lots of rules
and parents enforcing him to always do the right thing. Alyssa, however, might
have had parents who weren’t as there for her to guide her along the path of
life. She may have had to figure things out on her own, which is why she believes
it is okay to make mistakes as long as you learn from them. For example, the
two pictures below can show a contrast between the two character’s
personalities. It's quite a fate to see for an interesting twist to a love story.
