Thursday, February 6, 2014
A Return to "Evil."
At the beginning of the year we wrote some blog posts exploring how
concepts of "evil," threat, fear and desire are dramatized in stories
like Dracula. Now we're returning to these ideas as we get ready to
read Shakespeare's Macbeth. For this blog post, discuss and explore the
ideas of "evil," fear and desire in our culture: you can focus on one
concept or you could discuss how the three concepts interrelate or
reinforce each other. What is "evil"? What kinds of things do we fear
or desire, and why? Why are these things so deeply ingrained in us?
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In my opinion, evil can be something done, something not seen, and something said. More often then not, evil is morally wrong. It is the opposite of something that was taught to us when we were going up. We were taught to do things that were kind, and then when we got older its the opposite of things that we usually end up doing.
ReplyDeleteWe fear the dark, things unknown, and sometimes the future. We probably do not realize half the things that are evil to us until we are faced with it head on. Evil things are ingrained in us as evil because we were taught the right things, now that evil is against us we tremble to resolve the issue.
Evil is something that people tend to confuse a lot. When referring to the word "evil" we as humans, tend to think of it, as something we do, that isn't right. However, evil can be obscure, intentional or sometimes through words. When going from the stage of child to teenage, we learn many things that when we were little, we didn't; because we were thought how to do things with common sense, and what sounds right, and not to follow your instincts. And when we start to see that the evil is something we don't want, but it's something we end up doing, we get scared, and we don't know how to react to it. I feel like people lean into the "evil"side of their hearts, because they don't know how to react to the good side, they don't know what to expect from something that is meant to do good. On the other hand, our uncontrollable fears tend to connect with the evil, which makes us do things that aren't very nice. All of us have the fear of death, but yet, we don't do anything to stop them. And that's what makes us worse in understanding the concept of fear, and bad and evil, because every time we do something wrong, we just make it worse, because evil build up to evil, equals more evil. Until one person decides to go against the evil and not tremble when having to confront it, we will be able to solve the problem. I guess all it takes to stop the evil, is to be able to not fear it and it's consequences.
ReplyDeleteEvil to me is ruthless cruelty. Someone who can do something so unarguably morally wrong without guilt or qualm is someone who I would consider evil. I think people are so fascinated by the aspects of evil nature because to be that heartless and that stone cold is inhuman. In our society, we are taught as children to share and be kind and help others. It's in our nature to want to protect and help the weak, and to see or hear of someone who has no desire to do the same is twisted and unimaginable, which is why we are so fixated on Good vs. Evil. I believe we have more good in this world than evil, but evil is so ruthless that its often a struggle. People fear evil for that very reason: it's so strong and unrelenting. Nothing will stop pure evil from getting what it desires unless it is terminated, and doing that can make the good feel guilty. Should an evil person be killed for killing someone? That is downright hypocrisy. So how are we as a society to go about such things? Deciding what is evil and what punishment is suitable for the crime. Unfortunately, I don't think we will ever be able to come to a consensus as long as evil exists.
ReplyDeleteGood vs. Evil is a topic in every day life. Whether we experience it while reading a book or watching a movie, or deciding what is morally right when making a decision in real life. I feel that we all have a choice when it comes down to it, to make the right or wrong decision, but our minds were taught at a young age what is the right way to behave and what isn't. But so many people are temped by evil and willingly fall into the temptation. In my opinion this is cause by several different factors, one being TV. When children watch TV shows and they see the "bad guy" do something, they automatically assume that it's ok to take the same actions as the fictional character they are watching. Although children are quickly corrected on this false assumption, teenagers are much more difficult to pursued from evil temptations. It is known that most teens rebel in an attempt to have more freedom and be more independent. While trying to achieve this however, some may lean towards wrong decisions purposely. This shows that even though it is in our nature to make the good/right decisions, as we were taught, we still have the free will to make bad choices and do so at times for our own selfish desires. Criminals are just an example of good vs. evil where someone knowingly choosing evil. The struggle between good and evil will always exist just because of the constant influence of society around us and also the free will to make the choices we please.
ReplyDeleteEvil- one who posses malevolent, immoral, and wicked traits. We all deal with evil people, objects, and places one time or another in our lifetime but what could be evil to one of us could be perfectly normal to another. Some of our own evils are brought into our mind by the remembrance of a traumatic event in our lives. Some examples of evil in our culture today could be seen as objects or people that terrify or bring out our darkest fears that we hold deep down in ourselves. Desire and fear go hand in hand with evil because fear and desire is what makes up evilness. Fear alone is a concept that truly scares or frightens us, while desire is the strong want for something that we may not be able to have. Together these concepts create something that can not be explained in words, something that doesn't not feel guilt or sympathy.
ReplyDeleteEvil is quite the powerful subject that has had quite the impact on our culture. Nothing ever really starts out being malignant. Usually an opposite force will act upon an individual person thought or idea and manipulate it to the point that it becomes frightening to others. Everything starts out innocent until manipulated, just as everyone is innocent until proven guilty in the eyes of the law. Fear, desire and evil itself seem to actually be the manipulating forces that turn those to maniacal doings. When someone experiences fear, they may feel terrified that if they themselves do not become a monster, then one will surely come and get them. When desire is the culprit, someone may feel they need to change themselves to appeal to the eyes of someone they admire to just feel the need to impress. When evil itself is the thing responsible for turning someone to its ways, it’s sort of a combination of desire and fear at work. The power of evil can seem so strong and so threatening that you almost cannot resist its ways. Evil has been ingrained in all of us because everyone at some point has felt it creep up in their own character. Everyone has their own evil, something about them that has been changed by the world around them. No one is innocent once the world has gotten to them. In fact, beyond a certain age, I would say that we are all a little evil on the inside.
ReplyDeleteThe concepts of evil, fear, and desire dominate our culture today. I feel that too many people live life in fear that something bad or evil is going to happen to them. Evil can represent many things in my eyes. I believe that evil is anything that is bad and intending harm, whether it be physical or emotional. Evil can be seen by all or not by anyone. Evil is the thing that scares the life out of people. People desire a happy life but if evil intends to counter that then the person will just have to persevere through it. To me evil things are what cause the human emotion of fear. People fear things in real life and by seeing stuff on television. Our culture shows evil acts everyday on the news. It almost feels like our culture wants us to fear certain things, so that we do what our governments want us to. What is considered evil is almost always considered the bad thing rather than a good thing. Evil is something that goes on in our world every day and there is simply no way of controlling that. What we can control is how we deal with acts of evil that are presented to us. The US as a country always deals with acts of evil in a very respectable manner. We are a feared country by others and we instill fear into them, as television shows do into us. Evil is a horrible thing, but it can be overcome or destroyed.
ReplyDeleteAn act of evil can be defined by the motive and intent of the person; an act of evil is committed out of hatred, cruelty, selfishness, greed, and disregard for the well being of other and the lack of consideration for the overall good. Evil takes root in people through the conductance of these acts and to be an evil person is to be consumed by these villainous motives and to act out vindictively, vengefully or maliciously. Through acts of evil only comes destruction and despair.
ReplyDeleteEvil, we’ve all heard the word but was does it mean? Evil can be perceived in many different ways. Most think of evil as unnecessary force or cruelty, for an example an earthquake victim in a crumbling building may have to have their leg amputated without anesthesia in order to extract them from the crumbling building. While that may seem cruel it is necessary at that time to save the victim's life and is not considered evil. However something like the Holocaust without reason besides sheer hatred and contempt was a genocide and an evil act. Even within that people like the “Angel of Death” or Josef Mengele who was a german scientist in a concentration camp in Auschwitz, who frequently experimented and killed children did it without a shred emotion, besides his demented fascination.
ReplyDeleteMost people fear what is the unknown, what is the worse thing that could happen to them. We desire what is known and possibly the best thing that could happen to us. They’re essentially two sides of the same coin. Usually what we desire may not be as great as we expect or what we fear like a presentation may not be as horrid as we anticipate. What most people desire isn't that great but what they fear isn’t that astounding, like spiders or snakes.
From the time we are young throughout the rest of our lives we are taught of what is good and what is evil, although some may think of it a bit differently we all think the same basic same thing. It is what we are taught when young which determines our morals on evil
I feel as though a lot of times evil can be caused by desire and fear. Many things that are considered evil are done by people who are filled with an uncontrollable amount of either the feeling of desire or fear. Crime for example is considered to be evil, most criminals desire something more like money or are afraid that unless they commit the crime, they will be hurt themselves.
ReplyDeleteThe ideas of evil, fear and desire have changed since the times of MacBeth. A modern definition of evil would be someone who deceives or takes over something without legal ability. Hitler is viewed as evil, along with a lot of other people who did things like he did. People who are considered evil today would be the kind of people who would shake hands with the devil. What people fear has changed even more over the years. In past centuries, people mainly feared disease and dying of unlikely causes. Today it seems that everyone fears not having money. We fear that we will never be successful, instead of actually putting our worries into the enjoyments in life. People desire to become rich and successful after years and years of work and stress piled up on each other. Desire should be more of a hope to have a happy and peaceful life. Society has changed our outlook on these three ideas completely. Society has made us think that we should strive for success and power and only fear the things that should keep us from doing such things. The real evil is actually the people who shaped our society into thinking wealth and status is the most important thing in the world. The ideas of evil, desire, and fear are not the same as it used to be. I think we need a different outlook on all of these things.
ReplyDeleteGrowing up we are always taught that everything evil is bad. It's a word that we all know and use but, I don't think that everyone knows exactly what the word evil means. I think it is more powerful then people make it out to be. We learn one definition as a child and we never question it, but then again, why should we? I believe that we use the word evil as a synonym for bad but, evil is more than just bad. If you look in a dictionary it'll tell you that evil is anything that is morally wrong. There are a lot of things in this world that people may do that are morally wrong. These things don't make these people evil. I don't think that evil is something tangible. Evil is the thoughts, actions, and words of someone who is good or bad that says or does these things with a bad intent. I think that people fear evil as a whole concept because that is what were are trained to fear. Anything that is even close to being morally wrong is automatically evil in the eyes of our society. I think that it is more then just that. I don't think that we have a full understanding of the word evil and how it is supposed to be used. The word evil has just been used so much throughout the world that is has lost it's true meaning just like so many other words have.
ReplyDeleteEvil can be defined in multiple different ways, depending on the evil. However, people usually define something that is evil as something that is not fully understood or something that could possibly cause harm so them. Some things that are described as evil sometimes aren't evil at all. Some things are tagged with the description of evil even though they may never hurt or attack someone. That leads into fear. Fear is usually tagged onto those that are evil, because people fear what they believe what could hurt them. Say someone attacks an innocent person. That person has the right to be described as evil because they have committed a crime against someone and have even hurt someone. People will then fear that person because they are afraid that it may happen to them, as they should do. Yet what if someone was accused of something because of say a stereotype, but they have never committed a crime before. Unfortunately, people will believe that that person is evil based on the stereotype, and will start to fear them even though there is nothing to fear. The reason people will believe that the person is evil is because of stereotypes. Stereotypes can be drilled into someones head from say an adult figure or a teacher. Some people were taught to be afraid of people from an age of when they didn't know right from wrong. Others will believe the stereotypes if others believe it. Say someone was never taught that a certain person was bad but their friend or family member believed it. Some people will take on the beliefs of others that their close to because they trust that persons judgement. So evil can be perceived by truth or fake belief. Sometimes it is the right thing to fear something or someone but other times its the wrong thing to do.
ReplyDeleteI think that evil is something that everyone experiences in their lifetime, its not an emotion but rather a feeling. People are able to feel evil when it is around them. In my opinion evil I almost undefinable, because everyone has their own evils. everyone has something that is their greatest fear or their worst side and they may think of this as evil but what they are struggling with is their own version of evil. to me evil is something more than bad, its the most sinister thing that we as individuals have to deal with in this world.
ReplyDeletefear can be different to all different people, different fears ad different wants or needs.fear can keep you away from doing things that culd give you great oppertunities and expiriences in life.for some people fear could motivate them to face it just to say they did. Fear hgas different effects on everybody. Things that people want can go from a candy bar to world domination. its the determination that people really depend on to get what the want. wanting something in a unstable mind can have people resort to crazy things to get what they want. Like macbeth a little crazy on the idea of being king, going to extreme measures to make that happen. people who go to those "insane" measures usually are acting on ther "ID". thats the part of the mind that wants what it wants and will do anything for that. more stable people will rely on the "super ego" to remind them what is socially acceptable. Most minds go with their"ego" which is a balance of the two. to get what you want with out breaking "society's rules"
ReplyDeleteI believe that evil is something that is influenced by something or someone else. I believe that people are not born evil or are born programmed to do evil things. It is either society, or members that are close to someone that is the influence of these acts of evil. Hypothetically speaking if a child was brought up by a family that didn't treat him/ her like they should be and didn't care about him/ her then the person is most likely going to grow up and treat their friends, spouse, or children the same way, and that is what makes them feel better about them selves, so that they believe they feel that it is the only and exceptional thing to do. Truly, I believe that it isn't their fault and either he/she shouldn't be punished for what they did. It needs to be stopped at the source of it all and give he/she the full attention they deserve and help them so they no longer feel the insecurities to act the acts of evil they never intended to do.
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