Aileen Wuornos: Good Or Evil?

Falyssa Ly

English Lit 9

Mrs. Finer

1/13/23

The World is Evil People have battled against the idea of good versus evil since the dawn of time. A good person has morals that riddle them over time into living a “good” life. So what about an “evil” person? Aileen Wuornos, an active serial killer between 1989-1990, shares her view, “To me, this world is nothing but evil, and my own evil just happened to come out cause of the circumstances of what I was doing.” Is the world truly evil? Are people born evil? What makes a person good or evil? How does someone decide between the two? Questions like these that can be asked but never proven to mankind. Aileen believes the world is evil, I do too. I agree with her because I know what the world is made

For the world to be “good” society has established institutions and systems like the police, law systems, and governmental systems. In my instance it was the administration of my school, the people who were supposed to be “good” suddenly turned their back on me. In their eyes I went from a “good” person and star student to a liar, accuser, and a hindrance to their “good” statistics. I often ask myself, how did things turn out this way? As Aileen says, “my own evil just happened to come out cause of the circumstances of what I was doing.” But who and what exactly was the “evil” that had entered my life? Well, the circumstances of the girl made her believe she had to take extreme measures to live a “good” life and take me down. These circumstances then made the people who were supposed to keep the “good '' turn a blind-eye and become “evil” to keep the good. Understanding these circumstances helped keep my actions “good.” Aileen’s traumatic childhood circumstances led her to a life of prostitution, and a killer. Whether you agree or disagree with her choice of taking someone's life, can anyone truly say she is

Human nature itself is designed for self-preservation and survival. People’s brains do not work on “good” or “evil,” they can be influenced but not contained. I do not agree with all the actions and situations in my life that have happened, but I can learn to understand them. I can learn to understand that the girl who harassed me did it due to her broken family and self-loathe. I can understand that the administration did it to keep their jobs, their positions, and that bad statistics mean worse funding for the rest of the student body. This understanding does not condemn them for their actions but it helps me return to my “good” life instead of living as a victim to my circumstances and becoming “evil”