“You know evil from experiencing it” (“Amityville: Horror or Hoax”)
George Lutz made a very convincing statement about his experiences facing an “evil” presence that tormented his family which he spoke very in very great detail on an episode of History’s Mysteries documentary show when they featured the show “Amityville: Horror or Hoax. Although it is logical to assume that the force of evil “is diabolical and preordained reflects a view of the world in which mysterious, unseen forces are locked in a battle to shape and determine human behavior” it is also a unique method of bringing some sense of understanding to its existence (Hollander 49) . Evil is definitely a force that has been written about and described more than quite a few
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While I sat down to read Charlotte Bronte’s 1853 novel Villette, I began to notice some elements within the context of the work that made me begin to rethink my hypothesis that the Victorians did not write anything about the supernatural. As a researcher of the paranormal, I was completely and utterly stunned as to my findings that Villette was indeed a novel filled with references to the realms of the unearthly. I began to imagine methods by which I can show some connections of supernatural elements between Charlotte Bronte’s Villette and Jay Anson’s The Amityville Horror. My obvious intent of finding the connections between these two works written during two different time periods seemed to become the focus of my research into something that I found the results of my investigation to be very intriguing. My proposal for this examination in the essence of understanding the “evil” presence that surrounds the characters in both Bronte’s and Anson’s novels is bring forth some perspectives that may give light as to the cause of these supernatural occurrences in both works. I would like to investigate into the matter that the character of Lucy Snowe in the Charlotte Bronte’s novel Villette was not only figuratively “haunted” by forces brought on through some kind of repression because of the limitations of her job as a governess. Lucy’s
When I think of the concept of “evil,” I think of The Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius. In The Consolation of Philosophy, Lady Philosophy stated:
Within the specter of the Gothic fictions arises the atmosphere of gloom, terror, and mystery with some elements of uncanny challenging reality. One major characteristic function of the Gothic fictions is to open the fiction to the realm of the irrational and perverse narratives, obsessions, and nightmarish terrors that hide beneath the literally civilized mindset in order to demonstrate the presence of the uncanny existing in the world known rationally through experience. At certain points, the interactions between the conventions of the Gothic fictions with other thematic, ideological, and/or symbolic functions of the narrative would rather be challenging. However, though the analysis of Jane Eyre written by
“The Enlightenment” or “Age of Reason”, was a period roughly around 1685 to 1815 during which, movements such as the rise of empiricism, natural philosophy and modern scientific inventions were quite prevalent - especially preceding and during the Victorian era. Literature written within the Victorian period of 1837 to 1901 was largely influenced by these movements and often portrayed an opposition or alignment towards them. Dracula and Frankenstein can be great examples, both written during, or slightly after “The Enlightenment” and Victorian era, while being great examples of “Gothic Fiction”. As such, today’s discussion will summarize the way in which Victorian literature - specifically Dracula and Frankenstein - were both influenced by movements during the “The Enlightenment”.
The reason that we even have an experience of a perceived evil is because for the soul to experience itself as any particular thing, the exact opposite of that thing must come into the realm of existence. In other words, in this relative existence, hot cannot be hot without cold, darkness cannot be without light, and you cannot be you without that which is not you. So I believe that what we call evil is just the opposite end of the spectrum of good, not something separate.
The most influential definition of evil is nicely summarised by Swinburne proclaimed when discussing about evil, context is very important factors to consider when talking about the subject of evil he said evil include physical pain, for
In Charlotte Brontë's novel, Villette, Brontë strategically uses the brutality and magnitude of thunder storms to propel her narrator, Lucy Snowe, into unchartered social territories of friendship and love. In her most devious act, the fate of Lucy and M. Paul is clouded at the end of the novel by an ominous and malicious storm. By examining Brontë's manipulation of two earlier storms which echo the scope and foreboding of this last storm -- the storm Lucy encounters during her sickness after visiting confession and the storm which detains her at Madame Walravens' abode -- the reader is provided with a way in which to understand the vague and despairing ending.
To say that someone or somethings is evil, we first need to understand what evil is, and if it even exist. Evil according to the dictionary means malevolent or wicked. So yes evil exists, but can we be truly evil? Yes, the deeds we do can be evil, but does that make us evil? To answer these questions, we look to psychopathes, historical politicians, and psychological experiments to really find out if someone can really be evil.
Understanding evil and how it works is very important and is all over the world and can never be truly explained from one point of view. “Padrica Cain Hill, former bank teller, Washington mother and wife, dresses her three children one morning, makes breakfast for them, smokes some crack cocaine and lets the kids watch cartoons. Then with a clothesline she strangles eight-year-old Kristine and four-year-old Eric Jr. She tries to strangle two-year-old Jennifer, but leaves the girl still breathing softly on the floor. When the police come, Padrica Hill says she loves her children. Why did she kill them? ‘I don’t know,’ she answers in apparently genuine bewilderment. ‘I hadn’t planned on it’.”(Morrow) Morrow gives numerous examples that are both vague and real life events that define evil and how it brings out the good which makes you think that evil isn’t as bad as it seems. “Does the good become meaningless in a world without evil?”(Morrow) Evil is just a matter of perspective and can take any
There are many different theories on evil. Many philosophers have debated for countless hours over the topic of evil. Sigmund Freud, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Friedrich Nietzsche were all great philosophers who had many theories on where evil came from and what evil really is. Using their concepts and ideas, the topic of evil seems more understandable. However, the topic of evil’s exact definition and source are still heavily debated and considered a very controversial topic.
What is Evil? What is this ominous being that is so greatly represented as evil, something that one views as different and in their opinion as bad or unjust. Something that causes fear in the hearts of the victim or the witness. Something that causes people or even animals, as animals and insects can feel fear as well, to have a feeling that it is better to avoid that object that of which is causing this dangerous aura of fear. In many scenarios, eventually this fear becomes too great, that people finally can’t face it anymore and take a stand.
True Evil Evil is all around, at every moment, it’s just a matter of how it chooses to come out and what side of the story one may stand on. Views on evil may range from seeing it as a plague, or used as an instrument, it puts fear into people’s minds to keep them in order. Others may believe there is no good without evil so they go hand in hand. It seems there are so many views on evil it may just be a perspective, as Thomas Hobbes theory states man level good and evil to things they desire, own, hate, or disagree with. Theories like Sigmund Freud also explain desire leads to the opportunity of evil, if taken over it may cause a person to act in a beastly way to get what they want for example power.
To understand evil we must first understand the concept that good and evil are term or words referring to what one given individuals believes to be the right and wrong thing to do. Good, many times
Jane Eyre, one of Charlotte Brontë’s most renowned pieces of work, secures a relentless connection between the reader and novel even in its most quiescent moments. The convoluted, but compelling relationship between the young Jane and tortured Rochester is utterly enticing, and leaves it’s observers breathless at the poetic phrases exchanged between the two. Inside the inner workings of this gothic love story the reader is exposed to constant acts of familial, and romantic betrayal that transform the emotional condition of the novel and the perspectives of Jane. After the death of Jane’s charitable uncle, she fell victim to her Aunt and cousins endless acts of vicious cruelty.
I believe that evil is just a good that took a wrong turn. First of all, to validate this argument we have to set rules about good and God, yes God is all powerful and good, but do not forget that when it comes to the aspect of morality, God gave us free will, and this Is extremely
Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre emerges with a unique voice in the Victorian period for the work posits itself as a sentimental novel; however, it deliberately becomes unable to fulfill the genre, and then, it creates an altogether divergent novel that demonstrates its superiority by adding depth of structure in narration and character portrayal. Joan D. Peters’ essay, Finding a Voice: Towards a Woman’s Discourse of Dialogue in the Narration of Jane Eyre positions Gerard Genette’s theory of convergence, which is that the movement of the fiction towards a confluence of protagonist and narrator, is limited as the argument does not fully flesh out the parodies that Charlotte Bronte incorporates into her work. I will argue that in the novel