Black Tom Good Vs Evil Essay

Nora Farley

Linden

Freshman Honors

23 January 2023

Title

What can cause somebody to make a wrong decision? How does one become a “good” person? How can we move past our mistakes? These are all excellent questions that are disregarded in the binary of good vs. evil. In the novella The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor Lavalle, we see how “good vs. evil” is a binary trap which doesn’t address the complexity of being human.

Tommy Tester went through tremendous adversity that led to him making bad decisions, proving that ‘good vs. evil’ is a binary trap which doesn’t address the complexity of being human. Tommy was fueled to cause others harm due to the harm others caused him. Tommy bears, “a hell within [himself]…finding [himself] unsympathized

Black Tom is seen as an evil individual to everyone because of his actions. Malone claims that Black Tom “[is] a monster,” (130). From what we see on the outside, Black Tom does give the impression of an evil monster, but in reality he “was made one,” (130). Black Tom saying he felt “unsympathized with” stresses to the reader that he turned “evil” because of the actions of others. When his father died, Tom received almost no support. When somebody is viewed as either good or evil, most times their reasoning is not taken into account. People take only what is shown on the surface to make a judgment on someone’s character. This surface-level way of thinking allows one to be pulled into the binary trap that is good vs. evil. When in this trap, it is extremely hard to get out and change one’s perspective because of the narrow-minded view that once one has a label of either good or evil it is impossible to change. This view not

evil’ is a binary trap which doesn’t address the complexity of being human. Malone turned a blind eye to the malpractice surrounding him. Malone admits that “It was possible Mr. Howard dropped Malone’s name, and a handful of bills, to make this phone call happen, but [he] made sure not to ask,” (81). This action of turning a blind eye to injustice may tarnish one’s view of Malone and cause one to see him as truly evil. While what he did was not good, one can not jump to the conclusion that Malone is a bad person simply because of his lack of judgment. He had a reason for not inquiring further, he knew that it could cause trouble. Malone recognizes that what Mr. Howard did was wrong, but he followed in his footsteps. Sometimes one can make a wrong decision as a response to their environment. There are thousands of factors that can lead to a wrong decision, and the binary of good vs. evil does not recognize even one. To boil down a person into either one category or another without regards to the motive and reason behind that person's actions is more wrong than any honest mistake. Additionally, Malone’s hunger for knowledge is a contributing factor in his decision making. Suydam asks if Malone wants “to see what more there is.’ Malone nodded once, almost ashamed. ‘Yes, I do,’” (123). Malone’s curiosity has led him to making some of the decisions one would call “evil.” As with