‘Conflict is more often driven by self-interest than genuine sense of right and wrong.’ The Quiet American

The general statement made by the author, Anna Quindlen, in her work Getting Involved, is that it is vital for human beings to be apathetic, and care for one another. More specifically, the author argues that isolating oneself from local conflict will not resolve any issues. She writes, “Neighbors heard screams and shouts and the unmistakable sound of something hitting a human being…But nothing was really done until…[the] little girl was taken to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead.” In this passage, the author is suggesting that being a bystander is detrimental and can lead to severe, preventable outcomes. In conclusion, the author’s belief is a topic that need to be spoken upon more often, the society is in desperate need of compassion

The Bystander effect is a controversial theory given to social phenomenon where the more potential helpers there are, the less likely any individual is to help. A traditional explanation for this Bystander Effect is that responsibility diffuses across the multiple bystanders, diluting the responsibility of each. (Kyle et al.) The Bystander effect, also known as the Genovese Syndrome, was created after the infamous murder of “Kitty” Catherine Genovese in 1964, on the streets of New York in front of thirty-seven witnesses. After studying the Genovese syndrome and doing research on how this phenomenon occurs today, it is clear The Bystander effect is not theory, but actually fact.

Every 9 seconds in the US a woman is assaulted or beaten. The sad part about it is that many will never admit to it or acknowledge this fact. Along with the previously stated point, Sandra also talks about just how used to violence the children of Mango Street are. They don't flinch anymore when they hear sirens because they are accustomed to them. Many want to escape, but often are incapable of doing so on their own. Sally tries to escape and be her own person, yet she is shut down when no one helps her do so. As Americans it is the citizen’s duty to make this

In each of us, two natures are at war- the good and the evil, and one most conquer. But in our own h

On March 13, 1964, a woman named Kitty Genovese was stabbed repeatedly while several neighbors were vaguely aware of the unfolding events occurring outside. The lack of action on the neighbors’ part led to Genovese dying shortly after. Why did Kitty Genovese’s neighbors fail to take action quickly?

Moreover, he reminds readers that if we continue to stand idly by and neglect helping others rather than showing mercy and understanding for others, as the author himself puts it, “We are all implicated when we allow other people to be mistreated. An absence of compassion can corrupt the decency of a community, a state, a nation. Fear and anger can make us vindictive and abusive, unjust and unfair, until we all suffer from the absence of mercy and we condemn ourselves as much as we victimize others” (18). This ultimately brings fear and anger to a community towards the very same individuals that have sworn an oath to protect them, but instead are the cause of pain and suffering. By continuing to suffer from the absence of mercy, we are blinded by hate for those who wronged us and desperate our search for retribution in hope that it will bring us comfort. This results in the unfair convictions of many innocent and helpless individuals, as well as our remorse that will haunt us forever.

Throughout the war, many tend to lose their humanity because of the traumatizing experiences that the war can bring upon a person. Some tend to follow these norms of a wartime society through bloodthirst, while others try to retain their compassion in order to keep their sanity. The author describes this lack of ethicality in Mary Anne’s justification of unapologetically murdering innocent people, by saying that it makes her “feel close” to herself because she has found exactly who she is through this experience (106). By saying that she feels “close” to herself, Mary Anne is suggesting that regardless of the fear that she experiences and at the cost of her morals, she will do whatever it takes

It is a challenge to reconcile human beliefs in compassion and morality with the actions, or inactions, of bystanders in the Holocaust. How is it possible that hundreds of thousands of people stood by while millions faced pain and suffering? Before exonerating or condemning all of them, it is necessary to consider the differences in bystanders. For the context of the Holocaust, a bystander is someone who was neither a target of the Nazis or a Nazi themselves. Putting all of these people in the same group is an oversimplification, because it ignores the power system in place during the Holocaust and the various positions of bystanders in that system. The wealthy business owner is not the same as the working-class mother of four. In this situation, one has considerable power and ability, and the other does not. Applying a blanket statement, and calling the latter unjust when they are ordinary people in a time of horrific war is contrary to reason. It is also necessary to consider the extent of bystander’s actions. Have their actions merely helped to ensure their own survival, or do they directly hurt Holocaust victims? The magnitude of each situation is varied. In conclusion, to gauge the morality of a bystander’s actions, they need to be judged on an individual basis, with two qualities in mind: that person’s ability to act and the effect of their actions.

Kitty Genovese was a woman from New York City who was stabbed to death three separate times outside her apartment building in Kew Gardens. The first two times being outside her apartment, and finally finishing her off the assailant returned stabbing her on the floor at the foot of the stairs. Much controversy arose from the Kitty Genovese murder, due to how public the murder was, and how no one stood up for her, or even alerted the police. After Kitty Genovese’s murder, questions began to arise, why didn't anyone take action, how was the assailant able to stab her three times in public, and why weren't the police or ambulances called sooner? All these questions could be answered by a syndrome, titled after the Kitty Genovese murder, as the “Bystander Effect”.

“Human nature is complex. Even if we do have inclinations toward violence, we also have inclination to empathy, to cooperation, to self-control” (Pinker). This quote by Steven Pinker couldn’t be more true. The nature of man is a constant fight between good and evil. However, people can be compelled to act against their instincts with the request from another.

Throughout life people face countless decisions; however, making the wrong choice may lead to a catastrophic consequence. As a woman was being brutally stabbed in Kew Gardens near Austin Street, numerous bystanders did not help or act upon calling the police. The choice of the bystanders to not phone the police lead to the death of an innocent woman. Had just one of the thirty-eight people called the police, that innocent woman would still have breath in her lungs. In the article “Thirty-Eight Who Saw Murder Didn’t Call the Police,” Martin Gansberg expresses his anger and disapproval toward those who left a poor woman to die. If the thirty-eight people took immediate action and did not make excuses, the precious life of Catherine Genovese would have been rescued.

Throughout history, there have been many human beings whom have been seen as either a hero or a villain. In their childhood, these people must had obstacles that were in their way, causing each individual to either work harder or give up. People, however; must understand that each individual has a potential in achieving their goals, but if one is mistreated or deceived due to jealousy, resentment, hatred, or ambition, it can lead to many catastrophic events. People who have pride and arrogance do not want to have equals, rather they want to see their victims suffer. These people have no difficulty in achieving their goals due to the fact that their victims have too innocent a nature to suspect the nefarious motives of their enemies. In

The atrocity of acts committed by mankind throughout history demonstrates the dangerous results when society is unable to restrain the natural evil present in human beings. The words ‘humane’, and ‘civilized’, both come from roots that describe society. Their positive connotations associate humankind with an inherent morality. But it is hard to have faith in our race when throughout history; we have brutalized each other in such barbaric ways. How can independently thinking, emotionally compassionate beings take part in massacres like the killings at Columbine or in the terrorist attacks in 2001? The September 11th bombings took thousands of innocent lives, and struck fear into the hearts of millions. What shocked the observing world though, was not the number of dead. It was the senselessness of the cause, the raw savagery of the attacks, the utter lack of humanity. It begged the question: what happens when the moderating hand of society fails to restrain a group of radicals? The answer was simple. We saw the innate evil present in each one of us, in its undistilled, uncensored form. The Columbine killers, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, were disillusioned bullies- torn away from society’s expectations through a combination of violence tendencies and psychosis. Their horrific acts were a result of their innate evil nature breaking through the wall of societal structure. Golding’s contention was that in most cases, rules were forced

It is hard to reconcile our belief in compassion and morality with the actions, or inactions, of bystanders in the Holocaust. How is it possible that hundreds of thousands of people stood by while millions faced pain and suffering? For the context of the Holocaust, a bystander is someone who was neither a target of the Nazis or a Nazi themself. Before exonerating or condemning all of them, it is necessary to consider the differences in bystanders. Putting all of the bystanders in the same group is an oversimplification, because it ignores the power system in place during the Holocaust and the various positions of bystanders in that system. The wealthy business owner is not the same as the working-class mother of four. In this situation, one has considerable power and ability, and the other is much more limited. It is hard to make a blanket statement and call the latter unjust when they are ordinary people in a time of horrific war. It is also necessary to consider the extent of bystander’s actions. Do their actions merely help to ensure their own survival, or do they directly hurt Holocaust victims? To gauge the morality of a bystander’s actions, they need to be judged on an individual basis, with two qualities in mind: that person’s ability to act and the effect of their actions.

Every society and culture has different ways of interpreting and defining occurrences by the way their own culture or society functions. “A society’s culture, consists of whatever it is one has to know or believe in order to operate in a manner acceptable to its members”(Geertz 242). The rituals, customs, ethics and morals that are attributed to the cultures have caused these differences. To understand how the people of one culture interpret a situation or event, one must evaluate the attributes that a culture has. The criteria that an event is based on changes as one culture applies their own ideas to the given situation. Heroism and violation are two concepts that are easily misinterpreted depending on culture’s ideals. Since cultures