In this world lies darkness, but so does light. Wherever there is there is evil, there is good. Colum McCann‘s Let the Great World Spin is the manifestation of good vs. evil. The chapter Tag reveals the most. It tells the story of a teenager who takes pictures of graffiti. It’s the reason he enjoys taking the subway to work in his stepfather’s barbershop. Hi favorite graffiti is “the ones you find in the darkness” (168) Because the best art pieces are in the darkness he describes how he barely has any time to take pictures of it. “Lit up by the moving lights of the train and caught for just an instant so that he’s never quite sure if he’s seen them or not” (168). Ultimately he skips work to hunt for new pieces. In the chapter The Ringing
In Robert Cormier’s novel, We All Fall Down, is a young-adult thriller that explores the evil side of humanity through a number of corrupt characters. Cormier, to a large extent, accurately depicts manipulative and dishonest behaviour whilst also showing the evil lurking within the prominent characters of Harry Flowers, Buddy Walker and Mickey Stallings who showcase the dark side of humanity. Cormier explores this through Harry Flower’s manipulative actions that result in the suffering of others. Additionally, the constant dishonest behaviour is shown predominantly through the main protagonist of Buddy Walker, who deceives the one he loves. Cormier continues to depict the evil lurking in society through the theme of appearance
Good and evil have existed since the beginning of mankind. Good defends the righteous, as evil has been bent on destruction. In today’s society, many people believe that good will always triumph over evil. The murderer will eventually be caught by the police; the carjacker will one day meet his doom; the superhero will defeat the evil villain. Simply, in some circumstances, this is not entirely true. Good does not always prevail over evil. This is exceptionally true in the movie No Country for Old Men by the Coen brothers. The dominant theme in the Coen brother’s movie is evil.
Herman Melville’s Billy Budd is a classic tale of innocence and evil. The main force of innocence is constantly attacked by the force of evil until the innocence falters. Through the use of many literary devices, Melville shows how sometimes the obvious results do not always occur when they are being expected. However, he also shows that the force of all that is good and righteous will triumph over evil at the end, even over death.
“Where Worlds Collide” is an essay by Pico Iyer who talks about the expectations and reality of Los Angeles through the perspectives of travelers from different backgrounds. In “Where Worlds Collide,” Pico Iyer argues that even though Los Angeles is depicted as a vicinity to receive wealth, happiness, and many opportunities- it is actually the antithesis, and instead, many harsh prejudice and unending craziness will occur instead; Iyer argues this by using allusions, anaphoras, and juxtapositions to help convey what he is saying.
Robert Louis Stevenson’s Novella “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”, good vs. evil is the biggest theme. This story is seen as a metaphor about the good and evil in everyone, and the struggle of the two sides in everyone’s personality. Since Hyde starts to take over, I could argue that evil is stronger than good. But, Mr. Hyde ends up dying in the end of the story, so I could claim that the good of someone can overcome the evil in you. Overall, Stevenson is trying to communicate with the reader about the balance of good and evil in humans, also that your balance of good and evil has different results/effects in your life.
Jared Diamond is a world renowned scientist, author, Pulitzer Prize winner, and currently a geography professor at UCLA. Of his six books published, we will be looking at the last chapter of his fourth book, Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed. In this book Diamond utilizes the comparative method to find resemblance in past societal collapses with our current society. In the chapter entitled, "The World as Polder: What Does it Mean to Us Today," Diamond points out that there are indeed many parallels between past and present societies and that our modern day society is currently on a path of self destruction , through examples such as globalization and the interdependency of each country.
In the Novel “Something Wicked This Way Comes” by Ray Bradbury, the characters support the Universal Theme of “Good Vs Evil”. The characters are divided into two groups; those who act morally right and are good-hearted, and those who just do not seem to have any sense of empathy and are blinded by selfishness and greed and choose to do harm for no other reason than the thrill of it. The protagonists face a series of battles with themselves and their sense of who they are, as well as against the evil forces. This evilness is reflected on the carnival freaks who constantly use fear and manipulation as a weapon to make all people egotistical and greedy, whereas our good characters utilize laughter, love and friendship to defeat the evil that is acting upon them.
All the light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr, chronicles the lives and relationship between Marie and Werner, two children who grew up in France and Germany. The society around them forces discriminatory ideals that cloud their perception of the world, but they find its meaning through their own self-definition. In this, they are both guided by a single radio and the message and legacy that it contains. Throughout the book, the author isolated the two characters, but also created subtle connections between the two. The most important of which would be the radio. It created a bond between the two where they learned from each other’s experiences and struggles. All the Light We Cannot See recreates a new picture of the world by contrasting the two separate journeys taken by Marie- Laure LeBlanc and Werner Pfennig to gain that image, which is guided by the power of a radio and the message it contains, ultimately leading to the meeting of the two characters that officially forms an image of the world where one’s actions are valued more than one’s physical features.
The conflict of good and evil is a major theme throughout the Lord of the Rings. Light
Within the book, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, written by Madeleine L’Engle, there are aspects of evil everywhere. For example, the Echthroi, which is Greek for “The Enemy” (L’Engle 50), are always at an attempt to stop Charles Wallace Murry and the unicorn, Gaudior, from accomplishing their goal of changing the outcome of the future. They are the biggest form of conflict found within this piece of work. In each of the five people that Charles Wallace went within, he experienced some form of evil. Whether it was pure evil, or hidden within someone, evil is everywhere.
The first chapter of “Let the Great World Spin”, by Colum McCann creates a sense of reuniting. People of all different backgrounds are coming together to watch one man do the unthinkable. “Occasionally, I drop a teacup to shatter on the floor on purpose … Someday, perhaps, that cup will come together” (Hannibal, NBC). The teacup represents a society, breaking free from unity, until some extraordinary occurrence, where the teacup gathers itself back up. McCann’s use of concrete diction, as well as his frequent use of asyndeton accentuates the fragmented tone, and demonstrates how a remarkable event gathers the shards of society.
Gustav Holst (1874-1934) was an English composer well known for his orchestral suite The Planets. Holst began his trip into the musical world as a young pianist. His father, Adolph Holst, was a skilled pianist who wanted Gustav to succeed at playing as he did. Gustav, however, was impaired by neuritis making it difficult to play for long hours. As Gustav aged he began trying to compose music instead. Gustav failed to gain scholarships to any colleges and his father, after hearing one of Gustav’s small town operettas, borrowed money to pay for his college. Gustav’s influences were pieces such as Wagner’s Götterdämmerung and Tristan and
In Name of the Wind, Patrick Rothfuss gives life to The Four Corners of Civilization through his storytelling. Storytelling gives the author an opportunity to show their experiences and reflect their beliefs within the world they are creating. During the time this book was being written, there was the Iraq and Afghanistan War taking place which had been sending many soldiers back home with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Rothfuss parallels this disorder within his book through the main character, Kvothe, when he experiences trauma and he shows how Kvothe copes with the persisting trauma through grief theory, “four doors of the mind” (135) . His four doors of the mind is similar to the Kubler-Ross Model, which is widely accepted by practitioners, but challenges it by believing the mind copes with pain through the central idea of numbing. However, this mindset of categorizing emotions experienced within grief can be destructive behavior towards any griever rather than helping them cope; stages of post-loss grief do not exist.
Evil is a strange subject for people but it is in everyone lives. The Village directed by M. Night Shyamalan and The Crucible by Arthur Miller both explore how evil is perceive to be outside of a society. Both authors agree evil is not just outside of a society but is within a community in the form of human nature. Evil is outside and inside a society and individuals.
The world has always been summoned to a good and bad story on the topic of evil such as