As Fred Astaire continues to describe his life in Vaudeville and on Broadway he doesn’t seem to have faced many ethical decisions. He still seems young on his path to fame even though he has accomplished a lot. Fred grew up in Omaha and early on in his life his mother takes him and his sister Adele to live in New York. They were going to become stars. This was not decision made by Fred, but his parents had to decide whether or not to separate the family and give the children a better shot, or stay together is little Omaha. “My father was to stay in Omaha and send money to keep us going…As I learned years later, this trip was really a stab in the dark. We were going to New York without so much as a letter of introduction…” (14). The Astaires had to make the choice of doing the more sensible thing and staying together, safely in Omaha, or going on a wire and hope for good results. Mr. and Mrs. Astaire decided to go against what most people would have advised them to do and they moved the children to New York in hope to give the children more opportunity.
Also early on his Fred’s life he describes the first time he danced. He made a decision, whether he realized it or did it thoughtlessly, that would affect the rest of his life. “…I put on a pair of ballet slippers…I had seen other children walk on their toes, so I put on the slippers and walked on my toes. It was as simple as that” (10). Fred doesn’t get too excited over the experience and it doesn’t seem to be a big deal but at the same time it kind of defines his future. Instead of doing what other boys his age did or aspiring to be the same thing as them he went to New York and pursued his life in theater. I think that, even at a young age, Fred went against society and began going after what he believed in.
Later on in his story, once him and Adele and become somewhat big, they begin to get offers from different people to work with them. Decisions have to be made. They sign with a man they call C.B. and their show runs surprisingly short. Then they get another very good offer with Alfred E. Aarons but they are committed to C.B. for the next show. “We called on C.B. when we got back to town and asked him if we could do a show somewhere else and postpone our obligation…”(88). They decided to go against an obligation which would cause some people to call them a type of “traitor” and work with another company because it would be good for them. Eventually they would come back to C.B. after the new engagement was done so following conscience worked out.
Astaire, Fred. Steps In Time. New York: HarperCollins, 1959.
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4 comments:
Sometimes its right to go against what society thinks, because society isn't always right. I agree with the parents sending their children away. I'm not sure I agree with them changing their offer though. When you sign a contract you should honor it.
Good thoughts, but I don't really see how by dancing at a young age that the character is going against society. Good pick up on the fact that they were being greedy and signed with other people instead of honoring their commitment with the first person they signed with, I believe that they would then be considered traitors.
I think it is interesting how some parents want their children to have a better life, even if it means their family will be separated, and others want their family together no matter what. I'm thinking of the book Angela's Ashes, even thought I'm not reading it I gather from the posts about it that the parents took their children to a worse life in Ireland than letting them remain in America.
Woah, my initials are C.B. weird... I think that this book would have been hard to pick out ethical choices. I do find it interesting that they split up the family to have the kids move to New York. It's defidentaly not conventional but in the end it helped him be successful. I think that it really shows loving parents when they let their kids do what they love to do.
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