In book 1 of The Republic we are introduced to Cephalus, a much venerated man crowned with a wreath for his services to the gods . This man is the epitome of piousness, a god fearing man that follows the laws of the Olympian pantheon down to the letter. Throughout his dialogue with Plato the groundwork is laid on how to understand justice. This is clarified with examples in the film Crimes and Misdemeanours.
The first concept that we clearly see stated in The Republic about justice is the old saying “might makes right”, that the will of the stronger is what is dignified to be just by force. It is severely demonstrated in the opening of the book when Polemarchus boldly states “either prove stronger than these men or stay here” and further by Cephalus when he explains the fate of those unjust who don’t follow the laws of the “all mighty” Olympian pantheon . We see this in the movie in various instances, first in the fact that Dolores having the upper hand on Judah decides to enact her own self righteous justice by extorting Judah with the information that she has about him and his finances, and also in the eventual tragedy of Cliff that sees his dream succumb to the fact of Lester through might and perseverance manages to acquire the affection of Halley.
We also notice that justice isn’t always the law either. It is exemplified in The Republic by Plato’s example of the mad man and the weapon , proving that law is not the only way to be just unlike the pious Cephalus believed. This clearly stated in the movie when Judah aptly says: “what good is law if it can’t bring me justice.” Meaning that not always what is lawful is what we need because it may not be what we think is owed to us, what is fitting for us.
The outcome of this discussion shows us th ...