A popular argument between people is: Are people good or evil? This is very difficult to answer because it is hard to define what is good and what is evil. Our population is 7 billion, 420 million and most people should be hard pressed to think that over 3.5 billion people in this world are evil. In sophomore level english II, students read Macbeth by William Shakespeare and Lord of the Flies by William Golding. They also examine the articles “The Psychology of Evil” By Philip Zimbardo, “What Makes Good People Do Bad Things?” by Melissa Dittman, and “The Moral Economy of Guilt.” by Wilfred McClay. Despite the fact that some of our writing in the history shows humans as evil, humans are basically good because evil is purely situational and guilt proves we are not evil.
Even though historical writing may perceive humans to be evil, the majority of people are good and evil is purely situational. In the writing Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, Shakespeare creates greedy, power hungry, selfish characters. This can be seen in the character Lady Macbeth. She pressures Macbeth into performing violent acts solely out of …show more content…
It is purely situational that we move across to the evil side. In “The Psychology of Evil,” Philip Zimbardo states “The line between good and evil is permeable. Any of us can move across it. We all have the capacity for love and evil, it is the situation that pulls it out.” Zimbardo is stating that in a bad situation, no matter how good we were before, a rotten situation can pull the worst out of everyone. “The world, the understandable lawful world, was slipping away.” (Golding) The boys in the Lord of The Flies had lived in such a controlled, safe world before-hand where there was no pressure and reason to be evil. However, when they were isolated on the island, they were forced into a desperate situation. Nothing was the same, and all humans have a breaking point. Evil is the Presence of a bad
Even though historical writing may perceive humans to be evil, the majority of people are good and evil is purely situational. In the writing Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, Shakespeare creates greedy, power hungry, selfish characters. This can be seen in the character Lady Macbeth. She pressures Macbeth into performing violent acts solely out of …show more content…
It is purely situational that we move across to the evil side. In “The Psychology of Evil,” Philip Zimbardo states “The line between good and evil is permeable. Any of us can move across it. We all have the capacity for love and evil, it is the situation that pulls it out.” Zimbardo is stating that in a bad situation, no matter how good we were before, a rotten situation can pull the worst out of everyone. “The world, the understandable lawful world, was slipping away.” (Golding) The boys in the Lord of The Flies had lived in such a controlled, safe world before-hand where there was no pressure and reason to be evil. However, when they were isolated on the island, they were forced into a desperate situation. Nothing was the same, and all humans have a breaking point. Evil is the Presence of a bad