Cruelty and selfishness in human beings
Kindness and generosity are two of the traits that are taught in the society, people are advised and urged to be generous to their neighbors and to show kindness to the weak in the society. However this advice is not followed even by those that give it, selfishness and cruelty is all that is displayed in every sector of the society including the religious institutions that are supposed to set a good example to the society when it comes to matters concerning compassion.
It is true that selfishness and cruelty are part of human nature, but again the degree to which people continue to express them is disheartening and it affects the society and surrounding culture (Entrican Wilson, 56). In his book ‘“A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” Gabriel Garcia brings out the theme of selfishness and cruelty very clearly right from the beginning of the book. He uses the character of the old man who is weak and helpless throughout the book to show how cruel and selfish people are to the weak in the society and also how they are willing to exploit other people for their own gain without any care of how they feel. The first characters
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Pelayo and his wife are ready to get rid of the old man who is still weak even after he had led to the recovery of their only child. The two were not concerned about what would happen to the old man after they put him on a raft and set him to sea with only provisions for three days because he was of no use to them (García, 8). This situation is only changed when they discover that they could benefit from him by charging the people who came to see him at their home. What is sad is that even then, they do not bother to offer the old man a better place to stay but they just left him with the chicken as they gained wealth from letting other people humiliate him.