Herman Hesse’s Demian depicts the upbringing of the main character, Emil Sinclair, as well as his experiences and encounters during his youth. During this time, Sinclair embarks on a journey of self-discovery, hoping to find a purpose in life and his personal role in society. As a child, his entire life was based on the relationship between “light” and “dark.” While his family was the “light” in his life, a benevolent goodness, Sinclar believed he was a “darkness,” a malicious evil. However, through his interactions with Max Demian and the deity Abraxas, Sinclair learns about the middle ground between light and dark, a place where someone or something can be both good and evil. Thus, as a result of his self-discovery, he realizes that good …show more content…
At ten years old, he has identified the world in terms of “light” and “dark.” Sinclair associates his parents and family with the “world of light,” “a realm of brilliance, clarity, and cleanliness” (3). However, he slowly realizes that he is not a part of this world as he believes he belongs to the outside world beyond his family, the “forbidden realm.” This opposing realm is the root of sin and evil in contrast to his family and their benevolent “world of light.” Sinclair feels drawn to this outside world of sin, alienated from his family and their sphere of security. He confirms this feeling of isolation and innate evil through his interactions with the neighborhood bully, Franz Kromer. Lying about stealing apples from a nearby farm, the naive Sinclair is conned into paying off his “debt” to Kromer. He is forced to steal, lie to his parents, and perform hard labor for Kromer, essentially forced to be his slave. Because of these sins, Sinclair believes that he has fully become one with the “darkness” and evil realm as “the devil held [Sinclair] in his clutches” (13). Plagued by a constant fear of Kromer, Sinclair frequently grows sick as he believes that he is entirely isolated from his family and enveloped in the “forbidden realm.” As a result, Sinclair recognizes that he must depend on only himself to survive and flourish in the world. He leaves …show more content…
Through talking with Demian, Sinclair is introduced to a new ideology, where what is good and evil is up to the individual and these two seemingly opposing forces are able to coexist. Demian’s interpretation of the story of Cain exemplifies the idea that individuals themselves decide what is “good” and “evil.” Analyzing Cain and him being guilty of murder, he does not believe Cain to be “evil.” Instead, Demian simply claims that “the strong man slew a weaker one . . . but it isn’t important” (24). To Demian, Cain’s “sin” is not considered “evil.” Instead, Demian ignores it, treating it as a form of natural selection, where the strong survive and the weak die. Thus, although murder may be seen as the ultimate evil, Demian does not see it that way in this case. As a result, the line between which actions are good and which are evil become blurred. Soon, Sinclair starts to adopt this independent form of thought, defining what he believes to be good and evil according to only himself and his beliefs. He begins drinking heavily, has incestual thoughts, and even begins a relationship with Demian’s mother. Therefore, he begins to separate himself from his religion, Christianity, as he indulges in the sins of gluttony and lust. Although he sins, he does not recognize his wrongdoing, as they are in the pursuit of his personal and sexual
The Chicago World Fair brought about through the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus landing in America has posed significant value and worth to the city of Chicago. Over a six-month period, more than 26 million visitors from all over the world would flock to the fairgrounds to experience the rebuilt and vibrant city of Chicago. The 600-acre fairground would have housed 200 buildings that showcased new food, art, technology, and entertainment. Chicago became known as the White City, a place of freedom, grandeur, and security. But unbeknownst to fairgoers, there was a serial killer among them. While Dr. H.H. Holmes lured his innocent victims to his “Castle”, just blocks away architect Daniel Burnham built up the dream city of Chicago. Both these men operated at the same time in history, simply blocks apart, both creating legacies that carry to this day. Burnham and Holmes are two side of the coin of human nature. In “The Devil in White City” Erik Larson’s juxtaposition of Burnham and Holmes, and the Black City and the White City, contributes to the understanding of human nature, that one cannot be good without having done evil, and that good and evil are viewed as complementary in their mutual dependence.
On the surface, O'Connor's A Good Man is Hard to Find appears innocent enough in its content. But as the reader becomes more and more involved in the symbolic underpinnings that embody the story, it is quite clear that there is a distinctive flavor of evil versus Christianity. In fact, it has been argued that the extent to which O'Connor utilizes the central theme of Christianity is as a subtle, symbolic plot to convert her readers, whom she had envisioned as nonbelievers. By demonstrating to her audience all the good that comes from faith, along with all the bad that merely begets more evil, it was her intention to enlighten her readership down the right path.
”The focus of the book is on extraordinary human evil. The focus on human evil writ large is not about the isolated, tabloid cases of
Through vivid yet subtle symbols, the author weaves a complex web with which to showcase the narrator's oppressive upbringing. Two literary
I found the representation darkness within the story to be at times subtle, but it helps the reader to see the characters in a clearer way. At first, the narrator tells us of two darknesses, “the darkness of their lives, which was now closing in on them, and the darkness of the movies, which had blinded them to that other darkness…” (36). This is where he first describes the darkness. Here darkness has a negative view from our narrator. He portrays the boy’s futures to be dark after telling the reader how they were being rushed to grow up and filled with rage. He uses the image of darkness of movies to represent their focuses now. Their focuses now of watching movies for example is keeping them from seeing what their future will be come.
...ealization that he should live as an innocent, free from the evil burden of guilt, allow this novel to be called a morality tale. Not only good, but also evil are linked to the concept of morality. However, acts of good or evil doing depend on the views of the person making the decision. Understanding that each and every person does not have the same viewpoint is a valuable lesson that Mulisch presents in his novel. Another lesson is coming to the realization that there is no need to feel guilty for something that cannot be controlled. These two moral lessons, presented in the novel, suggest that people should live a prosperous life. Even though good and evil are opposing concepts, they are necessary to piece together the puzzle known as the universe.
Shirley Jackson’s short story “ The Possibility of Evil” is about a little old lady named Miss Strangeworth. She thinks she’s in charge of the town and to make sure it’s free from all evil because her grandfather built the first house on Pleasant Street. At first Miss Strangeworth is a nice little old lady, worrying about people and wondering what others are up to. Then in the middle of the story she becomes a little rude to a few of the townspeople. In the end Miss Strangeworth thought she was getting rid of the evil in the town, but in reality she was causing evil in the town by showing her true colors and being extremely mean and cruel to others. Don’t judge a book by it’s cover because people aren’t always what they seem to be.
This essay examines a paper by Peter Van Inwagen, “The Argument from Evil”. Inwagen’s paper attempts to give a possible reason for why there is evil in this world. However, this essay will attempt to give reasons for why Inwagen’s reason for evil does not explain evil without compromising God’s essential quality of moral perfection.
...nto carrying out the orders. When other nurses were asked to discuss what they would do in a similar situation (i.e. a control group), 21 out of 22 said they would not comply with the order. Hofling concludes that people are very unwilling to question supposed ‘authority’, even when they might have good reason to as well as are willing to follow authority blindly even against their better judgment and rules in place (Mcleod 2008).
The story of “Young Goodman Brown” presents a struggle with the clash of Goodman Brown’s cultural fate of being a Puritan and his mind that is exposed to unholy acts. He goes from a prisoner of only what his society has shown him to a prisoner of the fate to live in it even after he learns it’s potential evilness. By not succumbing to the sinfulness of his journey, Young Goodman Brown in turn succumbs to the struggle within his mind. He is trapped by taunting thoughts and allows his life to be guided by the confusion that has caused him to forever question reality.
Good and evil can be summed up as a difference between rational and irrational thoughts, with the former being related to “good” and the ladder to “evil”. This is a view shared by Immanuel Kant and his Categorical Imperative. In the movie Schindler’s List, we are presented with two individuals, Oskar Schindler, who by the end of the movie displays characteristics of a man following rational thoughts, doing acts that he would want to become universal maxims. On the other end of the spectrum, we have Amon Goeth. Goeth follows his irrational thoughts, using the Jewish people as a means for his own ends.
“Young Goodman Brown”, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, delves into the classic battle between good and evil; taking the protagonist, Goodman Brown, on a journey to test the resolve of his faith. Goodman ventures out on his expedition deep into the sinister forest, in order to repudiate the attempt of the devil to sway him from Christianity; a test he believes his devout faith is prepared to confront. Goodman Brown is forever altered in ways unforeseeable by taking a stroll with the ultimate antagonist, the devil himself. The prevailing theme in this literary work, which is common in Hawthorne’s gothic writing, is the realization that evil can infect people who seem perfectly respectable. Throughout the course of his journey, Goodman Brown discovers that even highly reputable people of Salem are vulnerable to the forces of darkness.
When trying to understand these particular characters’ experiences, it is very important to consider their worldviews, which promote “[th...
inner conflict as well. He realizes how horrible and atrocious his sins are but is unable to feel remorse. While he seems to be an intelligent and virtuous man, he cannot seem to control his violent fits of drunken rage. He also deals with conflict on a more spiritual level. The cat that he has killed is haunting him. He tries to shrug it off as coincidence, but every time he comes up with an explanation for an unsettling even...
Ethics serves as a vital crux of society. We learn them through our interactions with others as we progress through life. They provide a moral system for us to go by as we interact and participate among the populace. Ethics guides our decisions, define our temperament and influence our future. They establish a very basic form of order that streamlines the productivity of a society. Anywhere you look you can see the presence of ethics in various organizations and institutions. Whether it be political, lawful, medical, religious or social. At it 's very core ethic deals with protecting fundamental basic freedoms such as the right to live, avoid abusive treatment and right and right to security as well as basic human liberties such as the freedom of speech and freedom from persecution. In Badiou 's short essay on ethics “Ethics An Essay on the Understanding of Evil” he delves into his criticism of ethics and the meaning of evil.