“If faces were different when lit from above or below -- what was a face? What was anything?" ('Lord of the Flies" by William Golding). Is evil deeply rooted in a man?

Agnieszka Serafin - 13.11.2018 @ 16:53

Here is an article written by Ronja, Tilda, Maja and Jasmin at the Cathedral School in Växjö/Sweden!

Does evil exist in everyone?

by Ronja Friedel, Tilde Johansson, Maja Karlsson and Jasmin Patron Veliz, VKS Växjö/Sweden

Are we born evil or do we become evil? That is a good question to ask ourselves.  One could think that, for example, psychopaths are born evil into this world when in fact that is not necessarily true. Another person could think that the world’s leaders are evil, and not the people among us. What is considered evil within this society might not be considered evil in another. But where do we draw this line between good and bad?

Everyone is born with the ability of being both good and evil, it is natural. But what we become or choose to do later in life simply depends on the way we are brought up. For example, religion holds a lot of the moral and ethical rules we have been taught throughout history. And then there are laws as well. All of this to keep our morality in what is seen as “the right thing to do”. Those things are not easy to break down as they have been built up in our societies, cultures, and minds for centuries.

But since we grow up with different kinds of people, different treatment and different big personalities surrounding us, we sometimes develop our evil characteristics more than we do our “good” ones.

What we mean by this is that, maybe you have had a tough childhood and you were raised in an abusive environment, and this could affect you later in life. Because if you are not exposed to positive things at a younger age, you are not going to act positively towards the people around you when you are older.

Nina Karlström - 21.11.2018 @ 14:37

I totally agree with you, that our enviroment forms our personality, so basically we can turn evil or bad, but it's all about the different events that happen to us in our lives. But in the end, how we react to those good or bad events is what defines us. "If life gives you lemons make lemonade"

Leandra Kreisser - 01.12.2018 @ 18:56

In my opinion no one is good or evil, there isn’t a single person in the world who is only good or only bad. Everyone is a mixture of these two in a certain proportion.

I agree with the authors of the document, that the effect of our childhood will greatly affect our adult lives; for example: if someone has a difficult family background and grows up in a bad environment, they will probably consider their parents’ behavior as an example to follow and they will act like them, as they saw in their surroundings.

However, I think it is not necessarily a negative thing to come from a bad environment because someone who grows up without any problems does not necessarily become a good person; for example:

We can hear a lot about young people who grew up in perfect conditions and yet behave irresponsibly. For example: drunk, drug addicted teenagers who drive a car and kill innocent people.

However, if someone comes from a bad environment, but they are not satisfied with their situation, they can find the opportunity to learn and stand out; he/she can become a lawyer or a doctor, who can help other people. Because: „if you can dream it, you can do it.”- Walt Disney.

Patrícia Isztl - 07.01.2019 @ 20:27

I agree with you guys and enjoyed reading your article. In fact, I believe you are right by saying that evil and good, both exist in ourselves. And within that, malice is a procedure over time and through different outer influences. Yet I think Patrícia is also right.

Growing up in an abusive and bad environment could be sort of a trigger for someone being "bad" oder "evil". But it does not necessarily have to.

On the other side I do not quite agree with Patrícia when she said that the majority of young and rich kids behave irresponsibly. In my opinion that is not true. Besides, these statements based on prejudices and one's own experience.

So, considering this fact as well, we could come to the conclusion that a person's developed "good" or "evil" character is an outcome of diverse and always different experiences. For example: religion, childhood, education, environment, sexual orientation, ethnicity, outer appearence and so on. All those things are cornerstones for good or bad experiences, which develop an "good" or "evil" part of a person's character.

Actually, when I read your article, I had to think about this one quote by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn: "The battleline between good and evil runs through the heart of every man."

I think it fits perfectly :)

Yasmin Ben Touhami - 17.01.2019 @ 22:28

Hello!

I think that malice is rooted in everybody, but this doesn't matter as long as we aren't evil and don't even let the evil feelings become a part of us. So, everybody is innocent, when he or she is born, if a person is evil or good depends on the way this person evolves over years and which decisions that person makes. In my opinion it gets harder and harder nowadays, to stay a good person, because there is more and more evil in the world, but those people who are strong enough to keep being good, can make the change.

In the end it doesn't care if someone just wants to be good, it only matters what a person really does and lives like. Anyway, people can change, so you should not sentence someone when he/she behaved bad long time ago, you should pay attention what this person does now, that's what counts.

Another thing I want to talk about is the definition of evil or good. What is the time a person starts being evil and stops beeing good?

I think that you can't clearly consider every action as good or evil, because everybody has to decide on their own, what they think about an action.

Julian Stöckl - 27.01.2019 @ 19:28