Moral Universe of Obligation

Motif Analysis

In the novel Train, Daniel Cohen examines how a character's "universe of obligation" drastically affects why certain characters make certain decisions and how characters decide to make decisions.

A "universe of obligation" represents what's important and unimportant to somebody. Often people are willing to risk more and do more for things in the center of their universe of obligation. A universe of obligation is often the reason people do the things that they do. Without a universe of obligation, there's nothing worth living for. Things that are closer to the center of somebody's universe of obligation means that this thing is very important to them. A common center of a Universe of Obligation is family. The farther you get from the center the less that person “cares” for those things. Something common to be seen towards the outside of a center of a universe of obligation are strangers.

A universe of obligation can be seen impacting each character in Train, as well as their decision making. For example, Tsura's Universe of Obligation causes her to act more aggressively on things like family but this also results in Tsura caring “very little” for things she cares less about. This can be seen when Tsura regrets saving a little boy when she finds out it's a boy of a Nazi. This is because she has very little care for Nazi families. A time where you can see how much she cares about her family, which is in the center of her Universe of Obligation, was when Tsura does anything she can possibly do to save her family in Marzan.

To learn more about this concept, visit Facing History's website: https://www.facinghistory.org/holocaust-and-human-behavior/chapter-2/universe-obligation.