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What is evil? Essay
Evil and human nature
Essay on evil in our society
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More handpicked essays just for you.
What is evil? Essay
Evil and human nature
Essay on evil in our society
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: What is evil? Essay
Another example of darkness symbolizing evil is the quote, “If the hero and
The snake represents fear because as long as the snake
This made the boys think that he was the beast. The dead man being in the dark, made the boys scared because they couldn’t see him. This is an example of the dark representing fear.
In The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien uses symbolism throughout the story to show how Bilbo went from cowardice to courageous. Hobbits are known to be unadventurous, bucolic, and somewhat shy. In the beginning of the adventure/quest, Bilbo wants to go home and doesn't want to be a burglar. But when Gandalf leaves Bilbo and the dwarves, he slowly starts to step out of his comfort zone. The symbols that represent Bilbo’s change include Bilbo’s home, the ring, and his sword.
Not all people have the same definition of evil. Evil can be expressed in many ways. Whether that be describing a person or giving a place a scary setting. Most though, think of evil as a person rather than a place. Those true qualities of evil help show if a person is a human monster.
In Blindness, Jose Saramago uses both juxtaposition and imagery to represent the concept of “being evil for the greater good”; moreover, Saramago’s purpose is to convey how one’s morality and decisions are influenced by other factors such as a dictatorship. To begin with, there was a blindness that started spreading from person to person. First, it was the blind man, then the thief, the doctor, the girl with glasses, the boy with the squint, the doctor’s wife, and the man with the eyepatch. It’s important to note that the doctor’s wife isn’t actually blind. She lied to the ministry to be able to stay close to her husband and to be able to take care of those around her.
evil through multiple characters. This includes light vs. dark and black vs. white. One quote from the play is “Now Hell and Heaven grapple on our back, and our old pretense is washed away”(Miller). The talk of Hell, Heaven, God, and witchcraft point to the battle of light vs. dark. This battle is seen to be between those who are pure and good, then those who are corrupt and evil.
Evil is a label seldom used, unless it is a truly unspeakable act. There are many things that symbolize something evil. Whether a person or an act, symbols can tell us a lot about the story. While some symbols have dual meanings and can be left to interpretation with the story line, others are definitive in what they stand for.
In Dante’s Inferno, Dante Alighieri's depiction of Satan at the bottom of hell reveals the theme that in Hell the punishment is always befitting of the due to the fact that the lower you go, the farther that person is from god. The picture of Satan satisfies the reader because he shows that he is the opposite of god and that he is full of evil. Lucifer is the demon in the circles of hell which he has three faces, and bat like wings in which he creates the cold wind where the sinners suffer. “The face in the middle was red, the color of anger. The face on the right was white blended with yellow, the color of impotence.
The Devil is pictured to have these same characteristics. Also, a trait the Devil and Cathy have in common is tempter, Satan works in conjunction with the world and the sinful nature of man to constantly bring temptation into people’s lives. Cathy does the same to everyone that she comes in contact with. Also, another characteristic that corresponds between the Devil and Cathy is being a Murderer. Jesus refers to the devil as a murderer, by saying “He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him” (John 8:33).
There is a connection between Arthur Miller’s words and the article written by Rev. James Martin S.J. They both believe that Satan is real. The devil is something that is in the standard Christian doctrine. Most Christians believe in the devil. There are two ways to look at Satan.
Once Macbeth murders Duncan he immediately tenses and panics, but Lady Macbeth steps up and calms him down: “Give me the daggers, The sleeping and the dead/ Are but as pictures; tis the eye of childhood/ That fears a painted devil.” (II.II.56-58). The use of “devil” in the passage, gives off a dark and evil connotation just like murdering Duncan. Even right after the death of Duncan she still shows no remorse for contributing.
As written by Arthur Miller, “the Devil [works] again (...) just as he [works] within the Slav who is shocked at (...) a woman’s disrobing herself in a burlesque show. Our opposites are always robed in sexual sin, and it is from this unconscious conviction that demonology”. The Devil “gains both its attractive sensuality and its capacity to infuriate and frighten,” which displays the control he holds over the society in that he can lure in a pure soul, but frighten one as well
The snake on the end of the staff represents the devil. No other animal makes you think of the devil like a snake does. In Young Goodman Brown, the staff is brought into the story when Goodman Brown meets the man in the woods. “But the only thing about him, that could be fixed upon as remarkable, is his staff, which bore the likeliness of a great black snake, so curiously wrought, that it might almost be seen to twist and wriggle itself, like a living serpent.” (par. 13)
Evil is a simple word that we learn at a young age and that we understand is bad. However, our youth and innocence prevents us from knowing the weight the word holds. As our understanding of evil develops, we begin to see evil all around us. Although we hold common societal definitions of evil, each person is bound to view evil slightly different from others. Someone might consider alcoholism evil, while others consider it normal: someone might believe racism is evil, while others believe it is natural.