Good+vs+Evil

= GOOD VERSUS EVIL =

The struggle between good and evil was led since the earliest times. This battle has always been in equilibrium, because one of these two powers couldn’t beat the other. The man is between these opposites and he has to choose the best faction. The Good offers a big opportunity of salvation, but requires devotion and good actions, while the Evil offers illusory dreams without giving a warranty for the afterlife.

GOOD VS EVIL IN LITERATURE
Literature remains a form of human expression. Often in English literature, writers express messages that may use major symbols that stand for the fundamental realities of human thought and condition, including those of religion and myth. Light, remaining the universal symbol of good, may be defined as spiritual awareness and a divine presence; opposing darkness which continues to represent evil as anything threatening, sinister, or ignorant. In Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, by William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus things take a turn for the worst. Both Hamlet and Faustus start out good, but several events take place throughout the play that turn both characters to evil. Not only events but people also influences Hamlet and Faustus. When Hamlet hears of his father's death, he becomes very depressed. One night Hamlet finds a spirit walking the grows of the castle.The spirit tells him to kill Claudius. Hamlet is now faced with the decision to kill Claudius or ignore the spirit. Hamlet decides to seek revenge on Claudius. If Hamlet kills him, evil will win. Hamlet struggles with this decision throughout the play. Claudius sets up a duel between Hamlet and Laertes. Hamlet scores a point and his mother the Queen decides to drink to her son, not knowing the drink was poisoned. The queen dies immediately. Laertes then tells Hamlet that his blade has been poisoned by Claudius. Hamlet then takes Laertes sword. Before Hamlet dies he tells his best friend to tell everyone this story and kills Claudius, then he makes him drink the poison.

Doctor Faustus represents the constant battle between good and evil. In the story Faustus choose to stoop to a lower level in order to get what he wants. The good angel and the bad angel are the morals that pull the Faustus's soul apart, forcing him to make a decision. Faustus chooses to follow the dark angel and makes an agreement with the devil. Faustus is selling his soul for twenty four years of unlimited power. While Faustus is being pulled toward the luxuries that the devil has to offer, he is also fearful of God. When it comes near to the end of his twenty-four years, Faustus fears that he is going to Hell. He think about asking God for forgiveness, but fears that God will turn him away for sinning. Hamlet and Doctor Faustus are both great examples of how one wrong decision can cause an everlasting burn. Hamlet and Faustus both start out good and turn to evil. There’s a similar situation in "The strange case media type="youtube" key="FYIbV-Ys4R4" width="425" height="350" align="right" of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" in which the protagonist Henry Jekyll, in his laboratory makes a stupefacent substance: it can separate human mind to free all the evil hidden in everyone. The doctor turns in Mr. Hyde, a despicable creature, who commits atrocities and crimes. The creature can embody again Doctor Jekyll drinking an antidote. The situation isn’t so easy, and the doctor quickly loses its control. He knows his power and he's interested in the personality splitting, so permits to Mr. Hide to exist. Doctor Jekyll compromises his position and, at the end of the story, he commits suicide killing himself and Mr. Hide.

GOOD VS EVIL IN RELIGIONS
The problem of evil is a touchstone of any religion. From our direct confrontation with evil results suffering, and thus endless questions about the meaning of life. That is why all religions have to give a proper answer regarding the origin, nature and end of evil.

There are three major religious alternatives in explaining evil, stated by the pantheistic, dualistic and monotheistic religions. Pantheistic religions regard evil as unreal. Human suffering is a product of spiritual ignorance gathered in previous lives and distributed in the present one. In the dualistic religions, good and evil are two eternal and rival principles. In the monotheistic religions, evil has a personal identity. Let us analyze these perspectives and see to what extent they are compatible with one another.

Evil in Hinduism
In some hymns, evil is a matter of humans not fulfilling his laws or not performing the ritual properly. Often it has a moral significance, in that people are evil-minded or commit adultery. Those who commit evil deeds must repent and try to repair their evil deeds through ritual sacrifices.

In other hymns evil is personified by demons. Thus the fight against evil is a perpetual combat between personalized good and evil forces.

Evil in Buddhism
There are three fundamental defilements of the mind that combine and interact leading to suffering: greed, aversion and ignorance. Their origin is desire to experience existence in personal form. As personhood is nothing but an illusory result of the temporary gathering together of five aggregates, the desire to perpetuate the illusion of personal existence produces suffering, so its extreme solution must be the abolition of personhood. There is no suffering if there is no person left to experience it.

Evil in Taoism
Since any aspect of the world is a manifestation of the Tao, manifests itself alone. corresponding to a different participation of the Yin and Yang

principles, nothing can be considered to be essentially evil in the world. Even if Yin is termed as a negative principle, it never

Every positive factor involves its negative or opposing one. What is usually called evil, as physical and mental manifestation, is the result of a lack of balance between the two opposing principles and corresponds to a bigger participation of the Yin principle. Evil belongs to the nature of the world, so humans have to subscribe to the universal harmony and respect the equilibrium of the two polarities. Good and evil must be eternal, as necessary elements of our world.

Evil in Christianity
According to Christianity, God created all things, but this doesn’t make him the creator of evil. However, anyone can clearly see that evil exists in our world, in awful measure.

According to the Christian view, the origin of evil is to be found in the world of angels. One of them, who became Satan ("adversary") out of Lucifer ("angel of light"), was expelled from heaven together with all the others who joined him in his act of rebellion.

Therefore there is no contradiction in God's character. God is omnipotent and all-good. Evil is not everlasting. God can stop it, and he will stop it one day forever.



Besides, the struggle continues when Adam and Eve at an apple from the tree of knowledge. The Devil, under the guise of a snake, tempts Eve, in spite of God has told her not to believe any strange creatures. After Eve’s first sin, each human was born with a tendency towards Evil. This is called Original Sin.

EVIL IN PHILOSOPHY
The struggle between good and evil is studied in philosophy, too. The view of evil acquires different facets. Pythagoras is the first of philosophy to mention the opposition GOOD-EVIL, putting it into ten fundamental oppositions, which featured his thought and can be summarized in POSITIVE-NEGATIVE. The speech about evil will also be made by Socrates, who will define it as lack of knowledge. So GOOD will be the knowledge, or the intention to get it.

Alessandra Torrisi, Maria Di Tillo, Matteo Dimonte, Edoardo Mancini, Mario Mosiello.