The novel Sweet Reckoning by Wendy Higgins may seem like a typical young adult fiction story to those who do not read deeper into the story. However, upon examination, an important life lesson can be extracted from this book. In this series, the main character Anna Whitt discovers that she is half-demon and half-angel. Following this realization, she struggles with the good and evil inside of her. At the end of this novel, Anna comes to terms with who she is with the encouragement from her boyfriend Kaidan and accepts that being part demon does not deem her as an evil person. Anna’s acceptance of this has a strong connection to the poem “Good and Evil XXII” by Kahlil Gibran.
Gibran’s poem discusses precisely what is stated in the title—good and evil. The man speaking in this poem states that he cannot talk about the evil inside someone because all that he sees is goodness. The man then explains throughout several examples that a lacking of good does not equate evil. This thought process is similar to what Anna underwent as she tried to justify herself and some of her actions. For example, when Anna was …show more content…
The solid structure signifies how people incorrectly assume that everything is either wholly good or wholly evil. This is acknowledged in the first line of the poem where it is written that “...one of the elders of the city said, "Speak to us of Good and Evil." The speaker in the poem responds by stating he can talk only about good, not evil. While the man explains what is “good” and what is “not evil”, it can be inferred that the man does not see evil as a pure thing. Anything that someone does, the man argues that it was not done just for the sake of being evil and that there is a reason behind it that has traces of good. By creating such a strong difference between format and meaning, Gibran emphasizes his point that nothing is
Gibran’s poem discusses precisely what is stated in the title—good and evil. The man speaking in this poem states that he cannot talk about the evil inside someone because all that he sees is goodness. The man then explains throughout several examples that a lacking of good does not equate evil. This thought process is similar to what Anna underwent as she tried to justify herself and some of her actions. For example, when Anna was …show more content…
The solid structure signifies how people incorrectly assume that everything is either wholly good or wholly evil. This is acknowledged in the first line of the poem where it is written that “...one of the elders of the city said, "Speak to us of Good and Evil." The speaker in the poem responds by stating he can talk only about good, not evil. While the man explains what is “good” and what is “not evil”, it can be inferred that the man does not see evil as a pure thing. Anything that someone does, the man argues that it was not done just for the sake of being evil and that there is a reason behind it that has traces of good. By creating such a strong difference between format and meaning, Gibran emphasizes his point that nothing is