Since the
beginning of time, people have pondered the existence of evil. What makes people laugh at other peoples'
mistakes? What makes a little kid
relentlessly pick on the outcast? What
fuels the hate that people have for each other?
Everyone has their individual views and answers to these questions, and
their own definition of evil. Evil is an
entity inside every living being in the world characterized by selfishness,
torturing, and ultimately, the unjustifiable taking of others' lives.
For many, selfishness is the beginning of
evil. Macbeth is the perfect example of
this. Macbeth, one of king Duncan's most
popular warriors, killed Duncan because the witches told him that he will be
king, but they did not say how he will become king. For all he knew, Duncan would have choked on
his breakfast and died, but he didn't take that chance. Macbeth's selfishness was opitimized when he
dealt with Banquo and his son, whom the witches said will be king after Macbeth. He had Banquo murdered, and his son's
"absence is no less material" (Shakespeare III.1) to Macbeth. Of course Macbeth wasn't the only one who
began his reign of evil with selfishness.
Jack, in Lord of the Flies also begins tearing the island apart when he
becomes extremely selfish. "I'm not
going to play any longer...not with you" (Golding 127) is what he said to
the group, right before he broke away and formed his own clan, where he was the
unchecked ruler, and could perform any task he pleased. One of Jack's other intolerable acts was the
tying up and torturing of Wilfred, another boy on the island.
Torturing others is the next step in the quest
to become evil. "He didn't say what
for" was the other boys' answers for why Jack tied up Wilfred. "He's going to beat Wilfred" was
all they knew, next to the fact that "He's been tied for hours"
(159). At the beginning, Jack couldn't
bring himself to kill a pig, but as the story progressed, Jack became
increasingly vicious, and seemed to have an obsession with torturing animals
and people. Just as Macbeth wasn't the
only selfish character, Jack wasn't the only one capable of torturing another
person. The director on the boat in the
book Heart of Darkness also tortures other people on the boat. He "didn't want to stop the steamer for
some more or less recondite reason" (Conrad 37) of letting the slaves on
the boat get food. Marlow couldn't
fathom the suffering the slaves were going through, and thought that starvation
would be a supreme form of punishment to any person. However, there is one form of torture that is
the most absolute of any other form.
Even in today's society, it is very hard to make even the hardest
criminal pay the ultimate price for what he has done, even if he is deserving
of it.
The unnecessary taking of others' lives is
uncomprehendable to most of humanity; Most people would have a very hard time
killing another person under any circumstances, even if their life was at
stake. To the most evil person, killing
can become a ritual, a hobby, or even a pastime. Whether someone is under the influence of an
intoxicating drink or not, there is no excuse for murdering another individual
for fun. When Marlow finds "the
body of a middle aged Negro, with a bullethole in the forehead" (17)
laying in his path, he is dumbfounded at how somebody can do that. Not only did Marlow deal with murder, but all
the boys on the island had to deal with Jack's bloodthirsty new games and
rules. His hunt for food turned into a
ritual of dances and his chant of
"Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood" (Golding 152). Next, he also turns killing a pig into a
ritual. He "jammed the soft throat
down on the pointed end of the stick" (136) and gave it as a sacrifice to
the beast. Finally, his hate for Ralph,
and his want for blood became so great, that he decided to have Ralph
killed. Not only was Ralph to be killed,
but, as the twins put it, "Roger sharpened a stick at both ends"
(190) for Ralph, meaning that Jack planned to sacrifice Ralph's head on a stick
after they were done slaying him.
Clearly, Jack exemplifies evil, and all it can do to someone when they
are within evil's grasp.
Evil is inside everybody, and everybody is
capable of it. Evil is shown through
selfishness, torturing of others, and unjustified murder. Everyone is capable of evil, yet few show
even the slightest bit of what evil is capable of accomplishing. Even if only a few people actually show their
evil side, there is no doubt that evil exists.
If there were no evil, the world would be a paradise, without war and
hate, where everyone would be accepted for who they are, with no exceptions.
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