Compare and Contrast to Kill a Mockingbird and Macbeth

Compare and Contrast To Kill a Mockingbird and Macbeth
In literature, "evil often triumphs but never conquers."(Joseph Roux) A triumph is only short- term, for example, something short- term would be an achieved title, a victory in a battle, or a winner in a game. These three things are only temporary, as triumphs usually are in novels. When something is conquered, it remains conquered permanently. Usually the evil force is unable to conquer, because of the opposite side 's mentality. Because of these definitions, this statement is showing that even though evil characters or actions prevail in battles or events, the feat would not last forever, especially in the hearts and minds of the opposite side. I agree with this statement because there is proof that this is true in novels that I have read. Many novels have this common theme: good versus evil. This theme is shown in two works, Macbeth and To Kill A Mockingbird.
Macbeth is a tragic play about a man who lusted after power, stole the throne of Scotland from the rightful Prince Malcolm, and threw the country into chaos throughout his evil reign. In the end, his own greed and guilt consumed him. Ironically, at the beginning of the play, Macbeth has everything going for him. This is an example of situational irony, because the audience sees him acquiring all of this power very rapidly, and would not expect that he would lose it all in the end. Macbeth, manipulated and encouraged by his own wife, murders King Duncan in order to seize the throne for himself. The stolen crown gives him no satisfaction, for he is riddled with guilt over the murder and fear of being discovered. All of these foul things Macbeth does to gain the throne are considered to be evil triumphs, which fuels his greed even more. In his own mind, he faces serious internal conflict, seeing these triumphs as not enough, because he wants to achieve absolute power. The climax of the play is at the banquet scene, when Macbeth can no longer hide his anguish and convicts himself saying "Thou canst not say I did it."(Shakespeare’s, 3.4.50) From this point on in the play, this is the end for Macbeth. This is where the audience can tell that evil does not conquer in the play, because Macbeth drives himself to insanity. His own immorality gets the best of him which shows that good conquers evil in the end. Another book that shows the immorality of people, and shares the common theme of "evil often triumphs but never conquers" is To Kill A Mockingbird.
To Kill A Mockingbird is centered on the 1930 's community of Maycomb County, located in the South. Although slavery had been legally abolished for many years, the Southerners who lived in Maycomb continued to believe in white supremacy. A white, racist community member, Bob Ewell, serves as the perfect antagonist, with his laid- back way of living and utter disregard for other human beings. He frames a black man by the name of Tom Robinson on charges of raping his young daughter Mayella, when in fact, it was he himself that committed the crime. Atticus Finch, whose children Scout and Jem are the main characters of the novel, chooses to defend Robinson. The events in the novel build up to the singularly important and climatic scene of the courtroom, where Atticus tries to defend Robinson from the allegations. Though the audience feels strongly for Tom 's plight and it is apparent that he is innocent, the jury delivers the verdict that Tom is guilty. Even after winning the case, on realizing that he has lost his respect from the town, Ewell attempts harming Atticus ' children. He will stop at nothing to be evil, even going so low as to hurt children. Evil never conquers though, as shown when he is killed himself when he tries to hurt both Scout and Jem. He may have triumphed and sent an innocent black man to jail, but he never conquers and does what he had set out to do. Another way of seeing the quote through this novel is about morality as a whole. Tom was killed by the jail guards when trying to escape, which was an evil triumph. Even though this is true and society thought they had won, Tom 's remembrance made the community question prejudice and its ethics towards people. The evil society had not conquered in this tale, since Tom was so influential to the community.
Good versus evil is a constant conflict in our world today and throughout history. Authors, historians, and artists have delineated this struggle over and over. No matter what means of description they use in portraying the good and the evil, their audiences never grow tired of this conflict, even if good always conquers in the end. An example of this conflict can be shown through history. The Holocaust was a time of horror for all Jewish people. They were treated like animals and slaughtered by the evil force Adolf Hitler. Even though he killed many innocent people and attempted to create an elite race, he never actually conquered the Jewish people as a whole. Many survived and lived to tell the tale of what happened and continue to today. The world sympathizes with the living for what happened and keeps the dead in our hearts. Because of this, Adolf Hitler had only triumphed, not conquered, as in many novels with this common theme. Works Cited
• “Joseph Roux Quotes.”Thinkexist.com Quotations. 2006. Think exist. 25 March 2009.
• Shakespear, William. Macbeth. New York: Spark Publishing. 2003
• Lee, Harper. To kill A Mocking Bird. London: The Random House Group Ltd.1989
• Major Characters Analysis. Sparknotes. 2009. Barnes & Noble. 27 March 2009.
• Character List. Sparknotes. 2009. Barnes & Noble. 27 March 2009,

Cited: • “Joseph Roux Quotes.”Thinkexist.com Quotations. 2006. Think exist. 25 March 2009. • Shakespear, William. Macbeth. New York: Spark Publishing. 2003 • Lee, Harper. To kill A Mocking Bird. London: The Random House Group Ltd.1989 • Major Characters Analysis. Sparknotes. 2009. Barnes & Noble. 27 March 2009. • Character List. Sparknotes. 2009. Barnes & Noble. 27 March 2009,