Margin Call - Actions of the Main Characters in the Film

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Their Options

All the main characters had a choice of doing the right thing. For instance, given that the topic management comprising of Demi and Tuld knew about the risk the company was facing early in advance, they had the right to explain the matter to the employees as well as the stakeholders. If the risk was known first, the company could have found the best strategy to mitigate the risk. Tuld had the option of firing Demi and Dale, who were not doing anything in the enterprise and were receiving enormous salaries. Instead, he opted to fire the low-level employees who were working very hard to save the company for the brim of failure (Bradshaw 8).

How did their "world view" influence their decision-making?

The characters’ world view influenced the characters decision making negatively in which led them to make wrong decision about the company. They never made any decision that was for the public good, but all of them were for their sake being influenced by capitalism, dishonesty and greed. However, others like Zachary, their decision making was doing the right thing for the company since he was just a junior employee. Spacey, on the other hand, was doing the best he can to ensure that the company was doing right and that all the stakeholders were satisfied (Tunzelmann 5).

Do you agree with their choices or not, and why?

Not all characters choices I do agree with, for instance, Demi knew about the risk the company faces ad she does not expose the matter to the board to discuss the matter. She had the responsibility of pointing out the issue to the board in which the right measures could have been taken to save the company. The more she kept quiet, the more the risk grew. On the other hand, Tuld did not have to fire the majority of the junior employees. The people who deserved to be fired were Demi and Dale, who were doing nothing yet they received payments. These two were draining the company plenty of cash which could have been used to pay almost ten of the junior employees.

Contrary I do agree with the choice Zachary had. He chooses to investigate the company by completing the project Dale had started in which he was able to discover the risk the company was facing. He then reported the matter to his boss Emerson, who in turned told Spacey about the matter. Informing the matter is the right choice since if investigations about the company were to be done, he would be found innocent as he did not obstruct any information.

Analysis Of Their Predicament And Discussion Of The Merits Of Their Actions

All the characters were faced with several difficulties in which they had to do whatever it takes to save their wealth first. To do so, they had to protect their property, they had to ensure that they were with a group of people of similar interest. Given that majority of the employees did not have a clue of the aims of the top management, they had to be fired. Cementing the group of similar interest gave the characters the merits of finding ways of saving the company. The characters knew that, should the company collapse, then undoubtedly, their efforts and wealth will go to waste. For the case of Tuld, he knew that letting Spacey, Demi, and Dale chances were very high that his illegal operations in the company would be exposed. Maintaining all of them had the merit of combining all the efforts in rebuilding the company and ensuring that their wealth was safe. Dale, on the other hand, knew that the termination of his job was the end of his life in which he had to give Zachary the USB drive containing his project knowing that it will help him to get his job back.

In conclusion, the movie shows how power and wealth can make people go sleepless night in ensuring that they have protected their property. All the characters have the ambition of either getting a promotion or ensuring that they remain in the payroll. Greed is portrayed when the top management likes of Demi retain their jobs while the low employees are sacked. Zachary on the other hand works over night for the project in which it earns him the promotion. No matter how corrupt an institution is, there will always be at least one person who is ready to shine in more light on the right path to follow as it is shown by the character played by Spacey.

Works Cited

Bernstein, Jake. Margin Call: A Small Movie Unveils Big Truths About Wall Street. 23 November 2011. Web. 25 February 2016. .

Bradshaw, Peter. Margin Call – review. 12 January 2012. Web. 25 February 2016. .

Ebert, Roger. Margin Call. 19 October 2011. Web. 24 February 2016. .

Reviews & Ratings for Margin Call. 23 October 2011. Web. 25 February 2016. .

Tunzelmann, Alex von. Margin Call: all the spills of high-level corporate finance, but few thrills. 19 January 2012. Web. 25 February 2016. .