¶ … gathered some notes while going through the play and I used them in order to emphasize the difference between the two brothers. I found myself developing a paradox while trying to describe Peter and Thomas' difference -- on the one hand I saw the moral type of thinking that the latter put across and on the other I could observe that Peter was focused on the well-being of the town as a whole rather than on the well-being of people visiting the baths.
Although my morality tells me to side with Thomas, it is difficult not to side with Peter when it comes to a general form of good. Thomas' actions are not sustainable and are actually likely to damage the balance in town. Peter is able to see the bigger picture and likely thinks that by keeping the baths' contamination a secret he is going to both fix the problem and prevent people from learning about it.
When considering the overall condition of the town, it is probable that Thomas considered the long-term effects that the situation would have on people visiting the baths. In contrast, Peter considers the short-term effects of this concept and believes that by keeping the issue a secret he is more likely to avoid scandals.
Henrik Ibsen's 1882 play "An Enemy of the People" provides audiences...
The play's central character, Doctor Thomas Stockman, comes across a real dillemma when he discovers that the town's baths are contaminated. He is presented with the ability to choose whether or not he should expose the baths in the local newspapers and proceeds to express his thinking openly by criticizing the situation as a whole. The doctor's brother, Peter, is the local mayor and thus a person who is especially interested in how people see the baths, given that they play an important role in the town's economy.
One of the most intriguing aspects regarding the two brothers involves each character's job. Thomas performs a job that people typically associate with the well-being of others and with the struggle to make sure people that he interacts with are healthy. He perfectly describes this when he's relating to the degree to which people can be affected by the opinion of the majority: "The most dangerous enemy of truth and freedom in our society is the compact majority. Yes, the damned, compact, liberal majority." (Dr. Thomas Stockman, Act 4) Peter, on the other hand, performs a job that is often seen like a place where people are more vulnerable to becoming corrupted or to becoming concerned about…
