Jacob DeBoard

Ms. Woelke

APEL 5

February 15, 2018

Disobedience Argument Essay

When many think of disobedience, one of the first things that comes to mind is the

breaking of rules as to result in a seemingly better outcome than one’s current situation. This

can be seen throughout history in many revolutions fought for freedom, rights, and control over

their own fates. Today many see rebellion as a perfect example of disobedience, whether it be

between a kid and his parents, or something as large as a revolution. In fact rebellions are

depicted as good in many societies because they disobey and break free of the limits put on

them. For example the rebels in the Star Wars movies are characterized as heros against the

cruel dictatorship of the empire. It’s for reasons like these that Irish author Oscar Wilde argued

that disobedience is “man’s original virtue”, and through disobedience “progress has been

made”. Wilde’s claims are accurate in that disobedience has been a core trait in mankind since

the dawn of time, and that progress can be made through disobedience, however progress

doesn’t always occur because of disobedience.

Wilde is correct in stating disobedience is man’s original virtue. This is seen as many

religions today, such as Christianity, say everyone is a sinner and the only way to be saved from

that disobedience is to confess and believe. Christianity has a foundation of trying to bring as

many people to the cross because everyone is disobedient, therefore everyone needs the grace

of Jesus to be saved from that disobedience. Christianity has been around for thousands of

years, and because one of its core beliefs states everyone has sinned, people since the time of

the bible have been disobedient and is therefore an original virtue in man. This disobedience
isn’t only present in adults though, as many children naturally disobey their parents when told

not to do something. From something as simple as “don’t take the cookie”, disobedience is a

core trait in younger kids as well.

Wilde claims are valid in that progress can be made through disobedience. Malcolm

Gladwell in the article “Small Change” provides an example of the civil rights movement which

had begun with four college students in Greensboro, North Carolina. This revolution had

occurred in 1960, a time when there was still segregation among different races in the US.

When the four students had finally decided it was time to disobey the rules, and testify for civil

rights just by sitting at a bar, progress was rapidly made as more and more people nationwide

bagan to take part in this civil rights movement. Many other revolutions like the French

Revolution altered the course of France forever. The time came when the citizens in France

were tired of the King’s rule at the time, thus when they disobeyed and destroyed the Bastille,

the revolution had begun and much was made in establishing the new French government.

There is no rebellion without disobedience, and even when these revolutions fail progress is still

made as people learn from their mistakes. For example many innovators tend to “disobey” the

expectations and limits set upon technology everyday, but when one new innovation fails, new

opportunities are granted due to the knowledge gained from that failure.

While progress can be made through disobedience, disobedience isn’t a requirement for

making progress. In a novel written by George Orwell, ​Animal Farm​, shows the successful and

disobedient revolution led by the pig Napoleon. However, even when the rebellion was

successful against mankind, by the end of the novel, the pigs began taking upon the same traits

and qualities of mankind. So even though disobedience and rebellion were utilized, no progress

was made as all the animals found themselves in the same situation as when they had begun

their rebellion. Social media revolutions like those mentioned in “Small Change”, like the
“Twitter Revolution”, which had ultimately led the “people of Iran [to feel] more empowered and

confident to stand up for freedom and democracy”. The Twitter revolution is the perfect

example of progress without disobedience. Twitter was simply a means of those in Iran to rally

together so that they could stand up for their beliefs, yet because Twitter is not illegal, no

disobedience was used to spark the progress of change in Iran. Also many sports like soccer

require the players of the game to play by a certain set of rules, and if you break theses rules

you are penalized. Therefore the only way for a soccer player to achieve progress in soccer is

to play hard while still obeying the rules. As a result progress can be made without

disobedience.

In conclusion Wilde’s claims were valid to some extent in that disobedience is a

persistent trait in humanity and progress can be achieved through disobedience, however,

progress can be made without disobedience.