The Death of Justina

Cheever, The Death of Justina
Page 542.

“When I abstain from sin it is more often a fear of scandal than a private resolve to improve the purity of my heart, but here was a call for abstinence without the worldly enforcement of society, and death is not the threat that scandal is.”


This quote reveals that in this society, it is worse to die than to be caught doing something wrong. Moses does not give up drinking and smoking, although his doctor tells him to, because society is not telling him that it is wrong. He does not care about pride in himself, if he does not get the same recognition from society, so he continues to sin. He would only stop this sin, if it were thought of as bad by society.



Cheever, The Death of Justina
Page 544.


“I must pretend, I must, like an actor, study to improve on my pretension, to have nothing to do with his triumphs and I must bow my head gracefully in shame when we have both failed. I am forced to appear grateful for injuries, to lie, to smile falsely and to play out a role as asinine and as unrelated to the facts as a minor prince at the operetta, but if I speak the truth it will be my wife and children who will pay in hardships for my outspokenness.”


In this passage, the narrator tells us how he must put on a fake personality when at his job. He has to act like a perfect employee, and be a complete suck up in order to keep his job. He must not tell anyone how he really feels about his job. This is not only true for his job, but also for his life. He must act just like society says he should act, have just what society says he should have, and do just what society says he should do. If not, he will be an outcast from society and his whole family will pay the price. He must act like he is always happy and satisfied with his life, or else he will not fit in with society. It is not necessarily that all of society is truly like this, but everyone believes that everyone else is, so they must be like this too.


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