The word “evil,” according to Merriam-Webster, means “morally bad.” With such a vague definition, how can one discern the truth behind what is good and what is evil? John Gardner’s novel Grendel provides multiple philosophical outlooks demystifying the epic poem Beowulf’s antagonist. Grendel is a monster, however Gardner clearly asserts through multiple philosophies that not all monsters are inherently evil. Grendel proves not to be evil due to his belief in solipsism.
Humans have the ability to be evil inside them ever since birth; and British Literature is a good analysis on how evil is presented in people’s lives and how people ‘become’ evil, such as how Grendel and Macbeth become evil in their respective stories. There are many theories on why people act evil, including theories from, Hannah Arendt, Elaine Pagal, and Thomas Hobbs. Most of the theories say generally the same thing. Evil is essentially a part of a human’s character and nature, and the evil inside of one can be triggered by a number of things, such as self interest and being influenced to do evil. All the British Literature that was read in this course has contained evil, as evil is an essential part to make a story.
Evil is a label seldom used, unless it is a truly unspeakable act. There are many things that symbolize something evil. Whether a person or an act, symbols can tell us a lot about the story. While some symbols have dual meanings and can be left to interpretation with the story line, others are definitive in what they stand for.
Evil is often administered consciously, however, sometimes one’s naïveté could lead to the destruction of others. Zimbardo states the following: “Evil is the exercise of power… To intentionally harm people… and to commit crimes against humanity.” In the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, some would claim that Tom is considered evil too. Although Tom seems to be “evil” towards the end of the novel since he purposefully prolonged the Jim’s liberation, he is simply a naive child whose imaginations take the best of him.
I believe good is intrinsic, while evil is extrinsic. Intrinsic means essential. Extrinsic means not part of the essential nature of someone or something. Everyone is born with a friendly soul but they have the ability to learn to become evil. Some people in life may seem along the lines of evil since they were born.
Not all people have the same definition of evil. Evil can be expressed in many ways. Whether that be describing a person or giving a place a scary setting. Most though, think of evil as a person rather than a place. Those true qualities of evil help show if a person is a human monster.
Evil on the other hand it is seen as something associated with the devil. Serial killers take away and harm the innocent of our community .To see them as anything but evil will be nonsense. When we see interviews about serial killers ,we see how they had no remorse or feelings towards what they did. It confirms even more to us as a
Since the beginning of the world, everyone has their own point of view on the battle between good and evil. Since these two are opposite behaviors, good and evil must have nothing in common, right? I believe that evil is only evil by the way someone perceives it to be. For example, let 's say a man robbed a woman 's purse ; to that guy who stole the purse, it 's probably the only way to get enough money to stay, but to the woman she just lost the money she had earned. Now to the woman, the man was bad, but to the man, he is just trying to survive.
Through out history evil has been best depicted as the absence of goodness and goodness as the absence of evil. With goodness being comprehended as the direct opposite of evil. It is under speculation that maybe there can 't exist only one general meaning of good vs. evil. I trust this, in light of the fact that any one individual 's perception of good or evil is without a doubt directed by one 's social comprehension of certain qualities and ethics within their culture, i.e. the power of social conformity (Muncaster-Social Psychology Lecture, 2016). Yes, there can be cases of evil that is seen as malevolent all over the world but due to the ethnocentric component of the perception of cultural morals and values, one is unable to categorize another individual as evil or good based upon their own cultural understanding of this notion.
The reality is that good and evil cannot be divided due to a difference of beliefs. This means that a person may see something as evil that another person see as good.
Every person has a shred of evil in them, even if they don’t know it. Studies show that humans are the only truly evil species; we act selfishly, and put others through emotional and physical torment to benefit ourselves. No matter how highly you think of yourself, you can admit that at least once in your life you may have manipulated someone to do what you wanted or even purposely hurting someone else. Regardless of who you are, or who you pretend to be; every person acts inhumane to others.
When someone is described as being evil, we often think of a person who acts cruelly towards others and treats them with no respect. In my opinion people can be born evil. In the nonfictional essay “Escape or Die,” a Somalian pirate named Ali Jabin was born in Somalia. He grew up in a country that has gone through a civil war and hasn’t had a functioning government in over a decade. The country politically is divided in semiautonomous regions ruled by various family clans and militia.
Therefore, it is those people that are truly evil not the
Is man evil by nature, or is man evil because of the way they were raised? Though many disagree, man is born with evil in the eyes of society. This is why there is evil in the world and why there is war among
Evil is a simple word that we learn at a young age and that we understand is bad. However, our youth and innocence prevents us from knowing the weight the word holds. As our understanding of evil develops, we begin to see evil all around us. Although we hold common societal definitions of evil, each person is bound to view evil slightly different from others. Someone might consider alcoholism evil, while others consider it normal: someone might believe racism is evil, while others believe it is natural.
