The question of whether humans are innately good or evil has resonated in society since the days of ancient Greek philosophers and enlightened thinkers. From Plato to Hobbes, from Locke to Rousseau, their ideas about human nature are reflected and debated in texts in our modern world, such as William Golding’s Lord of the Flies and Kahlil Gibran’s “The Prophet”. While both Golding and Gibran depict the good and evil of human nature, Gibran views humans in a much more positive light than Golding. Gibran portrays people as innately good beings whereas Golding’s writing describes evil as fate, and assumes if an individual is not good, they must be evil. Both Gibran and Golding introduce important revelations on the natural good and evil humans
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Gibran agrees with the viewpoint and expresses humans as innately good beings. In each stanza of The Prophet he addresses the reader directly to promote a sense of empowerment. This compels people to agree with the claims he’s making, that “You are good when you are one with yourself. / Yet when you are not with yourself you are not evil” (Gibran 5-6). The repetition of “you” clarifies Gibran’s intention of making the reader feel directly addressed. In a following stanza, he states “You are good when you walk to your goal firmly and with bold steps. / Yet you are not evil when you go thither limping” (Gibran 21-22). Essentially, Gibran is trying to relate to his audience that everyone is always good in their actions, and it is difficult to deviate into evil.. He uses similar structure and sentence beginnings between stanzas to emphasize the point he’s trying to get across, and seems reluctant to describe anyone as evil. He uses a repetitive structure of “You are good.../Yet you are not evil…” (Gibran 5-6, 10-11, 17-18, 21-22) to tell readers they are unquestionably good. Placing “yet” in front of any discussion of evil makes it an uncertain statement, whereas the “you are good” statements are presented as strictly factual. It is clear through the overall structure and word choice of Gibran that he believes people are not born evil and that evil does not exist in the modern …show more content…
By textbook definition, evil means profoundly immoral and malevolent, a statement only some authors would agree upon. The ambiguity of those two words raises a strong debate to which people can fall heavily to one side of the spectrum. Through reading Lord of the Flies and “The Prophet” readers gain insight into how the balance between good and evil is essential to human existence, and how quickly corruption ensues when either force is neglected. Both Gibran and Golding clearly communicate their ideas of good and evil throughout their respective works and despite the many differences, both provide thoughts on the necessary equilibrium between the two sides of human
Gibran agrees with the viewpoint and expresses humans as innately good beings. In each stanza of The Prophet he addresses the reader directly to promote a sense of empowerment. This compels people to agree with the claims he’s making, that “You are good when you are one with yourself. / Yet when you are not with yourself you are not evil” (Gibran 5-6). The repetition of “you” clarifies Gibran’s intention of making the reader feel directly addressed. In a following stanza, he states “You are good when you walk to your goal firmly and with bold steps. / Yet you are not evil when you go thither limping” (Gibran 21-22). Essentially, Gibran is trying to relate to his audience that everyone is always good in their actions, and it is difficult to deviate into evil.. He uses similar structure and sentence beginnings between stanzas to emphasize the point he’s trying to get across, and seems reluctant to describe anyone as evil. He uses a repetitive structure of “You are good.../Yet you are not evil…” (Gibran 5-6, 10-11, 17-18, 21-22) to tell readers they are unquestionably good. Placing “yet” in front of any discussion of evil makes it an uncertain statement, whereas the “you are good” statements are presented as strictly factual. It is clear through the overall structure and word choice of Gibran that he believes people are not born evil and that evil does not exist in the modern …show more content…
By textbook definition, evil means profoundly immoral and malevolent, a statement only some authors would agree upon. The ambiguity of those two words raises a strong debate to which people can fall heavily to one side of the spectrum. Through reading Lord of the Flies and “The Prophet” readers gain insight into how the balance between good and evil is essential to human existence, and how quickly corruption ensues when either force is neglected. Both Gibran and Golding clearly communicate their ideas of good and evil throughout their respective works and despite the many differences, both provide thoughts on the necessary equilibrium between the two sides of human