Yuen
English 7
21 March 2014
Agents of Violent act vs. Exceptional Act
Of all genocides, mass murders and/or murders, and wars; people who commit the violent acts excuse themselves as an unmoral being. In
Night
by Elie Wiesel and
Perils of
Obedience
by Stanely Milgram, people that become agents of great violence believe that authority overpowers morality and their self preservation makes them act violently; although people have become agents of great violence, in
Obedience in Rwanda by [AUTHOR], individuals have made exceptional acts for the moral right. Ordinary people become agents of great violence because they obey authority and they are self preservative; but people do commit exceptional acts in a non-violent mentality to pursue morality.
Ordinary people transform into agents of great violence when they believe they are no longer responsible for their actions when they obey authority and believe they are exceptional when their self preservation converts to a violent act. An SS guard tells Elie and a group of people, “‘ I hope you will all succeed in getting through’”(Wiesel 77)before the Jews were being deported out of the camp. The SS guard at the camp felt sorry for the Jews but proceeded his task of leading the Jews to be deported anyways and revealed his feelings for morality is not as valuable as authority. Showing sorrow for the Jews by an SS guard but proceeding the task shows Perils of Obedience of how the authority overcomes morality and believe they are not responsible for carrying out other’s action. Transforming an agent of great violence because the
SS guard did not fight for his morality, and rather, follow of what he believes to be high authority. When obeying authority, one “no longer regards himself as responsible…” (Milgram
). A person does not feel responsible for his actions when obeying authority because they believe they are physically following orders and mentally feeling remorse. Similar to the SS guard in