Lifeboats

Parfit’s recasting of Kantian principles is evident in his approach to the concepts of consent and dignity. Wright delineates a similar understanding of these concepts, with Mann, his protagonist in “Down by the Riverside,” representing the humaneness of humankind. Examining this short story in depth, the present chapter recognizes the reciprocity between the majoritarian concept of trolley problems and the minoritarian concept of double consciousness. An investigation of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Notes from Underground as well as Dostoevsky’s influence on Wright introduces the trolley problem at once to literary studies and to the study of Wright’s corpus. Thereafter, aligning Mann’s lifeboat dilemmas when trying to save his family from the flood in “Down by the Riverside” with Parfit’s Lifeboat is not only apt but also revealing.