Good vs Evil Rough Essay

In literature, both present and past, the battle between good and evil has always been the heart of the conflict, and the conclusion can be drawn that everyone has a dark side. Arthur Miller’s The Crucible uses character development to prove this, while Markus Zusak’s I Am The Messenger shows that sometimes good characters use this inner evil to promote a good cause.

The Crucible is about a small, very religious town in Salem, Massachusetts that is the site of a group of witchcraft accusations that tear through the community. All of this strife is caused by a young girl named Abigail. She wants a man named John Proctor all for herself, so she accuses Proctor’s wife of being a witch, in order to have her hanged. This one accusation leads to calamity sweeping through the town, as almost everyone is accused of being a witch near the end. Even Proctor, the protagonist, a hard working man with morals and values, has a secret that he told no one. He had an affair with Abigail once, which was what lead to the whole ordeal. He revealed this near the end of the novel in order to save his dear wife. He, at least, feels remorse for the deed he committed. Abigail influenced most if not all of the village’s girls to accuse others of witchcraft, despite their innocence. She feels no regret or remorse for it, though, and it leads to many innocent people being killed, including Proctor himself. The judges in the court also have evil sides. They have their mind set on the fact that witchcraft is among the villagers, and anyone who seems to possess it is immediately accused. They even force people to believe that they are witches through the sheer weight of questions and accusations. An example of this is when Marry Warren is being asked to faint and she can’t. She says that she “cannot sense it” at that moment, and a judge immediately says “Because there are no dark spirits present?”. A little while later, Mary cracks under the pressure and accuses Proctor of forcing them to lie, which contributes to him being hanged.

In I Am The Messenger, there are many evil deeds committed, but the vast majority of them are done in order to help further a good cause. The novel is about a 19 year old named Ed Kennedy who, out of no real heroism, helps to stop a bank robbery. This initiates a series of events, in which Ed has to figure out a way to help the person indicated on playing cards he receives anonymously in the mail. Sometimes it’s an easy job, and he doesn’t have to do much to help the person. An example of this is a young single mother who always puts about her kids first and never does anything for herself. For Ed, it was as easy as buying the lady an ice cream cone to show that she can still have luxuries in hard times. But sometimes Ed has a tougher time. For example, one of the first cases he had to deal with was a rape case, where every night a wife would be raped and abused by her drunken husband. Ed didn’t know how to deal with this, until he received a gun in the mail with one bullet. He then went and held the man at gunpoint, threatening to take his life unless he stayed away from the woman. Another example is the Gavin Rose. He was a young kid who constantly misbehaved and caused trouble, bullying people, stealing, etc. He also didn’t have a good relationship with his brother, and needed to grow up in Ed’s opinion. To achieve this, Ed beat the boy up badly. This worked to unite the two brothers and make them mature a bit. These would both be considered evil deeds, but they both worked to help enforce good.

Even though there is evil in both novels, they are not the same type or degree but they both aim for justice. In the Crucible, the evil acts that are committed by the characters are actually permitted by law, even though they usually result in someone dying. This is the most severe type of evil, because innocent people die because of the deed. However, in I Am The Messenger, the evil acts that are committed by Ed are not permitted by law, and yet are less severe in the punishment. No one dies in this novel, and yet the results are as satisfactory in justice as the hangings were in the eyes of the villagers in Salem. Therefore, the different evil acts done by the characters in both novels have varying effects and penalties, but essentially they both aim for justice, even though there are different means of achieving it.

In conclusion, everyone has a dark side. Even though some characters, like Ed, are protagonists, some of their acts are considered to be evil. Despite this, in some situations, these evil acts can be used in order to promote a good cause.