Is it even possible to be inherently good or evil at the beginning? Humans are neither of these as they are originally pure nothingness. Unfortunately, the actions of others alters us towards a side, either righteous or wicked. In the short story “The Half Husky” by Margaret Laurence, Harvey, Vanessa, and Nunuk are driven towards one side or the other because of the experiences they have to go through. In the Lorien Legacies by Pittacus Lore, Five is just a reckless teenager and all he wants to do is survive which causes him to make some one sided decisions. The story of my friend’s brother shows how much we can be influenced towards one side or the other. Human beings are neither inherently good nor evil as we are affected by our past experiences …show more content…
Because of the Loric elders, Five and eight other children had to carry the burden of fighting an intergalactic war. All 9 of them were sent with a Cepan, who acted like their guardians, to an unknown planet where they were to split apart, survive, and train up. Unfortunately, Five’s Cepan died from disease during his early years on earth. The last words of his Cepan were “Survive, just survive.” Considering this fact, it makes sense why Five joined the Mogadorians, which is a race of aliens hunting down the Loric. This influenced him to make decisions like injuring Nine and Six and killing Eight, one of his own race. Although Five joining the Mogadorians played a large role in him turning evil, it all started when he was told to fight in an intergalactic war and the death of his Cepan. Unlike Five, the other eight of the Loric reacted very differently to similar situations. All of their Cepan eventually died, but the rest of the numbers had more time with their Cepan. Although all of them were facing the same burden, Five is the only one who chose to side with the Mogadorians. The rest of them faced the inevitable task they were left with. This shows that your past experiences and environment affect whether you make cruel or compassionate decisions and how you react to certain
...ily because Jake, Neytiri, and Tsu’tey were able to unify the clans to fight together. Thus, conquering the humans and keeping their home.
Throughout the short story “The Half-Husky” by Margaret Laurence, every character is affected by external forces in many ways. The audience sees the author suggests ideas on external forces as early as the second page of the story. When Laurence embeds the story with external forces so early, it advises the audience that it is very important. Also, the author affects every character with external forces which also proves why they are vital to the story. Margaret Laurence suggest that the majority of the external forces are negatively influencing the characters throughout the story for instance Vanessa, Nanuk, and Harvey. The author develops ideas such as Vanessa growing up with a tough Grandfather, Nanuk being assaulted his whole life, and Harvey growing up with an abusive aunt, by using external forces.
Are humans naturally good or evil? This age-old question dates back to as early as the Chinese Dynasty and is still being argued to this day. Thomas Hobbes believed that all humans were born cruel, that they began cheating others to benefit themselves. Whereas, John Locke believes that humans are born good and pure, but become evil based on experiences and obstacles in life. In my opinion, all humans are born good and become cruel based on their experiences. I feel this way because when you look at a new born baby, they are seeing the world for the first time, and although they are screaming and crying, they are pure. They do not want to do anyone any harm, and you do not wish to cause them any harm. The same goes for young, growing children
Ender’s Game involves five types of conflicts. Man vs. Man: According to the children, “The teachers, they’re the enemy. They get us to fight each other, to hate each other…the old bastards are watching us, studying us, discovering our weak points, deciding...
Good and evil make the world we are living in today. However evil stands out more than good and people tend to focus on the evil behavior of humans more often. Human nature tends to decide that if someone looks evil they will be evil. The good and the bad make up the goodness in life. It is impossible to always be good or evil but there are things that can make us better or worse as a person. For one to be free, one must live in a world of evil and good.
It is the contention of this paper that humans are born neutral, and if we are raised to be good, we will mature into good human beings. Once the element of evil is introduced into our minds, through socialization and the media, we then have the potential to do bad things. As a person grows up, they are ideally taught to be good and to do good things, but it is possible that the concept of evil can be presented to us. When this happens, we subconsciously choose whether or not to accept this evil. This is where the theories of Thomas Hobbes and John Locke become interesting as both men differed in the way they believed human nature to be.
Phillip Pullman, a British author, once wrote, “I stopped believing there was a power of good and a power of evil that were outside us. And I came to believe that good and evil are names for what people do, not for what they are”(goodreads.com). Pullman’s quotation on the actions of man being the source of good and evil closely relate to morality, principles regarding the distinction of right and wrong or a person’s values. The question of what human morality truly is has been pondered by philosophers, common folk, and writers for thousands of years. However, sometimes a person’s ethics are unclear; he or she are not wholly good or bad but, rather, morally ambiguous.
In the novel Night, one of the guards told the Jews, "I am responsible for keeping order here. Anyone with a complaint may come to see me. That is all. Go to sleep. Two people to a bunk. Good night" (Wiesel). Elie responded with, "Those were the first human words" (Wiesel). The guard made the choice to treat the Jews with kindness even though the other guards did not. One’s circumstances can sometimes influence the choices that they make. For example, in the novel it says, "He was assisted by two prisoners. In exchange for two bowls of soup" (Wiesel). The prisoners offered to help hang the condemned prisoners because they were offered soup in exchange. The prisoners were hungry and in desperate circumstances and therefore made the decision to do it. The choices that one makes may have consequences, be it positive or
Some people are mostly good, some are mostly bad, but none are good or evil.
Are Humans Inherently Good or Evil? The very compelling question asks, “Are humans inherently good or evil?”. Yet responding to this question, there is no simple answer. Humans are inherently good because they are only taught to act immorally and if we were evil, we would not be who we are today.
The lines that define good and evil are not written in black and white; these lines tend to blur into many shades of grey allowing good and evil to intermingle with each another in a single human being. Man is not inherently good or evil but they are born innocent without any values or sense of morality until people impart their philosophies of life to them. In the words of John Locke:
Throughout history, there have been many human beings who have been seen as either a hero or a villain. In their childhood, these people had obstacles that were in their way, causing each individual to either work harder or give up. People, however, must understand that each individual has potential in achieving their goals, but if one is mistreated or deceived due to jealousy, resentment, hatred, or ambition, it can lead to many catastrophic events. People who have pride and arrogance do not want to have equals, rather they want to see their victims suffer. These people have no difficulty in achieving their goals due to the fact that their victims have too innocent a nature to suspect the nefarious motives of their enemies.
For many centuries individuals and theorists argued if humans are inherently evil or good. Individuals considered answering the question with inadequate explanations. As of most humans, they consist ethics and morals when interacting with humans which prove distinctly that humans are superior. Humans are believed to be compassionate and show empathy to others, have sentimental values and have sympathetic feelings and emotions towards others. However, individuals can also be inherited evil due to their type of environment like in a survival situation which displays signs of selfishness.
The development of the two worlds of good and evil took place early in the
Are human beings born to be good? Or are we naturally born to be evil? A person’s nature or essence is a trait that is inherent and lasting in an individual. To be a good person is someone who thinks of others before themselves, shows kindness to one another, and makes good choices in life that can lead to a path of becoming a good moral person. To be a bad person rebels against something or someone thinking only of them and not caring about the consequences of their actions. Rousseau assumed, “that man is good by nature (as it is bequeathed to him), but good in a negative way: that is, he is not evil of his own accord and on purpose, but only in danger of being contaminated and corrupted by evil or inept guides and examples (Immanuel Kant 123).” In other words, the human is exposed to the depraved society by incompetent guardians or influences that is not of one’s free will in the view of the fact that it is passed on. My position is humans are not by nature evil. Instead, they are good but influenced by the environment and societies to act in evil ways to either harm others or themself.