How would you respond to the riddle?

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Woodrat

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So for my Writing class we had to write an essay in regards to a book, a long way gone written by Ishmael Beah.

In a nutshell the book was about the early life of the author in Sierra Leone. How he had to flee his village at the age of twelve, watch rebels slaughter families and the world around him descend into violence. More regarding this book can be found here since I'd butcher trying to explain it.

However, what we had to work on was the riddle presented at the end of the book by a tribal elder to the author when he was about seven. It goes as follows...

"There was a hunter who went into the bush to kill a monkey. He had looked for only a few minutes when he saw a monkey sitting comfortably in the branch of a low tree. The monkey didn't pay him any attention, not even when his footsteps on the dried leaves rose and fell as he neared. When he was close enough behind a tree where he could clearly see the monkey, he raised his rifle and aimed. Just when he was about to pull the trigger, the monkey spoke: 'If you shoot me, your mother will die, and if you don't your father will die.' The monkey resumed its position, chewing its food, and every so often scratched its head or the side of its belly.

"What would you do if you were the hunter?"

Now remember this is assuming that you've already raised your gun and have to make a decision, so cha' cannot say that cha' wouldn't have gone hunting in the first place.

I'm kinda curious of how cha' members of Iwaku would respond to this. In all serious truth, what would you do in this dilemma? What decision would you come to, why?
 
I would shoot the monkey in the leg and when is falls from the tree ask it where it gets its information. If is does not give me a strait answer and (asuming i don't check myself into a mental ward for A) hearing it speak and B) talking back) that simian would die according to the original plan.
 
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And you would loose your mother, okay check.
 
I would try to get more clues as to how the two events are connected.
 
...Yeah I'd shoot the monkey. I'm not on the best of terms with my mother and I might not have given it a second thought on whether or not I believed the warning. .__.;
 
I would not believe the monkey.... hens it dieing or i'd ask it how i could get it for both to die.
 
Hmmm well I suppose I would shoot the monkey so the little prick couldn't do that to anyone else.

That and he doesn't specify like biological mother, (though I could just be reading to dar into it) I mean my grandmothers are both dead so I wouldn't have to worry about that.

Or I would respond "My mother is your mother, as is Mother Nature, can you kill your mother?"
 
If I don't shoot him, my father dies and the monkey is free to go about continuing his bullshit.

If I DO shoot him, my mom dies, BUT that little motherfucker ain't goin' NOWHERE. I'm going to EAT HIS FUCKING ASS.

So, I shoot the little bastard and make peace with my mom post mortem.
 
I lower the gun and ask "will I be able to make it in time to watch him go?"
 
I would shoot the monkey because I'm obviously really fucking high.

Then I'd probably fuck the monkey too.

The dead monkey.
 
Each statement, if taken by itself, is true. The fallacy is assuming that they are, in fact, contingent statements - everyone dies. Shooting or not shooting the monkey will not cause one or the other to happen. Rather, BOTH will eventually happen regardless of your selection.


The monkey, however, is obviously a manipulative little fucker and must die. Shoot the monkey.
 
I agree with Ricarten. Both your mother and father are going to die eventually. My decision would probably be based on whether or not one of them already was dead. If neither were, I would shoot the monkey in the principle of putting me in such a moral dilemma. If I have to choose one of my parents to die, I'm certainly not letting the little booger get away with it.
 
Kitti would go bag a quail and not shoot the monkey :3
 
I would strangle that little shit. I went into the woods to KILL a monkey. I've found said monkey and raised my rifle. He then proceeds to tell me that if I shoot mum dies. If I don't, pops does. Now, I'm not particularly close to either one, but I'd just strangle the fucker. This way, I've achieved my objective of killing a monkey. I'd also spare any supernatural monkey voodoo.
 
Well this one for me is really a bother. I'm one of those people who have an equal ground with both parents. My Dad is cool, tech savvy, has the money, pays for the house I live in, and can be funny and awesome. At time he is a bit of an asshole but he's cool.

MY Mom is a bit less strict and less decisive when it comes to decisions. So I can usually make her conform to my side of the arguement so long as she is the only one arguing with me. Cool to talk to, likes my friends, and is generally nice.

So yeah that monkey better watch his ass because I'll be looking for a supernatural loop hole to bind his ass in.
 
"Not shooting" the monkey assumes that the father would die, yes?

...Still, I'd be more curious about the talking monkey. After walking into an "obviously unnatural" setting such as what's been set up, I'd likely be confused at first... then curious...

I probably wouldn't end up shooting the monkey - I'd be far too curious to do otherwise, and the possibility of learning it's story (and possibly access a new mode of power) would be far more interesting to me than responsibility or the fate of my mother and father.

Yeah, I'm a cold jerk like that.
 
ViralFiend said:
I would strangle that little shit. I went into the woods to KILL a monkey. I've found said monkey and raised my rifle. He then proceeds to tell me that if I shoot mum dies. If I don't, pops does. Now, I'm not particularly close to either one, but I'd just strangle the fucker. This way, I've achieved my objective of killing a monkey. I'd also spare any supernatural monkey voodoo.
Click to expand...

Oddly enough you didn't... your father would still die, as you did not shoot the monkey, but still killed it nevertheless.

The problem of the riddle is that it is, like stated by some others... pretty much a no win situation... either way... someone has to die. Everyone eventually does have to die, but whether or not they die at that point becomes the problem of the hunter. Which parent do you actually cause the demise of?

Of course for some this is no problem as they are not particularly close to one parent or another for some reason. Then of course you do have the people that have a parent already deceased, thus making the choice much simpler.

But like Piro said, there are those close to both parents and wouldn't want to see either one go.

Tuxedo Mask came up with the solution that the author eventually came up with, which was to kill the monkey in order to prevent him from putting anyone else in that situation.

There is no real correct solution to this riddle. But the riddle is the truth about life ... eventually everyone is put in a no win situation. Whether or not that situation puts you in a place to throw your morals or ethics in a loop is a different matter.
 
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Woodykun, that's incredibly deep. If you really think about it, you could take either shot and let one parent die, OR you could look around for another way to go about it. Monkey or no monkey, life's choices are just like this. There's the obvious fork in the road, but there's always that hidden path less traveled by. :P

PS: I'd want to shoot the monkey, though. My mom is a pain. x3 But then I'd think of her actually dying, and then I would look for another way...
 
I have no father. Well, I do. I didn't just pop up out of nowhere. But my biological one isn't part of my life, and the one my mom married was a dick, so they both deserve to die. Whichever one this little trick kills, I still keep the only parent who was actually there for me. Leave the monkey.
 
I love how everyone ignores my input. I still say that your decision won't actually CAUSE either parent to die, no matter what you choose.

If you shoot the monkey, your mother will die. True, on the face of it. However, shooting the monkey will not cause your mother's death; she is not immortal in the event that you do not shoot the monkey.

The same argument applies to your father and not shooting the monkey.
 
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