| | The Alligator River Story
There lived a woman named Abigail who was in love with a man named Gregory. Gregory lived on the shore of a river. Abigail lived on the opposite shore of the same river. The river that separated the two lovers was teeming with dangerous alligators. Abigail wanted to cross the river to be with Gregory. Unfortunately, the bridge had been washed out by a heavy flood the previous week. So she went to ask Sinbad, a riverboat captain, to take her across. He said he would be glad to if she would consent to go to bed with him prior to the voyage. She promptly refused and went to a friend named Ivan to explain her plight. Ivan did not want to get involved at all in the situation. Abigail felt her only alternative was to accept Sinbad's terms. Sinbad fulfilled his promise to Abigail and delivered her into the arms of Gregory.
When Abigail told Gregory about her amorous escapade in order to cross the river, Gregory cast her aside with disdain. Heartsick and rejected, Abigail turned to Slug with her tale of woe. Slug, feeling compassion for Abigail, sought out Gregory and beat him brutally. Abigail was overjoyed at the sight of Gregory getting his due. As the sun set on the horizon, people heard Abigail laughing at Gregory.
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THE EXERCISE: After reading the story, rank the five (5) characters in the story beginning with the one whom you consider as the "most offensive" and end with the one whom you consider the "least objectionable." That is, the character who seems to be the most reprehensible to you should be entered first in the list following the story, then the second most reprehensible, and so on, with the least reprehensible or objectionable being entered fifth. Very briefly note why you rank them in the order that you do.
...
My Gemstone team participated in this exercise in our sophomore year of college. There were ten of us, and after reading the story, we each came up with our own rankings. It was a team building exercise meant to encourage us to share our ideas and values and come up with a common ranking. I don't remember our final ranking as a group was, but I remember who I ranked as the "most offensive."
In my five minutes of thinking about the story, I was convinced that Ivan was the worst because he could have done something to help, but he chose not to. I was so convinced that there might have possibly been a happy ending, if Ivan, Abigail's so-called friend, had tried to help in some way. They could have built a boat! He could've told her to wait til the bridge was rebuilt! He could've volunteered to distract the gators! I don't know. In that moment, I was just convinced that Ivan was terrible for not wanting to help.
The reaction of all my teammates - disbelief. "What?!" They all probably thought I was joking. It was strange, because it seemed such the obvious answer to me. I wasn't trying to be controversial. It just made sense. While I got some people to understand why I chose Ivan ("Yeah, I hate when people don't care and don't want to help"), we didn't end up saying that he was the worst.
It's interesting, because stepping back, I can see that the other characters really did some pretty terrible things. The exercise, more than anything, reveals my own assumptions and values. I could actually argue any ranking of the people, as long as I come up with some good justifications. But my eventual ranking is based on what I choose to believe are the problems/motivations behind everyone's actions.
Ivan - because he had the most potential to change things, but chose not to do anything. Gregory/Abigail - why didn't Gregory try more to assure Abigail that he loved her? and why couldn't you forgive Abigail? why didn't Abigail just wait til the bridge was rebuilt? just a little more patience, woman! and why did you laugh after your man got beat? Slug - he chose violence instead of mediation/reconciliation. (war instead of diplomacy) Sinbad - he could've helped out,...and he would have for a price. maybe the price didn't seem so high to him.
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| | Posted 6/27/2009 3:24 PM - 201 Views - 6 eProps - 5 comments
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