Similarities Between First They Killed My Father And Macbeth

As philosopher Thomas Hobbes said, “Moral philosophy is nothing else but the science of what is good, and evil, in the conversation, and society of humanity. Good, and evil, are names that signify our appetites, and aversions; which in different tempers, customs, and doctrines of men, are different.” Since Adam, the ongoing argument has reigned on the natural morality of humanity. Accompanying this argument is the question: Does humanity have free will to act upon the universe as we please or are we fate’s puppet to do as fate deems worthy? Fate refers to a development of events controlled by the supernatural and out of man’s control while free will is a free and independent choice, totally in man’s control. In Loung Ung’s nonfiction, First

They Killed My Father and William Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth, the authors lay to rest both question and argument by opening the window to the human soul and showing the cruelty of humans and the differing opinions of good and evil. By analyzing basis of the actions of the villains and the themes, it is evident that both nature and nurture play a key part in the actions of humanity.
The villains in both Macbeth and First they Killed My Father resemble each other in their interpretation of good and evil and use free will to assert their views.

“Fair is foul, and foul is fair” (Act 1, Scene 1, 12). In Macbeth, the main character and villain commits so many atrocious acts is evil and what is good and loses sight of what is good and evil such as wrongly establishing himself as king. The witches foreshadow Macbeth’s development in the first act with the above quote. Likewise, the villain in First They Killed My Father, Pol Pot, recruits the Khmer Rouge and drills into them that Communism and living a peasant life is for the best. “He says the Khmer Rouge government views science, technology, and anything mechanical as evil and therefore must be destroyed,” (Ung 57-58). Both villains emphasize the fact that man has free will to act upon the

universe.
In First they Killed My Father, the author through the villain, Pol Pot, introduces us to the idea that fate grants man the ability to exert free will on the universe.

The reader has a front-row seat to the trials and turmoils of the people and feels the pain of the characters of the nonfiction. Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge militia invade Cambodia, imposing on the Cambodians, the system of Communism and making them refugees in their own land. “The base people will train us to be hard workers and teach us to have pride in our country. Only then will we be worthy to call ourselves Khmer,” (Ung 58). Pol Pot and his people hold the belief that the citizens of Phnom Penh did not have any pride in their roots because of the predominant Western values in the city. Fate in this case refers to the carefree Cambodian regime that Pol Pot felt was evil. Pol Pot uses free will to exert his authority over the universe by imposing Communist values on the people. Pol Pot’s actions proves that humanity is basically good until fate steps

in.
Shakespeare uses the villain Macbeth to shine light on the inner workings of the human mind and emphasizes how both fate and free will influence the actions of humans. “All hail Macbeth!.... thou shalt be king hereafter!” (Act 1, Scene 3, 45-55). Once fate, the witches in this case, set the ball rolling by making Macbeth aware of his fate, he takes matters into his own hands to make sure the prophecies come true. Although fate played a part in Macbeth’s actions, Macbeth was solely responsible for his actions. After the witches predicted Macbeth’s future, many characters offered their opinions, however, the decision was in Macbeth’s hand, he acted on his own free will. Throughout the development of the tragedy, Macbeth proves that man is basically good and that fate gives man the free will to act.
A particular theme runs through both Macbeth and First They Killed My Father; that fate gives man the ability to freely and willingly act upon the universe. The basis of the villains’ actions is a dominant feature of both books. Pol Pot and Macbeth clearly believed they were doing the right things by changing the course of fate. All in all, we come to see that although man seems to act on the universe with free will, man is basically good and is nothing but a pawn in fate’s chess game as proven by both Pol Pot and Macbeth.