Zimbardo Good Vs Evil Essay

Good versus Evil is an important concept. Evil sometimes overcomes our good but never exceeds good. The difference between evil and good is that good is an ability to have empathy and compassion towards other people. Evil is people who are selfish, self-absorbed and don’t have empathy towards others. Literature plays a vital role in developing concepts of good and evil and effectively portrays the morals of its time period.

The Stanford Prison Experiment shows how latent violent and aggressive personalities are easily realized when one has dominance over submissive personalities. Because people have good and bad qualities, they also have the ability to act on either quality depending on the situation. Seemingly good people can be “seduced” (Zimbardo, 2007, p.211) into acting against their nature. Under the right situational stress, people can act cruelly even if their personality is not

Asma shows that his article was written for an educated or specialized audience by his continual use of complex vocabulary, as well as the place of which the article was first published. Asma did an excellent job convincing his audience using emotion, logic, and ethics. Besides his use of logic, there is a large amount of pathos in his writing, which makes the reader perceive that he is writing to a skeptical audience. For example, describing how in modern films, such as Frankenstein, “we dramatize the rage of the monstrous creature…then scold ourselves…[for being an] intolerant society”(61). “The liberal lesson of monsters

Stephen Chapman’s essay “The Prisoner’s Dilemma,” compares two different cultures and their ideologies with regards to justice and punishment. Chapman’s topic can definitely be seen as controversial as it questions the morality of both foreign and western societies justice systems. If one is not reading and thinking objectively it can strike a mine is better mindset within the reader in the first page of his argument. The viewpoint he takes is not one that is commonly displayed nor talked about. Stephen Chapman’s claim in the essay is essentially that western societies prison system is a more cruel form of punishment than middle eastern practices of physical harm.

The Stanford Prison Experiment was a psychological experiment to see what would happen when good people were put into evil environments. The participants were male college students who were randomly assigned to be guards or prisoners. The objective of the experiment was to see what would happen when good people are placed into horrible places. Also, if people not inor with less authority would stand up to those in more authority. My claim is that the Stanford Prison Experiment proves that good people can be easily corrupted by power.

The government brainwashes their citizens to get them to be unquestioningly loyal to the party. The issue of brainwashing stands out as one of the most important topics in this book as well as one that is very relevant to today. Orwell communicates through his book that brainwashing is pervasive and destructive to our sense of reality and logic as human beings, and that it has a negative impact on the citizens subjected to it. Orwell expresses this belief especially at the end when Winston is in the ministry of love. We get to see the party’s thoughts in full detail as O’Brien explains everything to Winston and simultaneously brainwashes him.

We all like to think that evil is not born within us, but rather nurtured into us; while this may be true for some, others have evil born directly into them. When man toys with the powers reserved for only God, God strikes back with a wicked evil to show man the power that they truly lack. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein contains a prime example of a being born of unnatural causes and thus having these evil urges that they cannot control. Frankenstein’s monster is a highly intelligent being, and hence he is very manipulative. He pulls at the heartstrings of Victor’s emotions, but Victor can see the true evil that is within him.

Humans are complex creatures. Understanding human nature is difficult, but the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding helps to show what true human nature looks like. Humans are inherently evil, but that evil is hidden by societal dictates. Throughout the novel, the human societal mask is stripped away and true human nature can be seen. Society enforces rules and trends that people feel they must follow.

The novel Lord of the Flies, is a great example of how civilization is the only reason we keep ourselves from doing certain things. The novel, “Soon becomes a parable about the inherent evil in human nature, reflected in the natural brutality of these boys once they are away from civilization.” (Junior). People's perspective of others judgement holds them back. Along with people's morals, it makes them really think about their decisions that are selfish instead of not putting in society's perspective and doing it in a blink of an eye.This not only applies to adults but also children, which can be seen in the novel. Golding “...asks how superior we are to savages and he points to the superficiality of our civilization; indeed it seems to be powerless against the innate brutality of man, against his fear which is in fact against the innate brutality of man, against his fear which is in fact the expression of the evil that pervades the world.” (Michot).

The boys in the novel turn evil and savage, while in the real life world people show evil even if it doesn’t seem like it. Anyways, the symbols mentioned before are relatively important to the novel “Lord of the