Introduction Lucifer was God’s most perfect angel until he turned evil, earning him the name of Satan. Lucifer was condemned to Hell because he refused to repent his sins. (Mark the Beast) In his book The Lucifer Effect, Phillip Zimbardo explains how good people are capable of doing evil by five psychological processes. Hannah Arendt’s statement of the “banality of evil” concurs with Zimbardo’s philosophical ideas. Even perfect angels can turn into the epitome of evil. “What happens when you put good people in an evil place? Does humanity win over evil, or does evil triumph,” (Zimbardo, 2007). Deindividuation “When people lose their sense of individual identity,” (Cook, 2012) they are experiencing deindividuation. Phillip Zambardo conducted The Nazis transformed the Jewish community into savages by taking away their possessions, shaving their heads, giving them prison like uniforms, and addressing them by a number instead of their names. In the Sanford prison experiment, ordinary young men were metamorphosed into malicious cops or terrified prisoners. The criminals in the prison experiment were stripped naked, given a prison smock to emasculate them, and could be only addressed by their prison identification number. In the prison experiment, the men had to wear stocking caps to mimic head shaving. The purpose of head shaving is to minimize individuality. The Nazis did not see the Jews as individuals but as a group of pests that only do more harm than good. Addressing them as a group and not seeing them as individuals made it physiologically easier to kill them in mass “Rationalization can be conscious or subconscious, and is one of Freud’s proposed defense mechanisms,” (Grant, 2013). This defense mechanism is commonly referred to as making excuses. “My dog ate my homework,” is just another way of saying that you were too lazy to actually complete the assignment. “The Jew made us lose World War I,” is another bad excuse used to rationalize the Nazi movement and their proposal for a final solution. The Jewish community was not at fault but the Nazis did not want to admit that they lost the war because they made the wrong
From the perspective of humanism, identity is something fixed, unchangeable and stable. With the development of deconstruction, new ideas about identity begin to prevail. Deconstructionists regard human identity “as a fluid, fragmented, dynamic collectivity of possible ‘selves’” (Tyson 335). Eddie’s identity is always fragmented, and each of the children represents a fragment of his identity. From the perspective of
Although Elie Wiesel gives you a detailed account of how the Nazis would treat them; how it slowly started to dehumanize them. For example the Nazis took away their names. “We were told to roll up our left sleeves and file past the table. The three “veteran” prisoners, needles in hand, tattooed numbers on our left arms. I became A-7713. From then on, I had no other name.” (Wiesel 42) Not to mention the Nazis put so much fear into the Jews that they would commit cruel acts that they never imagined they could do. The selection process was another such scarring event that Nazis inflicted on the Jews to put much fear in them. It caused them to do whatever it took to survive. The selection process is when the prisoners would get completely naked and go in front of the SS doctors for examination, the advice given to the Jews is run in front of the doctors, not to walk. Then there were also random beatings for example: “One day when Idek was venting his fury, I happened to cross his path. He threw himself on me like a wild beast, beating me in the chest, on my head, throwing me to the ground and picking me up again, crushing me with ever more violent blows, until I was covered in blood. As I bit my lips in order not to howl with pain, he must have mistaken my silence for defiance and so he continued to hit me harder and harder. Abruptly, he calmed down and sent me back to work as if nothing had happened. As if we had taken part in a game in which both roles were of equal importance.” (Wiesel 53) Among all the disturbing things Nazis did, the fact that they would make Jews look in the face of a hanging corpse is something I do not think they will ever forget. “Then came the march past the victims. The two men were no longer alive. Their tongues were hanging out, swollen and bluish. But the third rope was still moving: the child, too light, was still breathing…
The struggle between good and evil, the rewards of Heaven, and the consequences of sin are all Christian themes shared in the works of Hildegard, Dante, and Milton. While their works vary in style and substance, they are informed by a common religious background and understanding. Hildegard’s Ordo Virtutum, Dante’s Inferno, and Milton’s Paradise Lost all have a common character in Satan. Satan in both the Ordo Virtutum and Inferno appears in a significant, but limited role. In Paradise Lost, Satan is a primary character and expresses a full range of traits and provokes a wide range of responses from the audience.
In John Milton’s, The Paradise Lost, Milton’s representation of Satan makes us uncomfortable due to the recognition of his humanizing and relatable reaction to what happened to him. The reader expects Satan to be an evil, and malevolent figure who does evil acts because he loves it and there is no defense for it. While these aspects are prevalent in his character in the poem, Satan does not come across as a completely wicked person but instead, a victim. The representation of Satan has a personifying quality that any of us may have and do not want to admit. In book one, Milton’s portrayal of Satan makes us uneasy because we relate to his actions, which are ordinary human responses to similar situations. It is troubling to say that in this particular poem, Satan resembles humans. However, our human nature is to have an instant reflex to justify our actions without taking any responsibility, which resembles the way Satan justifies his mischievous acts in this poem. Most of the time, we would never think of Satan as a victim; yet, we find ourselves discovering our human nature in Satan’s rationalizations. So, what humanizes this monstrous figure? After thoroughly reading book one, there are many instances when Satan justifies what he has done to make sense of it. Satan believes that God deceived him because he did not know how much power he possessed. According to Satan, God did unjust things that justified his actions. Satan has a whole rationale that God had arbitrary power that caused Satan to become the way he is in the poem. This perception serves as Satan’s foundation on behalf of his justification, which we all can relate to because he does not take responsibility but pr...
The common consensus within the business field is that businesses have a social responsibility to protect and improve the societies they affect. Social responsibility is the belief that businesses and their employees have a duty to act in a manner that benefits their environments and society. The concept of social responsibility stems from ethics, which are simply the moral principles that guide a person’s behavior. However, despite this, it is clear to scholars, researchers, experts, and businessmen alike that sometimes ethics and responsibility are thrown out the window in favor of cutting costs and increasing corporate profits. This tendency for otherwise good businesses to act in badly is known as the Lucifer effect, and is a very real
The Nazis used dehumanization to strip the Jews of their human qualities or personality. They made the Jews into what they believed that they were, animals.It slowly melted the Jews anger into despair and desperation. Their standards of living were lowered incredibly. The rights that were stolen from them eventually felt like novelties. For example, having a bathroom was not a requirement for the places they stayed in. The basic need of a bathroom was not given to the Jews in concentration camps. Fear made them run like a scared cat and even grown men cry like a newborn baby. In many places Jews were massacred in one place such as a colony of ants might be exterminated in a house. By the end they lost their faith in God and some their will to live.
Zimbardo, Philip G. The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil. New York: Random House, 2007. Print.
Bad system creates the bad person. This is the meaning of the lucifer effect. The lucifer effect was the research on and the situations that come with a bad environment. The situations that were used in this experiment were verbal abuse war experiences and environmental issues.An example would be in Abu gharbi “Cruelty became sexualised: one guard sodomised a male prisoner with a chemical light; another raped a female detainee. Bush, grandstanding in typical fashion after the event, vowed that the 'wrongdoers will be brought to justice”
Nazis treated the Jews inhumanely. The side locks, that some religious men were wearing, were cut off, and sometimes, even pulled, along with the skin. At first, their houses and businesses were taken away and everyone was moved into the ghettos. However, this was not enough for the Germans; their true goals of Jewish extermination led them to ghettos’ liquidations and forcing the Jews to live in concentration camps. During the transition, the Jews’ belongings were taken away. The families were separated and children were taken away from their parents. While some attempted to escape or hide, thousands were
Defining a character such as Satan, or Lucifer, is extremely difficult because of the sheer amount of emotion, and the immense personality that he portrays. Most think he is simply an evil being that was never really capable of feeling or doing good things. What most do not think about is that he was once an archangel and was amongst the top ranks of the angels. Satan's personality traits are very deep, but yet his motivations seem so childish. He is thrown from Heaven with his legions because he started a war over Christ.
...s Online - Harvard Theological Review - Abstract - The Social History of Satan, the "Intimate Enemy": A Preliminary Sketch. Harvard Theological Review, 1991. Web. 21 Mar. 2014.
Satan frequently characterizes “the tyranny of heaven” and employs negative diction in his depictions of both heaven and God (I.124). His negative portrayals of God and his kingdom highlight his utter dissatisfaction with being subservient to God and, from that, his desire for autonomy. In the exposition of the text, Satan’s emotions toward God make themselves apparent when Satan “throws his baleful eyes / That witnessed huge affliction and dismay / Mixed with obdúrate pride and steadfast hate” (I.56-58). Satan reveals himself to be furious with his continued subjugation to God as well as his inability to truly revenge himself against his subsequent punishment. According to Satan, God’s dissimulation of his power tempted Satan and others to rise
In John Milton's paradise lost, Satan, the antihero is a very complex character. His character changes dramatically from his first appearance till his last. He is the main reason of the fall of mankind, and he is the main reason for this whole poem. Satan, whom angel name was Lucifer, is a fallen angel. Due to his great pride, he defied god and tried to overthrow him and he was thrown out of heaven, after his failed attempt.
..., Adam and Eve. There are several reasons why Milton focused so much Satan and gave him all the good lines. First, Milton portrayed Satan to be a leader with confident because he is the king of hell. By portraying Satan as a leader, readers can see he was noble to his allies and thus offering to risk himself to achieve his goal. Second, the moral aspect of this characterization is that anyone can become Satan, and evil is something everyone can slip into, which was why Milton portrayed Satan to be human like. Lastly, Milton showed the subject of redemption to human kind and how hard it is for people to own up for their mistakes. Since Satan was characterized with human like qualities, he did believe in redemption, but instead of redeeming himself to God he went the other direction by doing evil acts. All in all, there is a little Satan in every human.
In conclusion, the formation of one’s identity has many components. Beginning at the onset of adolescence and continuing to expand, grow and form and reform as we live through the struggles or success of life. Many theorists have endeavored to clarify the development of identity formation. However, Erik Erickson offered one significant theory involving the formation of one’s identity. Expounding on Erickson theory, Marcia developed his Identity Status Model according to the existence or absence of crisis and commitments. These four statuses, diffusion, foreclosure, moratorium and achievement can combine in various ways to produce a self. One’s sense of identity is determined largely by the choices and commitments made, therefore, having a well-developed sense of self can provide an individual with insight to their strengths, weaknesses, and individual uniqueness. An individual that finds themselves