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Tony Soprano's Dilemmas
by Gordon Francis Corbett
Anthony Soprano is the lead character in HBO's dramatic gangster series,
"The Sopranos." He commits crimes every day, breaking Federal regulations about
financial dealings, for instance, but also committing truly immoral acts, such
as beatings and murders.
Some people might think that Anthony, also known as "Tony," "Tone," or even
"T," is truly free. He obeys few laws, drives a good automobile, lives in a
lavishly furnished house, and has a family.
His family comprises a wife, Carmela, a son, Anthony, also known as "A. J.,"
and a daughter, Meadow. They attend expensive private schools. In a later
episode, Meadow enrolls in Columbia University, whose fees are steep.
Tone's crime family comprises several men. One manages his sleazy
nightclub, the "Bada Bing!". A few liaise with the politicians who shield him.
Others run his garbage business and do his pimping and his loan-sharking.
Sometimes, for different reasons, he has murdered some of them. One, threatened
with Federal prosecution, had begun to spy.
Soprano has an eye for pretty women, as do many men; but, unlike most of
them, he acts on his libidinous impulses. Consequently, during the series'
episodes, he has gone through a string of women.
Nevertheless, something strips T's seeming freedom of its glamour: the
natural law. The natural law forms part of the philosophic study called
"ethics." Ethics studies right and wrong, and the natural law studies how men
should, and should not, treat one another.
The natural law extends beyond ethics to psychology. Among other things,
proper psychology sets forth the psychological consequences of right and wrong
acts. It is this correlation of the natural law and psychology that produces
Anthony Soprano's dilemmas.
A dilemma is a situation requiring a choice between equally
unpleasant alternatives. Tony has at least two.
On the one hand, Anthony enjoys his wealth and his power, and he hates the
thought of relinquishing the freedom they seem to bring him.
On the other, his supposed freedom incurs heavy penalties. Tone's
philandering undermines his marriage. His Mafia criminality cripples his
attempts to teach his children discipline, induces occasional attempted coups
from competing Mafiosi, and attracts Federal investigators.
Those penalties impel Soprano toward renouncing his power, but such a
decision would require seeking Federal protection, which might, in turn, expose
him to Mafia retribution.
Consequently, Tony suffers from anxiety, depression, and panic attacks that
necessitate taking drugs prescribed by his psychiatrist.
Anthony Soprano is not free. He is a prisoner of the natural law, and his
jailer is a man called, "T."
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