In the Face of Death: Cannibalism at Sea
Scenario 1: The Mignonette Case
In May 1884, the British yacht Mignonette set sail for Sydney, Australia
with four crew on board. On July 5, disaster struck, the yacht was lost, and the
crew were forced to take to a small lifeboat. For eighteen days, they drifted around
the ocean more than 1000 miles from land. By this point, things were desperate:
they had been without food for seven days and water for five. All crew members were
in a bad way, but worst off was 17 year old cabin boy, Richard Parker. He was barely
conscious, if indeed he was conscious at all.
At this point, the captain of the ship, Tom Dudley, suggested they ought to draw
lots to select one of them to be killed, thereby giving the others a chance of survival.
The thought was they could use the body of the dead person as a source of food and
liquid. This idea was in the first instance rejected by one of the crew members,
Edmund Brooks, but Dudley didn't let the issue drop, and later the same day
discussed the matter with Edwin Stephens, the fourth member of the crew. He pointed
out that it was overwhelmingly likely that Richard Parker, the cabin boy, was going
to die whatever happened, but if they killed him - which was the best way of ensuring
his blood would be in a fit state to drink - there was a chance that he and Stephens
would see their wives and families again.
The following day, with no prospect of rescue, Dudley, with the assent of Stephens,
killed the boy. The three remaining crew members then fed on his body, enabling
them to survive long enough to be rescued on July 29th. Dudley later described the
scene as follows: "I can assure you I shall never forget the sight of my two
unfortunate companions over that ghastly meal we all was like mad wolfs who should
get the most and for men fathers of children to commit such a deed we could not
have our right reason."
The facts in this case are well-established. Richard Parker was killed by Tom Dudley,
with the consent of Edwin Stephens, because they genuinely believed there was no
immediate prospect of rescue, that Parker would likely die regardless of what happened,
and that all of them would die if he was not sacrificed.
The question is were they morally justified in killing him?
Please make a choice!
Please indicate how confident you are about the judgement you've made above.
Please make a choice!