Comparing Bad Guys

“Killing Mr. Griffin,” written by Lois Duncan is a novel involving a group of teenage students at a New Mexico high school who seem to all despise their English teacher due to several aspects of his negative likewise rude personality. In an effort to gain the respect they believe they deserve, the students kidnap Mr. Griffin, their teacher. However, events do not follow as planned, leaving Mr. Griffin dead. A film was produced based on Lois Duncan’s novel in 1997, which shared the same title, and a similar plot.

How can you tell if a “bad guy”--the villain, the monster, the thief--is necessarily a bad guy? Is it by the images they choose to ink on their skin? Their crooked smile, or maybe perhaps the way they like to crack their knuckles? Maybe it’s just their attire: it’s too dark, too scary. And what of their eyes? There’s something there...something about the way they’re placed, something about how they flicker and gleam with every mention of what they desire. But what of their feelings? The ever-circling wheels of emotions from deep inside that manage to control the raging tides of life? Do they not care like we do?

The world can make or break us, but it depends on if they let society change your way of life and being. Innocence is a trait that we are born with they do not have enough knowledge to act in evil. It is the way people are raised, society and even human nature that enhances a negative toll on people.

Discerning good from evil is a particularly common theme in the present society, considering that it basically stands as a storyline for a series of books, motion pictures, video games, and similar concepts. Moreover, most of these products set clear definitions of the difference between good and evil by focusing on portraying evil as being associated with stereotypes. Similarly, good is associated with ideas such as honesty, the color white, or beauty, considering that these are stereotypes generally associated with the forces of good. Even with this, such stereotypes have made it difficult for people to have a complex understanding of the concept of morality.

This is seen in Paul D, who loses his sense of self worth and place, in Denver, who loses the joy of companionship, and Sethe, who loses the line of morality when it comes to how far she should go in her love for her family. As a result, these characters act out just as cruely in order to protect what it precious, proving that when a person is the vicitim of a heinous crime, they do everything in their power to protect themselves or others and prevent the same acts from ever happening

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. In the novels Dracula and The Strange Case of Dr.Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the authors explore the human nature of good and evil in men from different perspectives of Dracula, Mr. Hyde and Dr. Jekyll.

“There are too many people, and too few human beings.” (Robert Zend) Even though there are many people on this planet, there are very few civilized people. Most of them are naturally savaged. In the book, Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, boys are stranded on an island far away, with no connections to the adult world. These children, having no rules, or civilization, have their true nature exposed. Not surprisingly, these children’s nature happens to be savagery. Savagery can clearly be identified in humans when there are no rules, when the right situation arouses, and finally when there is no civilization around us.

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.

This is shown in The Lord of the Flies by watching the boys on the island transform from good boys to killers. Situations like this would rather be kept in the realm of fiction, but the Stanford Prison Experiment shows that good, normal people can become cruel. Throughout the whole book, a beast is mentioned, that turns out to be the evil inside every person. This beast shows the reader that no matter what, evil can never truly be escaped. Sadly, every single person that is living and breathing has an ability to do wrong, and hurt their brothers and sisters, but what is done with that capability determines the kind of person one strives to

We are all born with a God-given moral compass, but not everyone chooses to use it. Many people have differing opinions on good and evil in the world, but they are often misunderstood. In the book The Round House by Louise Erdrich, Father Travis and Linden Lark have different worldviews on good and evil, which influence protagonist, Joe Coutt’s, actions and the development of his sense of right and wrong. Throughout the book, Joe must learn difficult lessons regarding morality that will greatly affect his future, depending on what decision he makes: good or evil.

For example, the father of the family, Bailey, who show that he does not care too much about anything and that he doesn’t treat his mother kindly. In fact, he ignores her most of the time and shows her little to no respect. In addition, he does not discipline his kids and continuously lets them talk back and disrespect him, as well as other people. We are also introduced to Red Sammy, who seems like he was the only male figure closest to a “good man”, but when his wife looks at him and tells the grandmother that she can’t trust anyone, it makes you think twice about his character. Also, we have the son, John Wesley, who is rude, obnoxious, and loud. The misfit, who seemed to be a good man, turned out to be the worst of them all, murdering the whole family, that including an innocent baby. The grandmother makes reference to the title multiple times throughout the story, by telling Red

THEME: The line between good and evil is sometimes unclear, and as a result, people often think that they are doing the right thing when it is actually the wrong action, and vice versa.

Flannery O’Connor’s short story, “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” focuses on the contrast between “good” and “evil.” Through the characterization of the Grandmother and The Misfit, O’Connor reveals that in reality there are no drastic differences between the two, only that one has already come to accept his fate and the other is still blinded by her own selfish ways. From the beginning, the true nature of the Grandmother begins to unfold. It is evident that she will say just about anything to get her way, only she’ll do it in a manner that illustrates her as one whose sole purpose is to look out for her family, “See here...this fellow that calls himself the misfit is aloose from the Federal Pen and headed toward Florida… I wouldn’t take my children in any direction with a criminal aloose like that… I couldn’t answer to my own conscience if I did.”(117) O’Connor’s use of the word “conscience” leads the reader to believe that the Grandmother has good morals and values, but upon further investigation it’s evident that this “good” only runs so deep. At first glance, this moment can be perceived as one filled with sincere fear on the grandmothers part, however, the chances of the family actually running into a loose criminal on a family road trip is one in a million. Which leads to the conclusion that the Grandmothers sole intention is to scare her son into submission, so that she may go to Tennessee to visit her old friends. Nearing the end of the family’s life, the Grandmother’s

The upward comparison that you used was great! It made a great deal of sense to use this comparison when talking about your friend being the better southern cooker and more organized. According to the lecture, social comparisons help us to learn about ourselves by comparing ourselves to others (Lesson 5 What is the "self" P1 , 2016). It seems as if you found out that you are not as good of a southern cooker or as organized as your friend by comparing yourself to her. The goal to be a good southern wife helped to support your comparison as well. I am glad that you have a wonderful friend like Mel. We all need people who helps, encourage, teaches us new things, and helping us reach higher limits. It seems as Mel is a true friend.

Good vs Evil, a very common topic, is highly portrayed in the thriller novel titled Salem’s Lot written by Stephen King. The idea is interpreted by a multitude of characters- Ben Mears, Jimmy Cody, Father Callahan, Matthew Burke, Mark Petrie, Susan Norton, a lot of townspeople, R. T. Straker, and a man named and goes by Bowler. As we all know and tell by the photo on the left, the novel is all about vampires. R. T. Staker and Bowler are both equally evil, however, Bowler is the leading vampire and Straker is his loyal human servant, Most of the townspeople were good but were forced or chosen to be evil by becoming vampires, the 5 other characters- Ben, Jimmy, Father Callahan, Matthew, Mark, and Susan are generally good. Ben, was a novelist