Category: Good and Evil

In the novel The Crucible by Arthur Miller In the world, there are two opposite and powerful forces: good and evil. Some people are just all good and others are all evil. The world continues to function because a balance exists between these two powers unless individuals give in to a strong emotional feeling caused and make a seemingly small error in judgment. In The Crucible the main characters, John Proctor and Abigail, and the main characters, Connie and Arnold Friend, in “Where are you Going, Where Have You Been” develop relationships that cause the balance of good to tip towards evil because characters seek the safety and strong emotion of love in their lives. When Evil is stronger than good it creates an off-balance of the power.

Elizbeth and Abigail both hate each other because John Proctor cheated on Elizbeth with Abigail. Abigail says “She hates me, uncle, she must, for I would not be her slave. It’s a bitter woman, a lying, cold, sniveling woman, and I will not work for such a woman!”(Miller). The feeling of love impacts the decision-making process as a result of John giving into sin to cheat on Elizbeth with Abagail. When John cheated on Abagail John gives into evil letting ‘You’re a hard girl to handle. How come?’ he said. ‘Don’t you know I’m your friend? Didn’t you see me put my sign in the air when you walked by?’ (Oates). Arnold Friend gives Connie a chance to come outside or just talk to him from behind the door. Arnold can’t enter the house unless the Connie touches the phone.

The power that Abigail Williams had on the town, was fatal to the woman of Salem. Abigail played a very important role in the crucible. Her selfishness to defend her self form the consequences of her actions ruin other lives. For example, “I look for John Proctor that took me from my sleep and put knowledge in my heart. I never knew what pretense Salem was, I never knew the lying lessons I was taught by all these Christian women and their covenanted men! And now you bid me tear the light out of my eyes? I will not, I cannot! You loved me, John Proctor, and whatever sin it is, you love me yet!” (Miller) with her affair with John Procter, which was still unknown to the rest of the town until the end of the play. When Jonh tells the townspeople it is too late and they are already have killed them. Abagail had the power to control John and keep him quiet about there affair until John lost Elizbeth.

John Proctor does everything in his power to try to keep his reputation and protect it. Especially in the last act, John was about to confess to the townspeople and later did, suddenly, Danforth told him he was going to have to write his confession on a piece of paper and put it on the door of the church but John would not stand for this. When Danforth asks him why John replies with a sudden outburst, he says ‘Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! I lie and sign my life to lies! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name.” (Miller) John knows how he has messed up over love. From him committing adultery with Abagail he has lost everything important to him. John was imprisoned lost his wife and was killed over a greedy decision to sleep with Abagail. Just like Arnold John doesn’t really tell the whole truth. Arnold says ‘Honey? Listen, here’s how it is. I always tell the truth and I promise you this: I ain’t coming in that house after you.’ (Oates) Arnold only says he won’t come in but doesn’t say what will happen to her after if she touches the phone or if to much time goes by. Just by learning a bit about Arnold he will get what he wants its just a matter of time.

Are humans intrinsically good, intrinsically evil, or neutral? Dr.Jekyll, the main character of Dr.Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. Dr, Jekyll realizes human has two sides: good and evil. He wants to separate his evil side to seeks to be perfectly good people. But Dr. Jekyll failed, Hyde begins to control Dr. Jekyll’s body day by day. Ultimately, Dr.jekyll commits suicide, taking Hyde with him. Everyone has Good and evil in their mind.good and evil are not only distinct from each other but also are intertwined and defined by each other. Only realize the evil and face it bravely can make people perfect.

the savage lies close beneath the surface in all of us, that civilization is just a mask to hide our true faces. When Dr. Jekyll tries to use a drug to separate his evil side, Mr. Hyde, from his good side, he finds this situation untenable: I learned to recognize the thorough and primitive duality of man: I saw that, of the two natures that contended in the field of my consciousness, even if I could rightly be said to be either, it was only because I was radically both. (Stevenson 41) he realizes that he can only be good and upright because he also has a darker and more evil side to himself. He also realizes that all of the humankind also has this duality and that good can only exist alongside evil because it is defined by its opposite.

The really evil is better than the hypocritical. Henry Jekyll wants to be the good side, but he still didn’t resist the temptation of evil. ‘I knew myself, at the first breath of this new life, to be more wicked, tenfold more wicked, sold a slave to my original evil; and the thought, at that moment, braced and delighted me like wine. stretched out my hands, exulting in the freshness of these sensations; and in the act, I was suddenly aware that I had lost in stature’ (42). Though Jekyll is always quick to defend himself from accusations of his hypocrisy because he sees himself as justified in his pursuit of perfection. but it is undeniable that he constantly uses hyde. In fact, Hyde is even better than Jekyll, especially for those people who value honesty and honesty more than social goodwill. At least Hyde is honest and candid about his wishes. Jekyll tries desperately to hide his immoralities behind a mask, deceiving everyone he knows. Even in the face of death, Jekyll refuses to come out and explain himself to his friends, opting instead to reveal the truth in a letter meant to be read post-mortem. ironically, even his adamant denial of hypocrisy in his letter to Utterson is a testament to his hypocrisy:“I was in no sense a hypocrite; both sides of me were in dead earnest; I was no more myself when I laid aside restraint and plunged in shame, than when I labored, in the eye of day, at the furtherance of knowledge or the relief of sorrow and suffering’ (41).

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. As Dr.Jekyll drank more and more medicine, Mr.Hyde gradually controlled Dr.Jekyll. “ If each I told myself could be housed in separate identities life would be relieved of all that was unbearable the unjust might go his way delivered from the aspirations and remorse of

his more upright twin and the just could walk steadfastly and securely on his upward path doing the good things in which he found his pleasure and no longer exposed to disgrace and penitence by the hands of this extraneous evil.”

Dr. Jekyll hates the evil Mr. Hyde and wants to hide his evil side. But Dr.Jekyll did not refuse the evil and the pleasure from the evil, let Mr.Hyde do what he wanted. In the end，Dr.Jekyll could not accept that he was controlled by evil. then Dr.Jekyll chose to end his life. make sure to killed Mr.Hyde, who controlled his body

All human beings have good and evil within them. Most people act good most of the time, while very few people act evil most of the time. The many people who act well do it because they have a reputation for being good that they feel they must keep. Another reason a lot of people don’t act evil is that later on after a person has done their evil deed, they may feel shame or remorse for what they have done, and it will go on their conscience. More than occasionally, people consider that it may not be as fun or as easy to do what is considered ‘good’ but they usually do realize that if they do something evil and they are caught, that there will most likely be consequences. Most people would like to avoid consequences and overall avoid getting in trouble in the first place.

“Good and evil” is the most common dichotomy in studies related to ethics, religion and philosophy. There is no holy scriptures that does not talk about good and evil. It is the most prevalent topic of ethics and philosophies. Though they are the main concepts of moral studies there is no definite meaning for both good and evil, whatever things that doesn’t harm any living and non- living things are good while evil is the exact opposite of it. Good things will make the creations of God happy and also the God himself but evil things will never do any favour for fellow creatures. Evil is also represents immorality and malignity as it is against the moral values of world ethics.

Both Good and evil are mutually dependant. Both of them will not exist without each other. This is because; one will never know what is good without the existence of bad and the same goes for evil. Some critics have claimed that these two are mutually exclusive and they have no connection with each other which means good survive in its own way so does evil. But the question here is how could one differentiate what is good and what is evil without the existence of each other? Because in the absence of good there is nothing as evil could expose itself and everything will remain neutral.

One of the most typical orthodox themes in literature is the battle between “good and evil”. William Golding exercises the same as one of his main themes of his very first novel Lord of the Flies. Being a believer of Christianity he made use of some motifs of Christianity like “fall” in his books. Inclusion of violence, cruelty, dark myth with moral values in his work Lord of the Flies is the plot developer. He also believes in “fall of man due to his past mistakes and disobedience”. So he included this in Lord of the Flies but in a varied sense like how Adam and Eve entered the Garden of Eden with purity and innocence but because of their disobedience their innocence and purity vanished and they fall to the earth as sinned human beings. The same way the twelve year old kids set foot in the Island with angelic faces with pure heart but later their silly mistakes which slowly turn into greater crimes and covet for power make them lose innocence completely. It does not mean that all of them become savages and some of them turns into the victims of the corrupted society.

JACK VERSUS RALPH

The two representatives of good and evil in the book Lord of the Flies are Ralph and Jack respectively. Ralph characterizes righteousness while Jack characterizes evilness. They are like opposite poles occupying complete opposite positions, having different opinions and are totally against each other. They start off as good friends but gradually grow hate for each other because of their variation in opinions and actions. The actual story starts with the election held for selecting the leader and Ralph gets majority votes to be the leader.

“Him with the shell”

“Ralph! Ralph!”

“Let him be the chief with the trumpet thing”

Ralph raised a hand for silence

“All right. Who wants Jack for chief?”

With dreary obedience the choir raised their hands.

“Who wants me?”[19]

Every hand outside the choir except Piggy was raised immediately. Then Piggy, too, raised his hand grudgingly into the air.

Ralph counted.

“I’m chief then” [20]

During the voting session, majority of the boys choose Ralph as their chief, thinking he could make a perfect leader and also will plan for their rescue. This makes Jack Merridew feel little so he himself suggested being the leader for hunters which is actually a group of choir boys. He cleverly insert in the minds of the boys that they are hunters who enjoy seeing blood, flesh and they should dedicate themselves for hunting. This action of him itself shows that Jack is not a suitable leader because he is making people go in a wrong way. Golding portrays Ralph as the qualified one to be the leader while Jack lacks the leadership quality though he is the head for choir aka hunters. Jack is not bad from the beginning but his inner thirst for power and dominance lead him to choose the wrong path. He also makes the others to join his path of violence. Ralph uses his smartness and practical knowledge while Jack always uses violence and savagery to attain what he desire. Though they begin as friends unknowingly they become enemies with mutual hate for each other.

The first ever controversy between Jack and Ralph happen when Jack took SamnEric for hunting and the fire went out as they were the one who is in charge for the fire. Also the most awaited thing for Ralph is ruined because of that; at the same time Jack’s dream to hunt pigs is fulfilled on the same day. It is the first win for evilness and loss for morality.

“You and your blood, Jack Merridew! You and your hunting! We might have gone home-”

Ralph pushed Piggy on one side.

“I was chief; and you were going to do what said. You talk. But you can’t even build huts- then you go off hunting and let out the fire” [76]

This is the stage where Jack starts to supress Ralph and his power. Though he is the chief he constantly has to remind Jack in every chance he got that he has power and they should listen to him. However Jack’s dominance over the situation makes the issue change in a different way; more like favourable for him.

PIONEER OF EVIL

If it were not for Jack then there would be neither evilness nor violence in the Island. He may not be the head of the group but the head of all the evil things happen there. He and his evilness are very toxic slowly spreads among others, bewitching them to join his clan of brutal hunting. He despises everyone who is not the part of his ideals, especially Ralph, Simon and Piggy. So he and his tribe knowingly or unknowingly murders Simon and Piggy in the cruellest way and also plans to kill Ralph as a sacrifice for the beast.

“The Chief and Roger-“

“Yes, Roger-”

“They hate you, Ralph. They are going to do you”

“They are going to hunt you to-morrow” [214]

Everyone turned against Ralph. They are in process to take Ralph’s life; even Samneric could not help him because of their fear for Jack and his boys. However Ralph escapes the danger when he is rescued by the Deus ex machine who is in the form of naval officer. In the end, Ralph the only good one remains alive as Piggy and Simon already dead leaving him alone in the evil filled society.

SYMBOL OF PURITY- SIMON

William Golding portrays Simon as a symbol of purity in the novel. Golding suggests that “evil” is not the complete intention of men, but time and circumstances convince men to use it as a weapon to accomplish their goals and sometimes it may go worse causing unpleasant consequences.

Being a religious person he includes some religious myths in his works and in the selected novel Lord of the Flies, he present Simon as a reflection of Jesus Christ. Simon is the only exceptional individual in the Island in terms of inherent evilness. He is devoid of every unholy deed, so he finds himself always alone both physically and mentally. Owing to that he finds out the biggest mystery in the minds of everyone there; that is what everyone believes to be a beast is not really a beast but just a dead man. Here Golding refers beast in a symbolic way that there is nothing like beast exist in the Island but passively prevails inside of every human being. Only Simon realizes this and on the way to disclose the truth he is killed not as Simon but as a monstrous beast. The painful part of the scene is; the tribe continues to attack him even after realizing him to be Simon. He also warned by the Lord of the Flies of his tragic end if he try to confess the truth. Likewise he suffer a barbarous demise the same as Jesus Christ’s. Simon’s death is also demonstrates the termination of rectitude and virtuousness and the origination of the wicked world.

Although Piggy and Ralph are good people, in the case of Simon’s death they are more like indirect murderers. They didn’t stop the crime just because they were scared of the hunters. In fact, they did not care to look at what the boys were ferociously attacking. But when they happen to find Simon’s lifeless body; they give excuses like they were scared and it was all an accident.

“It was an accident”, said Piggy suddenly, “that’s what it was. An accident.” His voice shrilled again. “Coming in the dark- he had no business crawling like that out of dark. He was batty. He asked for it.” [177]

They didn’t even mourn for his death and the worse from Piggy’s mouth that Simon deserve those because he unnecessarily came out of the dark like a beast. It is not at all fair for Simon and his death is unjustified. His own friends killed him

INNATE GOOD AND EVIL IN MEN

William Golding’s point of view is that both good and evil are inherent in all human beings. But what they chose to practice; whether good or evil in any kind of situation is the most significant thing. No individual will choose entirely good or entirely bad and always there will be confusion in choosing, in the mind. Sometimes circumstance dominates the whole thing and it will decide whether good or evil will be present in that particular situation. Similarly in the novel Lord of the Flies, twelve year old kids stranded on a lonely island, enjoying everything there, without the naggings of grownups. And it’s all only in the beginning because later they pushed to the real struggle of life called survival. In order to survive themselves they choose different ways. Some choose evil dark path and the remaining choose moral ways which cause the conflict between good and evil in the story.

The innocent kids changes their nature with time and eventually gets supressed under the influence of their evilness. Even Jack Merridew is not a bad kid to begin with but eventually becomes the pioneer of evilness in the island. Jack’s inherent barbarous nature slowly knocked everything down including the peace of the island, the littleuns’ playfulness, the innocence of the kids and most importantly the lives of Simon and Piggy. These two didn’t do anything wrong; just wanted to be rescued and did everything possible for it but all in vain they just lost their lives in the hands of evil.

Jack’s supporting hands are Roger and Maurice. They blindly follows Jack and his rules. The two are too bad that they torture others even little kids. In fact they are the one responsible to take care of the helpless kids who are far away from their parents but instead they prefer to make fun of the kids and use variety of methods to hurt them without any mercy. One day three of the littleluns Henry, Percival and Johnny were playing by building castles in the sand next to the little river. While playing they forgot their stranded state in the island and were happily playing. But it did not last long as the two bigguns Roger and Maurice came there after finishing their duties. Roger kicked the castle, scattering everything and Maurice joined Roger in the destructive action.

Roger and Maurice came out of the forest. They were relieved from duty at the fire and had come down for a swim. Roger led the way straight through the castles, kicking them over, burying the flowers, scattering the chosen stones. Maurice followed, laughing, and added to the destruction. [63]

Of all the boys in Jack’s team, Roger is the most malevolent person. Though Jack is the reason for all the evil happenings in the island, Roger is more outrageous than Jack. He is like a right hand for Jack. He does not hesitate to do any brutish action. Moreover, he is the one who murdered Piggy. Once Ralph and Piggy comes to the Castle Rock to reconcile with the tribe and to get Piggy’s glasses back. But the boys are not the same ones who they once knew. They really changed a lot. They strongly believe they are tribes and they are not ready to give up their label. So the words of Piggy and Ralph really irritated them.

The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee; the conch exploded into thousand white fragments and ceased to exist. Piggy, saying nothing, with no time for even a grunt, travelled through the air sideways from the rock, turning over as he went. Piggy fell forty feet and landed on his back across that square, red rock in the sea. His head opened and stuff came out and turned red. [206]

Suddenly out of rage Roger levers a massive rock forward. Ralph seeing the rock move aside and unfortunately Piggy becomes the target. Piggy painfully dies in front of the tribe and Ralph. No one expected that tragic incident even Roger gets shocked by the result of his intentional action. Piggy’ death is so sudden and indigestible for Ralph. He ignored him almost all the time but realizing that he will not be with him in the future to get through the battle of survival makes Ralph really feel helpless.

Ralph sees the island slowly turning into a society filled with nothing but evilness, violence, bloodshed, etc. He could not do anything to prevent the bad things from happening. There is no grownup to advise them so they are free to do whatever they want. So if there is no right person to guide people in a right way then it will become a chance for society of evil to take up their rule. He is desperate for help. He wishes for someone to take him home. He never did any wrong deeds intentionally, didn’t agreed to live as a tribe even after convinced many times and held strongly to his moral values. He lost his two wise friends but secured his own life for the sake of good. And finally he gets rescued by a naval officer who comes there after seeing the fire made by Jack and his crew.

Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy. [230]

Like a saying “there will be a good in bad and bad in good” Ralph gets rescued by the action of the boys to burn him to death. But Ralph doesn’t want be saved alone after all the sufferings and tears. So he tells everything happened in the island to the officer so he could rescue all of them. Finally everyone gets to go home but Ralph is happy and sad at the same time because he would be so relieved if Simon and Piggy also with him in the joyful moment of their rescue. They bid farewell to the island and its dark memories. Finally the evilness prevailed in the island comes to end and everything is back to normal.

Introduction to Good vs. Evil in ‘The Crucible’

As Eric Burdon once said “Inside each of us, there is a seed of both good and evil. It’s a constant struggle as to which one will win. And one cannot exist without the other”. The theme of the crucible is basically Good vs. Evil, because in the world of the Crucible is divided between the two camps of Good vs. Evil. But everyone is confused about what side is really the good one and what side is really the evil one, though the reader knows what is actually good and evil. The story makes it seem as evil is winning because one person after another is put to death, even though they are innocent, and people are accused of witchcraft even though they some of them aren’t. So Arthur Miller’s The Crucible establishes the theme overall throughout his story by showing the characters follow in the story and the ideas they believe in, and their overall goals, and also establish a good connection and a different way of good vs evil that no one may have thought possible. So each act of the Crucible has a literary element to show, the theme Good vs. Evil which are dramatic irony, situational irony, verbal irony, and external conflict.

Dramatic Irony and Act 1: Unveiling Hidden Truths

Dramatic irony represents act 1 of the Crucible, because dramatic irony is when the audience knows about something more than the characters do. It is used many times in different things like movies, plays, theatres, and even sometimes in poetry. This is when the audience gets extra information the characters don’t know yet, like what cause the problem in the story and this helps keep the audience more interested in the story and is an effective tool to keep the attention of the audience, and makes a better story and more unique depending the way the author uses it. By giving this extra information for the audience, and it can encourage them to try to think what would happen next in the story, and can also deal with the audience knowing what would happen next, and keeps them on their toes. An example of this is when someone’s business left him destitute, as he lost everything; and the main character is trying to find why this happens, but the audience already gives a clue that the real reason was that someone hacked his business. But the main characters do not know that yet and is trying to fill the pieces together to solve this enigma. In The Crucible uses this irony when Abigail says “Sometimes I wake and find myself standing in the open doorway and not a stitch on my body! I always hear her laughing in my sleep. I hear her singing her Barbados songs and tempting me with-.”(Miller 41).

The audience knows that both Abigail and Tituba are to blame but Abigail is just accusing Tituba and she is the one getting into trouble and no other character knows if she really did it or not, but the audience knows Abigail is just as guilty as her. Also in an article they talked about this kind of irony when it says “ Abigail wants to replace Elizabeth Proctor as the wife of John Proctor because they previously had an adulterous relationship. Accusations follow one another, and most of the residents of Salem are charged with witchcraft, and eventually hanged as in the case of John Proctor.”(Demirkaya). The audience knows that John and Abigail had a relationship and everything about both of them, but the characters in the story does not know it until John admits it, but the people reading the book knew it before everyone else did. This relates to the theme Good vs. Evil by people being evil because they are accusing others of witchcraft even though they didn’t do witchcraft and costing so many lives, and the Good is whoever is standing to find justice and stop all of these accusations and find the truth.

Situational Irony in Act 2: Unexpected Outcomes

Situational irony is the literary element of the second act, and it relates to the theme because it shows something the audience was not expecting or didn’t see coming, and it works pretty good in the story. So situational irony is the outcome when the audience was following in the story was the one he or she was not expecting, and so it demonstrates an interesting concept and may change the audience perspective in the story and keep them entertain to read more, and keeps an unexpected feeling to the reader wondering if there is more of this throughout the story. There is an example of this in the Crucible, and it is when John forgets one of the ten commandments and it is the one he broke, which was adultery. That is when someone has a relationship between his wife and a person who is not his wife, and that is bad. Which can also refer to Good vs. Evil since what John did was truly obnoxious and shows the reader something about John he might not have known before. That is quite ironic since the commandment John forgot was the one he committed the sin of adultery with Abigail.

This leads to a some problems later on, and to some people like Elizabeth. A line that shows this is when John says “ Aye! You see, sir, between the two of us we do know them all. I think it be a small fault.”(64). John sounds really nervous about the things he had done, and the reader can feel the emotions John feels when he said that. This brings out the theme of Good vs. Evil, because it shows the Good which is the right to do, and the Evil which is what John did which was having an affair with Abigail while having a wife. Also Good can also be Hale in this situation because even though John has committed adultery, and she does not really get mad at him and still prays for him, and tries to kind of help him with the situation he is on.

Verbal Irony in Act 3: Contradictions and Lies

Verbal irony represents the theme in act three pretty good, because verbal irony is when the literal meaning of what someone is saying is the opposite of what they are saying. An example of this is when a tsunami is coming and someone says that is nice outside, and this is an example of verbal irony, is also used to not hurt someone’s feelings, like in a party and someone says is this dress makes her look fat, and he says is looks perfect even though he doesn’t really mean it, and is the opposite of what he is really saying. It can also help when someone doesn’t really like a person because of the way he acts or how he treats everyone, but he may not want to hurt his feelings because the person that is doing that may not meaning it, and his parent may teach him that at home and their happiness may be sadly transient. Sometimes verbal irony is clear to the reader and sometimes is not, and it typically needs context, and how the speaker’s tone to understand where he is using the verbal irony, and also verbal irony is not used accidental. It depends on the speaker if the speaker is not being ironic he is most likely not using verbal irony. The Crucible uses this irony when Proctor says “Do that which is good, and no harm shall come to thee.”(88). Proctor is actually encouraging them to lie, which can harm the belief of the Puritans, and in which is lying separates people from God, because lying is not good, and it can lead to a worse situation than the person is already in.

Also, this gets Proctor in trouble since he is encouraging them to lie, and Abigail also does this by encouraging girls to lie about them doing witchcraft when they are not doing witchcraft. Since the theme of the Crucible is Good vs. Evil this can also show it by Proctor and Abigail is the evil ones by telling other people to lie and get them into serious problems that may cost them their lives, and the good ones are the people Abigail and Proctor are trying to encourage to lie, because they are innocent and they really don’t know what to do and they are getting encouraged by the evils who can be Proctor and Abigail.

External Conflict and Act 4: Clashes and Consequences

External conflict is when there is a conflict with one person against another person, and that can lead to some problems. It pretty much involved with making a choice or a decision between the confrontation against the other person, heritance, or friend. An example is when someone gets into an argument with a friend about what basketball player is better and is turned into a more heated argument because he and his friend cannot accept each others opinion and it may lead to a broken friendship, and he and his friend may not be friends anymore just because of an argument. Also it may sometimes come in capricious results or unpredictable situations which sometimes can go to far. Another example from The Crucible is between Abigail and Elizabeth when they both are fighting against each other for John Proctor, and it leads to John getting accused and a lot of problems for Abigail and Elizabeth, and it also has consequences for both of them. Also the people who got executed because of false accusations of witchcraft has faded into oblivion, because of the evil the people have done and they feel ashamed of what they have done when some of the people accused were not even doing anything wrong. Also when Elizabeth says “I cannot judge you, John.”(125).

Elizabeth says she cannot believe in John anymore since he had an affair with Abigail who was 17 and he was 35 which it was really weird, and she just cannot believe John did that to her and John dies in the end by refusing to lie and confess to witchcraft, and ends with redemption. Also in the article is said “the focus will be on the main female figures, Abigail and Elizabeth, who respectively embody the female stereotypes of seductress and frigid wife.”(Demirkaya). By focusing on both Abigail and Elizabeth, who are fighting for John and which also shows a external conflict between both of them and Abigail was a target of calumny for having an affair with John Proctor. This goes with the theme Good vs. Evil, Abigail being the evil one because she got an affair with John and Elizabeth is the good one because she didn’t have an affair with anyone.

Conclusion: Integrating Literary Elements with the Theme

So in conclusion, all this four literary elements represent the theme of Good vs. Evil, and each of the acts has a different represents the theme in different ways. However, it also establishes a connection between Good which in the Crucible is God and Evil which is the Devil; and the everyone is trying to go to the Good path, but with the accusations and what has happen throughout the story. Some people move further away from the Good and closer to the Evil.

Works Cited

1. Demirkaya, Neslihan Yılmaz. “Scapegoating Non-Conforming Identities: Witchcraft Hysteria in
2. Arthur Miller’s The Crucible and Caryl Churchill’s Vinegar Tom.” Journal of History, Culture & Art Research / Tarih Kültür ve Sanat Arastirmalari Dergisi, vol. 4, no. 2, June 2015, pp. 123–135. EBSCOhost, doi:10.7596/taksad.v4i2.444.
3. Miller, Arthur. The Crucible. Penguin Books, 1953.

The novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a reflection of life in the south of America during the Great Depression. Through the main protagonist, Scout, we see how certain events in her life changes and helps her mature, and how she eventually learns that the world is full of bigotry and hatred. She is a young girl who lives with her family, which consists of her father Atticus and her older brother Jem, along with her African-American maid Calpurnia, in a small Maycomb County. She learns that the world outside her home is not as loving and accepting as her family. There are many recurring themes and messages in the story, including racism, the conflict and juxtaposition between good and evil, and courage, which will be discussed in the following essay.

Racism is the most prominent theme in To Kill A Mockingbird, and the division between white people and black people in Maycomb is shown most notably through Tom Robinson, whose trial is the main incident involving racism throughout the whole text. His false conviction for the rape of Mayella Ewell, a white woman, showed that people would put their own racist beliefs and opinions over anything else, instead choosing to turn a blind eye to the truth. Another example of racism in Maycomb was the harassment that Atticus and his family received when it was revealed that he was defending a black man. Scout reveals that she has been bullied at school by other kids—in Chapter 9 she asks, innocently, “Do all lawyers defend n-Negroes, Atticus?” To which Atticus replies, “Of course they do, Scout.” The entire town suddenly turns against Atticus upon learning that he would defend a black man accused of the rape of a white woman, and the attacks even spread to Jem and Scout, demonstrating how deeply rooted racism was in Maycomb. The title of the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, as well as the scene in which the title is explained, foreshadows Tom Robinson’s guilty verdict. “Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember, it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.”

Additionally, the juxtaposition between good and evil is also heavily prevalent, emphasising the conflict between the two. With the exception of Bob Ewell, Lee does not portray “evil” in a simple way, and instead displays through Jem and Scout’s experiences that Maycomb is neither good nor evil, but a mixture of both. The first person narration helps readers understand how Scout in particular feels about the residents of Maycomb through mostly indirect characterisation. The main African American character Tom is “good”, the embodiment perhaps. Atticus is the moral voice of the story, and Boo Radley proves his “goodness” towards the end of the book. To contrast, other characters are “bad” and are either ignorant or plain evil. Bob Ewell is a good representation of the evil in the story; he beats his children and is racist. Mr. Cunningham is a good representation of ignorance. He was among the men at the jail the night Atticus blocks the doorway. He was not there for the same reasons as others; he was conforming to the mentality that negroes are evil and all negroes “are not to be trusted around our women.” This is an example of ignorance rather than plain evil.

Lastly, another major theme that pervades throughout the entire novel is the theme of courage. Atticus defines courage as “…when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.” In the novel, courage is about contemplating what is wrong and right rather than relying on prejudice or “gut feeling”, and then doing what’s right regardless of whether you win or lose. Additionally, Lee uses flowers to symbolise courage in the novel. After destroying Mrs. Dubose’s flower bed in a blind fit of rage, Jem offers to clean up her garden bed and is instructed to read to her in addition. Jem’s caring for of the flowers symbolises his courage that he needs to have the ability to tolerate criticism about his family—he took care of the camellias just like he was forced to live with anger, disappointment and a burning hole about how adults functioned. Atticus remarks that he hadn’t expected Jem to “lose his head” and he has now been challenged with finding the strength to control his emotions. Additionally, Mrs. Dubose’s fight with her morphine addiction is also a display of courage. The “Snow-on-the-Mountain” that she had gifted Jem can be perceived as a symbol of courage: she developed her courage bit by bit, similar to when she created the camellia, and now it is Jem’s turn to make his own. A camellia made of wax cannot wither, just as true courage may be difficult to manifest and nurture, but once built, it is constant.

To conclude, there are many themes that Harper Lee has utilised in order to reflect the difficulties that Scout and her family, as well as the African American population in their County, faced during the 20s in her novel To Kill a Mockingbird. These themes include racism, conflict between good and evil, and courage. Along with these themes presented in the text, Lee has expertly woven literary techniques, namely foreshadowing, first person narration, and symbolism. Racism, coupled with the foreshadowing of Tom Robinson’s guilty verdict as well as his untimely death in prison, is a main, prevalent theme in the novel. The juxtaposition and conflict between good and evil is shown through many different characters, and the first person narration helps readers understand how Scout feels about each of the characters. Lastly, courage is uniquely defined and expressed through the symbolism of camellias. These themes and techniques help the reader gain a deep and eloquent understanding of the workings of Maycomb County.

I am sure you’ve heard the saying, “Video games will rot your brain!”. But the question is do they? For the last year, Fortnite has dominated pop culture and nearly all young people are playing it on some sort of system. Many have learned valuable hand-eye coordination from this game along with problem solving. Generations have enjoyed video games from Pac-Man to Call of Duty for years, and Fortnite is no different. Video games do not rot your brain, quite the contrary, video games enhance fine and gross motor coordination, teach players to problem solve and give gamers the interaction from inside their own home.

First, video games are responsible for keen hand eye coordination. In a recent study in ‘Psychology Today’, they compared gamers to those who do not game and found that their visuomotor control was enhanced due to their time playing games. They also noted that their reaction time was twice that of a non-gamer. The gamers had enhanced performance in each study performed, thus proving video games do not rot a brain but enhance it.

Secondly, when playing video games such as Fortnite, you must build shelter to protect yourself as well as stay ahead of the impending storm. This requires a sense of problem solving that is beneficial in all realms of life. ‘Business Insider’ states, “playing video games is not a waste of time”. They make this claim because they studied gamers and saw those who played games such as Call of Duty had improved cognitive abilities such as improved attention, spatial orientation and problem-solving abilities.

Lastly, those who participate in online multiplayer games interact with others in places they would never imagine visiting. Xbox alone has players from every place on the globe and players from every section can play with others far away. This improves communication skills and breaks down in person barriers that keep people introverted and shy. This has been fundamental during lockdown from Covid-19. It has been proven that during quarantine many children who are missing social interaction are thriving during online play as compared to those who are only interacting with those within their family. They are able to connect with peers and perform tasks as a team. Those who say children who play too many videos are inept are wrong as it doesn’t stunt social development but enhances it. Those too scared to talk in a public setting, learn how to communicate. This means of communication is especially freeing for those with autism. Video games do not isolate you; they open your tiny world up to the entire Earth, breaking down cultural barriers and even bridging people who were once discriminated against.

All in all, video games are not the evil everyone thinks. Video games are part of many cultures throughout the world. Playing games on a screen has been a cornerstone of childhood for generations. Many try to say, “Video games cause children to reenact scenes that have led to school shootings”. Well, I have been playing video games since I was a toddler and I have yet to break my moral code to kill. Fortnite is the most popular game today and has, along with all video games, bridged the gap in communication skills, enhanced motor skills and helped children learn valuable problem-solving skills needed for adulthood.

Self-awareness is key to being a good person, no matter how the term “good” is defined. Being self-aware allows one to see when they’re straying away from the path they want to take and to correct any behaviors that drove them off in the first place. The story “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne explores how a lack of self-awareness can be detrimental. In the story, the main character, Goodman Brown, leaves his wife, Faith, for a night to go on a journey of faith. He meets with the Devil in the forest outside his town of Salem, Massachusetts, thinking that he would be strong enough to resist temptation, and the two walk together as the Devil tries to sway Goodman Brown to his side. While he does shun the Devil in the forest, it’s his inability to step outside of himself that brings him to the Devil in the end. Throughout the story, Hawthorne uses elements of fiction to prove that a lack of self-awareness can lead to one’s downfall.

Salem, Massachusetts was a Puritan community in the 1800s when the story takes place. The characters in “Young Goodman Brown” were subject to the general expectations that came with the setting: People were expected to be upstanding Christian citizens who never sinned nor strayed away from their community and to shun those who did not abide by the Christian Bible. Anywhere outside of their community was seen as unsafe and dangerous. In the story, the forest surrounding Salem is seen as a place of evil, filled with “devilish Indian[s] behind every tree” (Hawthorne) and other horrors. Goodman Brown and the rest of the town were supposed to stay away from it, and instead be content in the safety of their village.

The forest was indeed depicted as an evil place. The path Brown would travel on was full of twists and turns, and the trees around it “barely stood aside to let the narrow path creep through” (Hawthorne). The path had to be crooked because if Brown could see the congregation that it led to, he would never have ventured on it in the first place. In all appearances, it was a dark and ominous place that wanted to trap someone, or at the very least be difficult to escape from. It wasn’t anywhere that a good Puritan would want to find themselves in, especially at night.

However, Goodman Brown needed to go on a journey of faith. To do so, he had to venture into the forest “‘twixt now and sunrise” (Hawthorne) and meet with the Devil. Since the Puritans believed that the darkness was also something to be avoided, by going into the forest at night Brown was already betraying his faith even before his companion, the Devil, was accounted for. He was completely aware of the fact, too: The limited third-person point of view shows that he knew his journey was “evil” (Hawthorne) and that he chose to go on it anyway. The story never gives a specific reason why he has to go in the first place, which leads to the idea that Brown chose to meet the Devil on his merit. He had complete confidence in his ability to resist the evil, and the temptations the Devil would throw at him, and didn’t think about the possibility that his pride might be unfounded.

The Devil in the story adhered to the manipulative, clever character that most Christian religions depict him as. He “[bore] a considerable resemblance to [Goodman Brown]” (Hawthorne), instead of appearing to him as hideous to try and put him more at ease. The Devil used people Brown cared about against him in an attempt to sway him to his side, telling Brown that he and Brown’s father and grandfather were “good friends” (Hawthorne). He was constantly taking advantage of Brown’s weak points to convince him to join him. He had to because according to standard Christian belief, the Devil could do many things but interfering with free will was not one of them.

The Devil’s manipulative nature was bad news for Brown. In addition to being a proud man, Goodman Brown was also weak-willed. Early on in his journey, he told the Devil that he would “return whence [he] came” (Hawthorne) but he “unconsciously [resumed] his walk” (Hawthorne) anyway only a slight prompt from the Devil. As the Devil continues to show Brown how many other people have also walked with him, it becomes clear that Brown isn’t as resistant to temptation as he thought he was. The further he walked, the more conflicted he became. The only thing that continued to hold him back was the fact that his wife, Faith, was waiting for him at home.

Faith was the perfect example of a good Puritan woman. She’s depicted as a loving wife who watched Brown go with “a melancholy air, despite her pink ribbons” (Hawthorne). The pink ribbons she wore in her hair represented her childlike innocence and purity – traits that were valued not only in wives but in everyone. Her name itself served as a representation of Brown’s religious faith. He cared deeply for her, and she cared deeply for him. Faith was the example that Brown looked to when he needed strength, which is why he kept bringing her up while he was walking with the Devil.

That’s why the moment Goodman Brown saw her ribbons caught in a tree after hearing her in the distance, he grabbed the maple staff the Devil left him and raced to join the congregation at the end of the crooked path he had been following. His belief that even Faith had parted with the Devil’s side allowed his resistance to fade completely, and turned him into the most “frightful” (Hawthorn) being in the entire forest – Devil included. It was here that he completely abandoned his Puritan faith, just as he thought Faith had abandoned him. However, his lapse in belief was very brief because when he arrived at the gathering, he still didn’t see her, which gave him “hope” (Hawthorne) that good things did still exist.

But Faith was at the congregation, and, to Goodman Brown, the final moment of truth unfolded when the Devil ordered them up to the altar, had her take off the veil she was wearing, and went to formally initiate them. Brown told her to “look up to Heaven, and resist the Wicked One” (Hawthorne), which is ironic for a couple of reasons. The first reason is that he was just seen being unable to resist the Devil, and the second is that even if she did, after the fact he believed that she didn’t because “he knew not” (Hawthorne) if she listened to him. He was only focused on the fact that he was able to fight against the Devil, and took pride in it even though he just snapped back to his senses from his lapse.

In the end, the journey changed Goodman Brown for the worse. He became “a stern, a sad, a darkly meditative, a distrustful, if not a desperate man” (Hawthorne) because he believed that everybody he knew, including Faith, were hypocritical sinners who were only pretending to be good Christians. However, Brown himself was also a hypocrite. He knew he had only temporarily given in to the Devil, and offered himself forgiveness for the lapse in belief, but he did not extend the same to his wife and the rest of the community. He was unable to see past himself after that event, so convinced that everyone he saw that night was a true sinner that he never stopped to question if any of them were like him.

In contrast, the townspeople remained unchanged. All the people Brown had seen in the forest went about their routines like normal the next day: The minister took a stroll through the graveyard before his duties, “Deacon Gookin was at domestic worship” (Hawthorne) praying, and Goody Cloyse was “catechizing a little girl” (Hawthorne). Brown’s fearful reactions to them show that he is the only one directly affected by the ceremony. He was even disgusted by his wife. Faith still wore the pink ribbons in her hair, and since those ribbons represented innocence and purity, she wasn’t the terrible person Brown thought she was as he shied away from her embrace. She still greeted him warmly when he arrived home from his journey, but it was he who ignored her instead of the other way around. It was only Brown who changed, as seen when he pushed everyone away at the end, including his family. He was so focused on everybody else that he never took the time to look inward, even though he was the one acting strange.

Goodman Brown was a man who believed he was strong enough to resist the Devil himself. He was so confident that he went on a journey of faith through woods that wanted to trap him, with a Devil who wanted to manipulate him. Though he was able to resist in the forest (after a brief lapse), it was Brown’s pride that was his eventual downfall. After the event took place, he became wary and distrustful of everyone – even his wife – because he offered himself forgiveness for giving in but not to them. He believed himself superior to them for being strong when they were weak in that final scene. By the end of the story, it’s clear that Brown believed himself to be greater than God. That amount of pride is a great sin to Christians and is what doomed him to Hell after all: Ironically, by resisting the Devil in the forest, he ensured that he would be with him in the afterlife anyway. Brown’s lack of self-awareness turned him into a hypocrite and led to his final moments in life being marked with gloom instead of happiness.

The article I chose to write about is a brief insight to how ‘good’ differentiates from ‘evil’. ‘Difference Between Good and Evil’ was written by Manisha Kumar. She starts the article by explaining it from philosophers’ point of view which to sum up is that good cannot exist without bad and the same is true for the other way round.

She then continues by shifting to show society perceives the difference. According to Manisha (2009), from a society’s point of view, whatever is beneficial to general mankind is considered good and whatever is not in the interests of the general mankind is considered evil so therefore, labeling any action as good or evil is clearly based upon one’s perception and judgment. She proceeds to explain this by saying that society has precedents of what the majority think is good/bad but these precedents are ever-changing. The example used to describe this how abortion was mostly regarded as blasphemous a while ago but now it’s more common and acceptable as time progresses.

She concludes the article by expressing that no one action or thing is considered truly good or evil. It varies under different circumstances and it is relative. While an action or a person may be considered good in a certain situation, the same action or person may be labeled bad in another situation (Manisha, 2009). An effective example she uses to elaborate her point is how fire provides warmth and comfort however it also has the power of destroying and killing.

Another interesting thing she mentions is that while a person might consider something good for them, it could be potentially malice to another person. She utilizes the example of how a soldier who has fought a war might be recognized as a hero of his country but at the same time be regarded as a killer in another country.

I think Manisha accurately presents the idea that there is not a textbook definition of good/evil and that it’s more subjective and changes depending on the situation. Like how a heavy rainstorm is considered a deadly thing sometimes while in another scenario it could help irrigate fields and provide food/water to people.

This article reminds me of the Chinese concept of yin and yang; the two opposing forces of nature. One is considered good while the other is bad and they exist in duality in every single thing we see around us.

However, one thing this report fails to address is that sometimes there’s a certain grey area on the spectrum of good and bad. Call it a neutral zone if you will. Where an action isn’t considered purely good or bad but just neutral. And of course, these neutral actions are subjective and depend of how differently people perceive things. For instance, person A accidentally killing person B in a car crash (in circumstances beyond his control). Person A didn’t intend to kill person B but due to an unavoidable scenario, it still happened. In my opinion I would consider this a neutral action.

In conclusion, I chose this article to help answer my main question for my research which is: ‘Is Loki considered a villain or anti-hero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’. A villain by definition is someone who commits evil acts and is against the protagonist. While an antihero is mostly considered a protagonist who doesn’t possess the typical ‘good’ characteristics often associated with a protagonist. Villain would be regarded as purely evil while an anti-hero is on the spectrum of good and bad.

Reference

1. Kumar, M. (2009). ‘Difference Between Good and Evil’.

Moreover, Shakespeare characterizes Lady Macbeth as a “poisoner,” ridiculing the preposterous stereotype that witches used poisons for evil purposes, such as to harm or kill someone. Although Lady Macbeth does not poison her husband in the literal sense, she poisons her husband’s mind, causing him to become a different person, a power-hungry tyrant, who will not hesitate to harm anyone who gets in his way. She fills his mind with evil thoughts, tainting his morality to the point where Macbeth is unable to decipher right from wrong. At first, Macbeth is hesitant to follow through with their wicked plan, telling Lady Macbeth that “we will proceed no further in this business” (Shakespeare 1.7.34). Lady Macbeth, however, does not take no for an answer. She psychologically manipulates Macbeth into following through with their plan by repeatedly questioning his manhood and his courage. For example, lady Macbeth tells her husband, “when you durst do it, then you were a man; and to be more than what you were, you would be so much more the man” (Shakespeare 1.7.56-58). In these lines, Lady Macbeth scolds her husband, telling him that he is acting like a coward and that she will not consider him a true man until he assassinates the king. This evil influence that lady Macbeth has exerted on her husband causes Macbeth to murder King Duncan, an act that he most likely would not have committed on his own.

Not only does Lady Macbeth share characteristics in common with the stereotypical witch, but she also alludes to the act of calling on evil spirits in order to satirize the misogynistic stereotype that witches acted in accordance with outside forces, such as evil spirits and the devil. Lady Macbeth calls on these evil spirits to fill her heart with cruelty so that she can more easily manipulate her husband into killing King Duncan. She calls to the spirits, begging them, “fill me from the crown to the toe top-full of direst cruelty! Make thick my blood” (Shakespeare 1.5.49-50). Lady Macbeth hopes that these spirits will fill her with the utmost malevolence so that she can completely focus on her evil purpose. Lady Macbeth makes yet another reference to the spirit realm when preparing Macbeth for the murder of King Duncan. Lady Macbeth tells her husband, “hie thee hither, that I may pour my spirits in thine ear and chastise with the valor of my tongue all that impedes thee from the golden round” (Shakespeare 1.5.27-30). In this line, Lady Macbeth informs Macbeth that she believes she possesses the necessary evil qualities, which she calls “my spirits,” that Macbeth needs to become king. In addition, Lady Macbeth references the devil when she says, “Tis the eye of childhood that fears a painted devil” (Shakespeare 2.2.70-71). In this line, Lady Macbeth uses her powers of manipulation on Macbeth, causing him to question his courage. She compares him to a frightened child because he will not return to the scene of the crime and frame the drunken guards for King Duncan’s murder. By having Lady Macbeth allude to the spiritual world in this way, Shakespeare mocks the stereotypical view that witches were in league with evil forces, which they used to fulfill their evil intentions.

Lady Macbeth not only references the spirit world, but she also references swine, specifically the killing of swine in order to criticize the absurd stereotype that witches sacrificed these animals. When Lady Macbeth is sleeping, she says, “When in swinish sleep Their drenched natures lie as in a death” (Shakespeare 1.7.77-78). In this line, Lady Macbeth emphasizes the fact that the two guards are now dead, condemned to eternal sleep. She compares the two dead guards to dead swine. The belief that witches killed and sacrificed swine originated far before Shakespeare’s day. Homer’s The Odyssey, which was written in 675-725 BCE, is responsible for contributing to the popularity of this idea. In Homer’s epic, Circe, the Witch of Aiaia drugs a group of sailors and turns them into swine. Not only was it believed that witches killed swine, but it was also believed that they harmed other animals too, sometimes even sacrificing them to the devil. As stated by Michael D. Bailey in Magic and Superstition in Europe, “animals were slain in such magical rites as sacrifices to demons” (Bailey 10). By having Lady Macbeth reference the killing of swine in her sleep, Shakespeare ridicules this ludicrous belief.

It is clear that Lady Macbeth is the fourth witch of Macbeth. Although Lady Macbeth cannot be described as a witch in the supernatural sense, because she does not possess magical powers, she shares several characteristics in common with the stereotypical view of the witch. These characteristics that Lady Macbeth shares in common with the witch, such as her masculinity and manipulative nature are only a portion of the misogynistic stereotypes that are held of witches. By portraying Macbeth as a fourth witch and assigning her these stereotypical characteristics, Shakespeare is able to emphasize their inherent sexist and deceptive nature. Although Shakespeare satirizes these concepts by highlighting their foolishness and bizarreness, he urges the reader to rid themselves of these preconceived notions and adopt their own view of witches, free of stereotypical influence. By bringing these beliefs to light, Shakespeare encourages the reader to develop more open-minded views of witches and the influence that they have had on society.

In “Young Goodman Brown”, Nathaniel Hawthorne paints a picture of an evil world. A world where people who seem to be the most good turn out to be the most evil. Although we hate to admit it, we have all done something evil. It is near impossible to live inthis world without doing something with evil intentions.

In Ecclesiastes 7:20, the bible says, “Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.”. (Holy Bible) We are naturally selfish, in order to survive. The world is evil towards us and evil leads to more evil. Our hypocrisy, influences, selfishness and our actions towards each other is all proof that evil is part of our nature. We are good at pointing out the flaws and evil ways of others. But how about our own evil tendencies? People are so quick to judge each other without realizing their own faults. In Matthew 7:3-5, the Bible says, “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?

How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” (Holy Bible) Why would someone take your advice if you have not dealt with your own demons? Of course, we will never be perfect, but we have to work on ourselves before we try to work on others. This shows our hypocrisy. We jump at the opportunity to shame another person because itmakes us feel better about ourselves. This is evil and it is a part of our nature. There is a church here in Birmingham that people always recommended to me. I knew a family who attended this church, and they were not very nice people. I had witnessed them judging others and having a nasty attitude. For a long time, this kept me from going to this church. I wondered how they could listen to these great sermons week after week and still be so evil. I was wrong to judge this church by a few members. I was also wrong to judge this family.

Although I try to represent a good Christian, I am a sinner and I have done many evil things that I regret. I still sin on a daily basis. Evil is a part of my nature as much as I try to fight it. I would not want someone to hold my actions against a church that could help their relationship with God. Eventually, I went to this church, and it has truly made me a better person. In “Young Goodman Brown”, the devil says, “I have a very general acquaintance here in New England. Thedeacons of many a church have drunk the communion wine with me; the selectmen of diverse towns make me their chairman; and a majority of the Great and General Court are firm supporters of my interest.”. (Hawthorne) All of these people are hypocrites, justlike you and me. We say one thing, but do another. We might not worship the devil or support his interests, but we like to portray ourselves as righteous when, in reality, we are sinners by nature.Our society as a whole promotes evil.

Look at who we look up to growing up. Ideally, young men should look up to a father figure, someone who provides for the family and is an honest man. Too often that is not the case. We grow up with different men coming in and out of our households. Men who use our mothers and steal from them. Selfish men who have no morals. Their only concern is themselves. Our female role models are no better. Ideally, they should be strong women that teach young women not to depend on others and to not be used by a man. Instead, they go from man to man using them until the benefits run out. They show women that, as long as he is supporting you financially, he can do whatever he wants. Of course, not all men and women are this way, maybe not even the majority. But who is the most popular in the neighborhood? It is these people, especially with the children. This is who our society promotes. Selfishness is cool.

Also, it is an evil world that taught these people to behave this way. If no one shows you pride or gives you a reason to believe in yourself, you feel like you have no other options. This is all you know. Use and abuse, and the cycle continues. This is an example of the evilness of our world. You can be the one that breaks the cycle, but you might have to step out of your comfort zone;you might have to go against your nature. What causes us to be evil? A lot of the time, it seems that there is no reason. One reason why we mistreat each other is because we are selfish. No one is going to look out for you but you. We are constantly choosing ourselves over others. This leads us to mistreat one another. Evil deeds are often associated with promoting ourselves over our fellow humans. In “Young Goodman Brown”, the devil says, “You deemed them holier than yourselves, and shrank from your ownsin, contrasting it with their lives of righteousness and prayerful aspirations heavenward. Yet here are they all in my worshipping assembly.”. (Hawthorne)

These people portrayed themselves as righteous people in the community, but behind the scenes they were devil worshippers. We can assume that these people worship the devil for personal gain. In this dangerous world, it seems like selfishness and survival can become the same. Survival is built into our nature in a world where only the strong survive. One article on the internet states, “But when confronted by a crisis, how we react is totally instinctual and that’s when the selfishness kicks in.”. (Bommisetty) It is disturbing to think that being evil could actually save us in a crisis.Humans are emotional creatures. When we get mad we act out of anger.

Often times regretting our actions once we have calmed down. We return hurt for hurt and the cycle never ends. We hold grudges against one another until we get our revenge. We are constantly behaving evil towards one another, often times on purpose in order to get back at someone for a perceived wrong. In 1 Peter 3:9, the bible says, ”Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.” (Holy Bible) This is how we should behave but it is a struggle. It is against our nature. In Romans 7:25, the bible says, “…So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law ofsin.” As humans, we are not all-knowing. We do not understand all the repercussions of our actions. Who knows how many people we have hurt or wronged for whatever reason without even realizing? How many times have you looked back at your actions and realized that you hurt someone. It is impossible to live in this world without stepping on toes.

In the short story “Young Goodman Brown” the devil says, “It shall be yours to penetrate, in every bosom, the deep mystery of sin, the fountain of all wicked arts, and which inexhaustibly supplies more evil impulses than human power…”. (Hawthorne) It seems like we are constantly being pushed towards sin in this world. Sometimes, we are even unaware that our actions are evil. In this world that has so much beauty andalso, so much evil, I think that both are a part of us. We as people love one another and we are a part of a beautiful creation. We also hurt one another and sacrifice others for our own personal gain. Being evil towards each other gives us some kind of sick satisfaction. Unfortunately, it is impossible to do no wrong. Evil is a part of our nature. But I think it is important that we still try. We have to try to do more good than evil in a world that is entirely too evil.