Blog 22

In the ninth episode of Firefly, “Ariel”, Jayne’s actions towards River and Simon were acts of dehumanization. During this scene, to him, River and Simon were just mere objects rather than human beings because all he cared about was receiving his end of the deal from the Feds. Because he decided to sell out River and Simon out to the Feds, Jayne wasn’t really thinking clearly with the fact that River and Simon’s lives could’ve been seriously affected or put in danger; he wasn’t looking ahead at the bigger picture and thinking about what they potential consequences could have been. He didn’t think about anything or anyone else but himself in this situation. The creator of this show, Firefly, wanted to show that desirable objects can get the best of anyone and make people do unethical things to others without realizing what the consequences would be. Because he was so greedy, he lost all self-control and ultimately that is what led him to sell out River and Simon. “The self-interest connected to greed becomes both self-denial and an attack on others. This leads to the paradoxical conclusion that pursuit of self-interest connected to greed, rather than finding the self as its end, serves only to affirm the loss of self,” (Levine, 132). Although Jayne has never really gotten along with River and Simon, he, as an overall person, would not have sold them out had money not been in the picture. However, because he did sell them out, he feels guilty at the end of the episode for what he did to them.