Leadership Theory and Practice via an Account of BPs Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill

Moral Accountability Issues at BP Every organization is expected to be morally accountable in all its operations and activities (Caulfield, 2011; Tittle, 2000). Lack of moral accountability can lead to lawsuits and loss of consumer loyalty. Companies should be responsible in all they do.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Leadership Theory and Practice via an Account of BP’s Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More They should ensure that their activities do not cause harm to the people around or to the ecosystem. It is a legal requirement in most countries that companies should be morally accountable (Bergsteiner, 2012; Fisher, 2012). BP is a company that has been accused of accidents that occur mainly due to lack of accountability. The company deals with petroleum products, which are known to be very harmful to both human beings and the environment in general if not handled responsibly. Fro m the perspective of a rig operator, one of the morality issues that seem to be inherent at BP is the failure to follow the right procedures in making the rig machinery. Secondly, the maintenance of the machinery is not done in the right way. Despite the aging machinery, no one seems to care . For instance, in the year 2004 the company did not pay attention to the concerns raised by its workers regarding safety and environment. Instead, managers opted to save on maintenance costs through a practice referred to as â€Å"run to failure.† The aging equipment was left to continue running with little or no maintenance. This led to spills in the year 2006 of over 200000 gallons. It was the largest spill that ever happened in Alaska’s North Slope.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In the year 2006, BP failed to follow the correct procedure in the manufacture of the rig machinery. Before the completion of the machine, there had to be final drawing designs that are called the â€Å"as-built† drawings. These drawings are very important since they ensure that the machinery being made is ready for use and ensures the safety of people. When Kenneth Abbott was hired as the project control leader, he advocated for the completion of â€Å"as- built† documents since they were essential for a standard machinery. The BP engineers strongly opposed this idea and supported the making of this machinery without the forms. It is understood that they did this in order to save on cost. The impact of these issues to the rig operator is that his life is left at risk since the machinery can explode any time. The people around him, as well as the ecology around the area of operation are also exposed to risk. From the perspective of a UK based retiree with a major income stream from BP shares, following shortcuts would be beneficial in that the earnings woul d increase. However, the machinery manufactured is not standard. The machinery is likely to explode at some time. Their major concern is the loss they might incur if the machinery exploded and/or the spill occurred. The default machinery would also lead to poor perception of the company by employees, both current and potential employees. The implication would be high turnover of employees who would fear for their safety. Potential employees would be reluctant to join the company. The retiree shareholders would be concerned since the productivity of the firm relies largely on the employees and their morale.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Leadership Theory and Practice via an Account of BP’s Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Leadership issues Leadership is essential for the success of any organization (Northouse, 2010). The issues that have been affecting BP can be associated to poo r leadership of the company. There are a number of leadership issues that are notable in the company. First, the managers of BP harass or intimidate employees so that they do not report the negative things that happen within the company. The employees are concerned about their safety since the equipment is not safe to work with. However, the leaders intimidate them and the problems result in big losses through spills and explosives. Leaders avoid these problems from being reported since they do not want to spend a lot of money on repairs and maintenance costs. This indicates conflicting interests between managers and employees. While employees want the aging equipment well maintained, the managers, on the other hand, do not want to maintain it since they want to reduce costs. The other leadership issue that needs to be addressed is about promotion of managers. Promotion should be done on merit (Gill, 2010). A manager or any other employee should be promoted depending on his or her p erformance. At BP, senior managers are never held accountable for failures. They are, instead, offered promotions despite their poor performance. This is a leadership issue that is likely to affect the organization negatively in the long run. This is a policy that needs to be amended. If managers are promoted without any merit, in the future the company will be headed by managers who do not have the ability to propel it forward. These managers will cause poor performance and probably failure of the organization.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More It is important to note that promotion of managers without merit might demotivate employees who have the interest of the organization at heart (Winkler, 2010). Such employees will feel that they are being overlooked despite their efforts. Such employees are likely to leave the organization or their productivity is likely to go down. Leadership theories The practices of managers in BP can be changed if the organization adopts the right leadership theories. The theories or the policies that are applied in the organization today are not effective, or they have insignificant effect if any since the organization seems to be going the wrong way in terms morality issues (Meindl and Schyns, 2005). Global policies today advocate for a clean environment, but BP is not in line with the global policies as the case displays. One of the leadership theories that can be applied in BP management is the contingency theory. Under this theory, the managers of BP would have the responsibility to determi ne the leadership style to be applied in various situations. Situations are bound to change since the world is full of uncertainties. The success of an organization is dependent on a number of variables (Banner and Blasingame, 1988). One of the variables is the leadership style that should be used. For instance, the leaders of the organization ought to have applied the autocratic leadership style in the situation where the machinery had to be designed only after the ‘as- built’ documents had been completed. The leaders should have stood firm and ensure the making of the machinery does not proceed until the documents are completed. The documents ensure that the machinery is of high quality, and that it can be safe for use by anyone. The compromising behaviour of the managers could be as a result of pressure from shareholders who want costs to be reduced so that their earnings can increase. Managers should be bold and not compromise since the machinery could be risky to t he employees and to the environment. Their decision making in such a situation needs to be centralized. The other theory that should be used by the BP managers is the situational theory. This theory is not very much different from the contingency theory. Under situational theory, a leader or a manager should take the best action that can address the situation he or she is faced with. This means that the decisions the leader makes in various situations could be based on various leadership styles, depending on the situation at hand. Some situations need decentralized decision making, while others need centralized decision making (Schyns, 2006). In the former, the leader can apply the democratic leadership style, while in the later the authoritative leadership style is applicable. BP managers are faced with a number of situations that lead to accidents and losses. One of the most notable situations is the Gulf Spill, where gallons of oil spilled off. The spills were as a result of poor maintenance and poor management. BP managers need to be authoritative in such a situation, but they should have the best interest of the organization at heart. The decisions they make should be favourable to the well- being of the organization, as well as its employees and the environs. Decision making is one of the most sensitive activities in an organization (Schyns, 2006). Managers are trusted with decision making since they are knowledgeable and have experience in decision making. Decision making at BP is more sensitive since the company deals with products that could be risky to human beings, as well as the environment. The machineries used in the industry are subject to breakdown and they can cause much damage if they do not function properly. In such situations managers need to apply the best leadership styles to ensure that the machinery is corrected and functioning properly. In replacing those machines that have faced out or are becoming obsolete, democratic leadership sty le could be effective. Leaders could meet with all the stakeholders and decide on the best machine to make or buy. BP senior managers need to adopt the participative theory of leadership. This is the leadership style whereby the input of the rest of the organizational members is put into consideration. All the members of the organization are included in decision making and other activities within the organization. At BP, managers get promotion even if their performance is poor. The employees are always ignored and usually threatened if they raise concerns about their safety and environmental issues. This kills the morale of employees, and their productivity is negatively affected. Participative leadership will always motivate employees. Employees feel they are part of the organization and they report any problem before it occurs (Dion, 2012). This keeps the mangers on alert such that they take the necessary actions before the problem occurs. If participative leadership was applied i n BP by the senior managers, the Gulf Spills could not have occurred. The employees had already raised concerns about their safety and the environment, but the managers chose to ignore the employees and even intimidated them. As a result, the management could not prevent the spills since they failed to pay attention to employees’ concerns. In participative leadership, employees are considered as important people who can make positive contributions in the organization (Mann, 2011). Finally, management theory of leadership could be very influential and effective at BP Company. The theory is also referred to as the transactional theory (Mann, 2011). Its focus is mainly on supervision, as well as on the group’s performance. As it is displayed in the case, there is poor supervision in the activities being conducted. This is displayed in the making of rig machinery. The machinery was made without the completion of ‘as- built’ documents. Proper supervision of a p roject ensures that all the relevant and significant procedures have been followed in the manufacturing process. It ensures that quality products have been produced. Proper supervision was not conducted, thus the machine produced was of poor quality and it ended up with an explosion. Under management theories, reward systems as well as punishments are embraced. This lacks in BP Company. The managers ignore important issues that end up with serious accidents, but they always get away with it (Dion, 2012). The managers are never punished for their negligence. To make the matters worse, the managers who ruin the company are promoted contrary to expectations. This encourages them to go ahead with their dismal actions and performances. There are employees who have always raised concerns about the aging equipment and the threat it poses, yet they are always ignored. Under managerial theory, such employees could be appreciated and rewarded so that in future they would talk of a problem the y perceive in the organization. This would be effective in preventing future accidents in the organization. BP managers should adopt the above named theories since they would be very effective in salvaging the situation that is currently in the organization. List of References Banner, DK Blasingame, JW 1988 ‘Towards a developmental paradigm of leadership’, Leadership Organization Development Journal, vol. 9, no. 4, pp. 7 – 16 Bergsteiner, H 2012 Accountability theory meets accountability practice, Emerald, Bingley Caulfield, H 2011 Vital notes for nurses, John Wiley Sons, Hoboken, NJ Dion, M 2012 ‘Are ethical theories relevant for ethical leadership? Leadership Organization Development Journal, vol. 33, no. 1, pp. 4 – 24 Fisher, K 2012 Moral accountability and international criminal law: Holding agents of atrocity accountable to the world, Routledge, London Gill, R 2010 Theory and practice of leadership, SAGE Publications Ltd, London Mann, S 2011 ‘Leadership: A very short introduction’, Leadership Organization Development Journal, vol. 32, no. 5, pp. 529 – 529 Meindl, JR Schyns, B 2005 Implicit leadership theories: Essays and explorations, Information Age Publishers, Greenwich, CT Northouse, PG 2010 Leadership: Theory and practice, Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA Schyns, B 2006 ‘The role of implicit leadership theories in the performance appraisals and promotion recommendations of leaders’, Equal Opportunities International, vol. 25 no. 3, pp.188 – 199 Tittle, P 2000 Ethical issues in business: Inquiries, cases, and readings, Broadview Press, Peterborough Winkler, I 2010 Contemporary leadership theories: Enhancing the understanding of the complexity, subjectivity and dynamic of leadership, Physica-Verlag, Berlin This essay on Leadership Theory and Practice via an Account of BP’s Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill was written and submitted by user Jaelynn W. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

6 Disappeared LinkedIn® Partner Applications and What to Do About Them †Part V WordPress (and RSS Feeds)

6 Disappeared LinkedIn ® Partner Applications and What to Do About Them – Part V WordPress (and RSS Feeds) The WordPress and BlogLink applications on LinkedIn used to be a reliable way to send weekly blog posts to your LinkedIn profile. All a blogger had to do was download the application and associate the blog’s RSS feed (essentially the link to your blog posts) to LinkedIn. No longer is this convenient feature available. Up until a week ago, I would have suggested a fix that entails requesting your RSS feed to be sent out automatically to your favorite LinkedIn groups, or perhaps starting a LinkedIn group so that you can send your feed to that group. Not anymore. LinkedIn has announced that as of March 15, 2013, users may no longer syndicate RSS feeds to groups through LinkedIn. The pros and cons of this move by LinkedIn have been debated. On the positive side, the elimination of RSS feeds to groups means less potential for spamming. A real person has to go in and post an article, potentially stemming the increasingly overwhelming flow of posts to LinkedIn groups. On the other hand, much of this automated content provides valuable information to group members and spurs conversation and debate. Will the richness of group conversations be diminished without the convenience of automated posting? Time will tell †¦ In the meantime, the question remains: How can you send your value-rich content to your LinkedIn groups? One place to look is the LinkedIn Help topic, Anyone have a workaround for the elimination of RSS feeds in groups? Here are some ideas: 1. Post discussions manually to your LinkedIn groups. Manual posting of articles is a technique I have been utilizing all along, and I believe it provides value to my groups and provides me with visibility. I don’t just post the link to a useful article – I post the entire article so that people don’t have to work too hard to read the content. If you post an article to a group, it helps to ask a question to spur discussion, rather than simply post the article. By simply sticking an article on the discussion page, you risk appearing â€Å"spammy† and are less likely to generate worthwhile conversations about your topic. 2. Use HootSuite to post blog entries to your Activity Updates. The HootSuite option requires establishing a HootSuite account if you don’t have one already. After logging in to HootSuite, hover over the launch bar on the left side of your account. Click on Settings RSS/Atom: Click the + sign to add a new feed. You might need to upgrade to a paid account ($5.99/month) to use this feature. Paste your feed URL in the field provided. Then select the social sites you would like the feed to post to. Edit any other preferred options and Save Feed. 3. Post manually to Activity Updates. A simple, free way to share blog articles is to post the link individually to your Activity Updates. If you blog once/week this solution might be the best one for you. You can add links from either your LinkedIn home page or the Activity bar on your profile. You then have the option of sharing the update on LinkedIn and Twitter. Home page image: Profile Activity bar image: Any blog article links you add will appear on your profile in your Activity section (the top section of the profile). Your updates will also appear in LinkedIn Signal, which is a running account of all LinkedIn updates that can be found under the News menu. Here’s a sample: 4. Post your blog under your Publications section. Add the Publications section to your profile if you dont have it already. Then post a live URL that links directly to your blog for anyone who wants to take a look! Do you have more ideas of how to replace the WordPress application or the group RSS feeds? Please share below! If you want more tips on the effective use of LinkedIn, you might like How to Write a KILLER LinkedIn Profile, the #1 best-selling e-book by Brenda Bernstein! Category:Archived ArticlesBy Brenda BernsteinFebruary 25, 2013

Drama Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Drama - Essay Example The film also reflects how Mozart constantly challenged traditional musical conventions. He did this in his choice of subject matter, which often introduced ideas that seemed lewd and vulgar to the upper elite, but that is not such a shock to today’s audience. The film brings this shock-factor out by focusing on Mozart’s sometimes bizarre behavior and outlandish outfits. For example, he is very dramatic in his staging of Figaro. He emphasizes the emotional qualities of the story, but is told music does not entertain. Accepted wisdom held that the purpose of music is to make the listener think and to bring his thinking closer to God. Yet, this is exactly what Mozart’s music does for Salieri, â€Å"God was singing to all the world of perfect absolution.† Throughout the film, lighting and costuming show Mozart to be seeking ways of being different. However, it is the music that drives the audience. This is emphasized by Salieri’s reverent descriptions, â€Å"replace one note and it would be diminished, displace one phrase and the structure would fall. Here again was the very voice of God.† Even the darkest music presented in the film, the final scene of Don Giovanni, is presented as a heavenly voice and drives

MGM604-0802B-01 Organizational Behavior - Phase 1 Discussion Board Essay

MGM604-0802B-01 Organizational Behavior - Phase 1 Discussion Board - Essay Example servation of Kreitz 2008, p.101, â€Å"just as mono-cropping destroys biological diversity, and, in extreme cases, human as well as natural ecosystems, mono-managing similarly destroys diversity within organizations.† The modern business world has proceeded well beyond the legally protected aspects of diversity such as race, gender and age, to embrace a much broader spectrum of diversity that virtually takes into consideration almost every aspect of human differences (Jayne & Diboye, 2004). Such a broad perspective of diversity requires that diversity be seen as having domestic dimensions and international dimensions. According to Loden and Rosener, 1991, the primary dimensions to domestic diversity are, race, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, physical abilities and characteristics. These differences may be taken as resident differences that is present in the work force of any country, within which operate the secondary dimensions of diversity in the form of work experience, education background, geographic location, military experience, income, marital status, parental status and religious beliefs. Thus while dealing with a training program that addresses diversity to a workforce audience from a nat ional perspective it may be sufficient to consider just the primary dimensions and secondary dimensions of domestic diversity. In a country like the United States of America, where there is a coming together of different cultures and in addressing an international work force, it becomes necessary to understand the international dimensions to diversity that is brought about by the culture or cultures that need to be addressed. Much of our understanding of the international dimensions of diversity is owed to Hofstede and his research project that has enabled us to focus on different cultures and not on the individuals that represent these cultures. The Hofstede understanding of international diversity gives us five dimensions or factors to it, which are power distance,

Euthanasia Essay Example for Free

Euthanasia Essay Euthanasia is challenging moral, ethic, and religious values. There are some groups of people who favor the right to die; even the state of Oregon has statutes such as the right-to-die or death-with-dignity. The purpose of these groups is to achieve nationwide recognition of the right to die with dignity. Other groups, such as the Hemlock Society, believe that in justified cases (terminally ill) there is an obligation to help, if asked, a dying person to end his of her life. At the present this is against the law nd the Hemlock Society wants to see this rule modified so that a doctor may help without fear of prosecution (Berger and Berger 162). On the other hand, religious groups are horrified by this idea. For example, the Catholic tradition sees death as a negativity and not as something one has a right to. In this tradition, spiritual death in which human being rejects the offer of Gods self-disclosure and cuts himself or herself off from the source of supernatural life, is worse than physical death. Thus, to directly take the life of a person is not only wrong because of the harm done to the other party, but, for Catholics, it is also rong because it is an act of appropriating to oneself an activity reserved to God alone (Berger and Berger 14). There is no need for euthanasia. God gave life and only God should resolve when life ends. In the article Active and Passive Euthanasia, Rachels describes the situation of a patient who is dying of incurable cancer of the throat. He was certain to die within a few days, but he did not wanted to go on living for those days, since the pain was unbearable. So, he asked the doctor to put an end to it (Rachels 485). Life is sacred, and this illustration provides a clear denial for the physical pain and not for the ife itself. Therefore, if there were methods to alleviate the pain caused by any disease, fewer patients would opt for euthanasia. Indeed, no one (doctor, patient, family) would have to attribute to him of herself a decision reserved only for God. Life is a gift from God, and euthanasia represents a crime against God. Another objection to euthanasia is the fact that physicians may not be completely assured that a patient is dying. There are practitioners who contend that no one really knows when death is inevitable(Frank J. Ayd, Jr. qtd in Larue 9). Sidney Hook is n example of this fact. He was a stricken patient who suffered from congestive heart failure. While in the hospital, Hook experienced violent and painful hiccups for several days. His left side and one of his vocal cords became paralyzed. The physician who was assisting Hook did not know if Hooks case was incurable. For this reason, at Hooks request he refused to discontinue all life supporting services. Miraculously enough, a month later Sidney Hook was discharged form the hospital (Hook 483). He survived what many people believe to be an irreversible coma. Euthanasia is unnecessary. In addition, doctors are, as well as patients, human beings with feelings and emotions. The purpose of their professional career is to assist and cure the ill. They have been prepared to save not to kill. Adopting euthanasia as part of their medical practice would contradict with the purpose of their existence, as doctors. Medical practitioners are not prepared to deal with some of the psychosocial dimensions of dying and death. Their training has prepared them as rescuers form illness and pain, and physicians may see themselves as archrivals of death (Larue 11). Legalizing euthanasia could lead to involuntary euthanasia. And, because this practice can be performed without the patients knowledge, newborn infants with defects, comatose people, and senile aged, to mention some, could eventually be killed as the terminally ill. As Marcia Angell explain in her essay, The Supreme Court and Physician- Assisted Suicide-The Ultimate Right, although it is possible that we may someday decide to legalize voluntary euthanasia under certain circumstances or assisted suicide for patients who are terminally ill, legalizing assisted suicide for the dying does not in itself make these other decisions nevitable (Angell 504). Thus, euthanasia should not be legalized in this country. More over, depressed patients would have the option to request euthanasia. And, they will since depression is a state of mind that renders people unable to think rationally. As Marcia Angell states, depressed patients would seek physician-assisted suicide rather than help for their depression (The Supreme Court and Physician-Assisted Suicide-The Ultimate Right 505). Depression is a treatable problem and does not count as an irreversible suffering. People in such conditions usually feel nwanted. They do not see a reason why they should continue on with their lives. However, these people are in great need of love. They do not need euthanasia as an option. Contemporary advances in medical technology have made possible the prolongation of life. Indeed, it has contributed to the inability for Americans to accept death. Americans have developed a paradoxical relationship with death-we know more about the causes and conditions surrounding death, but we have not equipped ourselves emotionally to cope with dying and death (Dickinson and Leming13). Nevertheless, illness and disability at advanced age have created the possibility for the act of painlessly ending the life of a person. Groups of people who support euthanasia believe that it is the quality of life that should influence the decision and that death may be preferable to a severely impaired life (Rottenberg 481). However, life is sacred, and no matter how severely disable the patient may be, no human being can arrogate to him- or herself a decision reserved for God (Rottenberg 481). Doctors are not totally convinced of when a patient is dying. They may misdiagnose the ailment such as Sidney Hook who survived from a presumed to be irreversible coma. Depressed patients would have the option to request physician-assisted suicide instead of help for their depression. Even in the terminally ill, a request for assisted suicide might signify treatable depression, not irreversible suffering (Angell 505). More over, euthanasia would create a moral slippery slope. It is impossible to avoid slippery slopes in medicine (or in any aspect of life) (Angell 504). For these reasons euthanasia should not be legalized in this country.

Internet Censorship Essay - Filters Help Improve Morality :: Argumentative Persuasive Essays

Internet Filters Help Improve Morality Hello there. My name is Apple Internet Macintosh, known to most people as "iMac". I was born a very long time ago as an Apple Computer; computer nerds keep updating my brain and I seem new and young every new year. I know it is hard to understand, but actually it is really helpful to my users. Most of my users mainly use one of my programs, which is the Internet. Sometimes my users don't use this in a good way and look at nasty and sick sites. I don't like looking at these sites and change is needed. The Internet first came to me and many of my other computer friends from the ARPANET project, a defense related project to help the army become more educated in technology. It came together between UCLA and Stanford in 1969, when UCLA students tried to log "onto the Stanford computer and try to send it some data". Problems occurred, and some major events took place; then, in 1976, networking was available to many, and the Internet was off and running (Gromov). Today you can even shop from home and have products delivered right to your doorstep using the Internet. The Internet is a great way to find anything that you need and even find a loved one you haven't heard from and want to get in contact with again. To do this, there are many search engines on the world wide web that help you find what you are looking for. Some people abuse this help to find porn sites, bomb-making sites, and other dangerous sites. There are many people that use the web every day learning new ways to be sick minded such as making bombs to blow up buildings, killing people, and looking at naked bodies of children. Not only are these sites available, but there are sites out there that teach young people how to damage their bodies by starving themselves or how to hurt others by making weapons. I am not alone in my decision to stop this nonsense. People use my program in many ways, but there is also a different side of this picture. Take the events of September 11, 2001, for example. There are many web sites out there that support Osama bin Laden and his actions. A boy from Florida, for example, flew a small plane into a multi-story bank building trying to recreate the events of September 11, 2001.

Invisible Man Essay

In Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man, the character of Trueblood is unique and well developed. Trueblood is a man who impregnates his wife, and at the same period of time commits incest and impregnates his daughter. This character’s reasoning for having sexual relations with his daughter is that he was dreaming when this happened; a feat that while fantastical, could also be plausible due to Trueblood’s nature. Trueblood, while a moral character aside from his transgression, is also oblivious. A good example of this happens on page 48 when Dr.  Norton asks â€Å"You feel no inner turmoil, no need to cast out the offending eye? † to which Trueblood replies â€Å"I’m all right, suh. My eyes is all right too†. Regardless of his ignorance, Trueblood shows remorse for his actions, and believes that a â€Å"man don’t leave his family†, which attests to the morality of the character. Much like the Invisible man, Trueblood found his own morality which did not exactly follow society’s guidelines. When explaining his situation, Trueblood brings up the issue regarding awareness of reality, since according to him he has sex with his daughter during a dream state. As he describes it on page 59, the dream seems to be a metaphor for what actually happened: â€Å"I runs and runs till I should be tired but ain’t tired but feelin’ more rested as I runs†¦ Only I’m still in the tunnel. Then way up ahead I sees a bright light like a jack-o-lantern over a graveyard. It gits brighter and brighter†¦ it burst like a great big electric light in my eyes†. Trueblood comforts himself by saying â€Å"You ain’t guilty†; he does not admit his guilt since he does not see fault in what he did since he was not in control of himself. This is his perception of reality. Again, this unawareness of reality is parallel to the Invisible Man’s life, who cannot see anything as real until understanding he is invisible. The way Trueblood has been treated by the white community, however, seems to be one of the major issues. Before impregnating his own daughter, he claims his life to have been hard: â€Å"Every time I think†¦ what a hard time we was having I gits the shakes† and â€Å"it was cold and us didn’t have much fire†¦ I tried to git help but wouldn’t nobody help us†. After his sinful act, surprisingly enough, it was the white community which came to his aid. Not only are the police ssisting by giving Trueblood protection from the black community, but also assisting by giving him money. To this, Trueblood says â€Å"I done the worse thing a man could even do in his family and instead of chasin’ me out of the country, they gimme more help than they ever give any other colored man† (67). Again, morality is the theme here – the white community is treating Trueblood in a way as if rewarding him, even though his act was actually reprehensible. While this could be seen as the white community’s moral obligation to assist someone who was ostracized from their own community, it could also be seen as moral hypocrisy.