"Ethics" Explication

 In "Ethics", Linda Pastan considers the moral dilemma of whether to save an inanimate but world-renowned painting or an unknown human life. At first, many readers would think that a life is obviously more important than a painting, but she makes them question their ethics by going through the thoughts of a girl maturing into an old woman. As a young child, she does not have an answer because she does not care much about either the painting or the woman. She does not understand their importance and devalues them by calling the painting a picture and saying the woman is close to death anyways. She has probably not even learned about Rembrandt yet. The children are "restless" and answer the teacher "half-heartedly" because they cannot imagine themselves in this situation. Sometimes the woman is her grandmother in the half-imagined museum, so she tries to put the problem into perspective, but she does not use her full effort. When Linda says they should let the woman decide for herself, she alludes to when she is an old woman, but she remains undecided about the question of ethics.

In the end, as an old woman, she still does not know whether she would save the painting or the life, but for different and more complex reasons. She has learned to care about both the artwork and life. She recognizes the value of the painting, which seems as alive and old as the woman. She describes the colors as darker than winter because it is associated with cold and death, unlike the spring. However, she says that earth's "radiant elements burn through the canvas", so despite its age, it continues to be warm and living. Since the painting is as alive as the earth, its importance seems equal to the life of the woman. Even after maturing, the question continues to be left unanswered, but she knows that it is definitely beyond the comprehension of a child.