Luck by mark twain Consider the lessons learned in this text. What is fair? Is pure luck or chance fair? Why would we consider it unfair? Consider that while Scoresby does get by on lucky mistakes, his mistakes still bring him success. Cite evidence from this text, your own experience, and other literature, art, or history in your answer.

Nothing is fair. Pure luck or chance are not fair. This is because luck or chance are completely random in nature, and not at all favorable to those that deserve it.

Explanation:

In the short story Luck, Scoresby rose to prominence through a series of purely lucky accidents throughout his life. By contrast, others who were actually intelligent and worked very hard all their lives were not as successful as he was. Therefor luck is not fair, as it does not follow those who are most deserving of it, it ha been defined as a success or failure by random chance instead of effort.

While Scoresby does get by on lucky mistakes, his mistakes still bring him success. For example, during the Crimean war a lucky blunder he made instantly put him on the pedestal of a hero. He mixed up orders he received, "An order had come to him to fall back and support our right; and instead, he fell forward and went over the hill to the left. But the name he won that day as a marvellous military genius filled the world with his glory, and that glory will never fade while history books last." That particular blunder of his might have easily had disastrous results, instead, it became a surprising victory and made him a hero.

In a research about the unfairness of luck, scientists noted that, "Since rewards and resources are usually given to those that have already reached a high level of success, mistakenly considered as a measure of competence/talent, this result is even a more harmful disincentive, causing a lack of opportunities for the most talented ones."

As once noted by president John Kennedy, "Life is unfair."