Stranger Things: Eleven

Ari Henson
Eleven as an Egoist
(Or, for people whove seen the show, an eggoist).

At the beginning of season 1 of stranger things, Eleven appears as if she is

almost a moral nihilist or ethical subjectivist. She makes decisions that are
based on fear and the natural instinct of self preservation, for the most part.

An example of this is when she steals eggos from the store mid-season and
breaks their windows, or when she throws Lucas in the field by the bus
because he had confronted her for her mysteriousness and lack of
explanation for most of her actions and whereabouts. She didnt throw him to
hurt him necessarily, but more to protect herself because he was scaring and
threatening her.
Eleven as an Altruist
By the end of season one, eleven is
very different then how she was at
the beginning. She begins to make
different decisions than she originally would
have, and eventually becomes selfless. She focuses on protecting the people
she cares about rather than herself.

Examples of this is when she throws the van with abilities, when she saves Mike
from falling, or *Spoiler Alert* at the end when she sacrifices herself to save
everyone from the monster.

The Gate. I opened it. Im the monster.

Friends tell the truth. Im sorry too.

Eleven as a Whole?
As a whole, eleven doesnt entirely fit either label, thus she
isnt really an egoist or an altruist. In actually, she really is a
mix of the two. She does care about self-preservation to an
extent, but by the end of season 1, she cares far more about
her friends and all the people whove been willing to protect
her, and that overrides her instinct to protect herself and
distance herself from any threat. It isnt shown whether she
cares about humanity as a whole or not, but she is certainly
willing to sacrifice herself for the people she cares about.
Personal Viewpoint
I agree with some, but not all, of Elevens decisions. Eleven makes
a lot of rash and dangerous decisions at the beginning of the show.
I dont blame her as a character for these decisions because she
was in a very scary situation and felt very scared and jarred, so
naturally she acted irrationally, however I wouldnt make these
decisions myself. But, near the end of the show, I agree with more
and more of her decisions because she does what she needs to do
to save her friends, even if it means self sacrifice or facing her
fears. I would hope that I would be able to have this kind of
selflessness if a situation called for it in my life.
Other Characters
One example of a character that makes different decisions than Eleven is
Hopper. Most would describe Hopper as a Consequentialist, who seeks
justice and always tries to make choices that will create a right outcome,
regardless of the actions themselves that he has to take. An example of this is
when he breaks into the government to find out more information on Will
potentially.

Another example of a character with a different moral

code is Jonathan. Personally, I believe that Jonathan is a
Moral Realist for the most part. He doesnt see the
good or bad in things for the most part, and he
isnt particularly morally driven.
He mostly just acts based on
helping the people he cares about, like his mom or brother.