Evil, in its many forms, is present throughout the stories and poems that we have read this term. This essay will focus on the different kinds of evil presented in The Third Man and the works of Edger Allen Poe. The types of evil discussed in this essay will range from what will later be defined as pure evil, all the way to evil temptations. Evil is defined as profoundly immoral and malevolent, to better understand this definition one must understand the concept of morality. Morality is a concept that is shared by beings with human like intelligence and while some animals may show signs of intelligence, none have the comprehensive skills to understand the basic difference between right and wrong. This being said, young children do not have
…show more content…
This means that the entire concept of morality was created by humans with an understanding of social interactions within their culture. Since, different cultures could have different social norms, what may by courteous in some cultures may be inappropriate in others. For example, in some middle eastern countries burping after a meal is considered a complement where as in American culture it is considered rude to burp in polite company. With this example in mind what is moral and immoral may be different depending on the culture that one is in. This not only means that what is moral and therefore what is evil is subjective, but it is also flawed, because humans are flawed so in order to properly and definitively define what is moral and what is evil is quite the endeavor. Regardless of one’s culture a few finite concepts of morality can be said provided that one’s basic needs of survival are met: one should be …show more content…
A being like this is a menace to society not because they have to or because that’s just how they survive, a being like this feels a sense of self-actualization when they are being evil and would feel lost if they could not be evil. To quote Alfred from the film The Dark Knight, “Some men just want to watch the world burn”, this can be said for beings of true evil like the Joker or Darth Vader. While a being of pure evil cannot be found in The Third Man such and entity can be found in Edgar Allan Poe’s poem The Raven. In The Raven the entity of pure evil is mysterious in that it is not clear if it is the Raven or the narrator’s own subconscious. This can be better explained by this quote,
“’Prophet!’” said I, ‘thing of evil!—prophet still, if bird or devil!—
Whether Tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore, Desolate yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted— On this home by Horror haunted—tell me truly, I
This means that the entire concept of morality was created by humans with an understanding of social interactions within their culture. Since, different cultures could have different social norms, what may by courteous in some cultures may be inappropriate in others. For example, in some middle eastern countries burping after a meal is considered a complement where as in American culture it is considered rude to burp in polite company. With this example in mind what is moral and immoral may be different depending on the culture that one is in. This not only means that what is moral and therefore what is evil is subjective, but it is also flawed, because humans are flawed so in order to properly and definitively define what is moral and what is evil is quite the endeavor. Regardless of one’s culture a few finite concepts of morality can be said provided that one’s basic needs of survival are met: one should be …show more content…
A being like this is a menace to society not because they have to or because that’s just how they survive, a being like this feels a sense of self-actualization when they are being evil and would feel lost if they could not be evil. To quote Alfred from the film The Dark Knight, “Some men just want to watch the world burn”, this can be said for beings of true evil like the Joker or Darth Vader. While a being of pure evil cannot be found in The Third Man such and entity can be found in Edgar Allan Poe’s poem The Raven. In The Raven the entity of pure evil is mysterious in that it is not clear if it is the Raven or the narrator’s own subconscious. This can be better explained by this quote,
“’Prophet!’” said I, ‘thing of evil!—prophet still, if bird or devil!—
Whether Tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore, Desolate yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted— On this home by Horror haunted—tell me truly, I