The concept of good and evil has been existing since the time of the memorial. The understanding of good and evil has always been distinguished from a black and white point of view. If a person or a character or a move is not good, they are simply classified as bad, and vice versa. Notably, the concept of good and evil has always been used in establishing moral principles and explaining how people behave inhumanely. The traditional understanding of good and evil commands that “good” people are always the heroes with admirable traits of humility, selflessness, and respect. On the other hand, the bad is portrayed by doomed people whose doom causes distraction to society. Everyone is advised to favor the good side and not the evil side. However, the concept of good and evil seems useless in the modern world, where everything has been redefined and revaluated.
First, literature has been introducing a new perspective of good and evil. In traditional literature, evil characters were simply “bad” people who intended to harm “good” people for no valid reason. They were portrayed as jealous and malicious people, who would later be defeated by the protagonists who had some heroic traits. An excellent example of traditional literature that distinguishes good and evil is the famous story of Cinderella. In the story, Cinderella’s mother dies, leaving her under the care of her father who later remarries. Her stepmother and stepsisters are evil as they mistreat her by turning her into their maid. The evil characters in the story have no reason to harm Cinderella as she is portrayed with “admirable” behavior of calmness, humility, and kindness.
Significantly, modern literature refutes these types of villains. The story creators provide deep background information of the villain, explaining why he/she behaves in such a wicked manner. Most of the villain’s backstories deal with revenge. For instance, he/she was perhaps mistreated in the past and he/she decides to use evil to “punish” those who caused him/her pain. An excellent example is Edger Allen Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado,” where Montresor murders his friend Fortunato for insulting and shaming him. The story somehow justifies Montresor’s wickedness of murdering his friend because he was insulted; thus, the readers tend to side with Montresor’s evil personality. Apart from revenge, the villain’s backstory can be something to do with psychological issues such as childhood trauma. Unlike traditional literature, modern literature does not condemn evil completely. The evil must be a result of something sympathetic. Thus, the traditional understanding of good and evil is obsolete in modern literature. The old concept of good and evil does not care nor sympathize with evilness as it is with the case in modern times.
Moreover, the aspects termed “evil” in the concepts of good and evil seem to be part of life in today’s society. Nowadays all persons are powerful, thanks to democracy; each person has a right that dictates he/she be treated respectfully. However, there are still some forces that tend to interrupt these rights and people are left with the choice of violence to defend themselves. Traditionally, violence is regarded as evil as it intends to destroy calmness associated with goodness. According to Bauman (107), lack of violence in modern civilization would result in monopolization of power that would only oppress. Violence reveals people’s power, enabling them to earn their respect from their oppressors. Take an example of black university students demonstrating in the streets after their colleague is murdered brutally by police. The police could try to silence them by dispersing them. On the other hand, they could fight back the police to ensure they exercise their right to demonstrate and express their grievances. Such a scenario shows how “evil” (violence) can be used to achieve “good” (people demonstrating against oppression).
Indeed, the concept of good and evil seems not to be no longer applicable in modern society. Unlike today, evil was simply evil; there was no explanation. Evil people were just malicious for no reason. In modern times, background information matters a lot in understanding the purpose of evil. The details enable people to understand and, perhaps, sympathize with the evil people instead of judging them. Also, evil is nowadays associated with goodness. An evil perceived deed is normally used to bring happiness to a lot of people.
Work Cited
Bauman, Zygmunt. Modernity and The Holocaust. Cornell University Press, 2006.
