Preview

The Devil And Miss Prym Analysis

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
871 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Devil And Miss Prym Analysis
In the novel “The Devil and Miss Prym,” it is stated that “Good and Evil have the same face; it all depends on when they cross the path of each individual human being.” This is true to some extent, but not in the way the author intends it. I maintain, from my experiences in the real world and from the book, that the concepts of good and evil do not necessarily have the same face, but good and evil people will certainly look the same as any other person. When evil crosses the path of the truly righteous, they will be proven righteous, and the same is true for the evil.
This is explained in terms of the book by Miss Prym’s temptation. Though Miss Prym, early on, does think of stealing the gold bar, she does not. One of the reasons is she realizes that she would likely not make it very far with the bar. However, one of her primary reasons for wanting to take the gold bar in the first place is that she doesn’t want people to get hurt, not
…show more content…
This follows from the above arguments with little explanation, even with qualification; if good and evil comes down to your choices, then someone cannot be born good or evil. It is for the same reason as why most people are mostly simply people. You must be challenged to be good or evil. Goodness is something that must be strived for, it does not simply come, so those who have not lived cannot yet be judged. It does not come naturally, so humans are not naturally good or evil. The quote from the novel is right in some aspects. People may be good or evil at different times in their life, and they are not good or evil as a collective body. However it is not for the reasons that are implied by the context of the quote and there are better and more concise ways of saying something of greater value. A better phrase with a similar basic meaning would be“Virtue is a habit, when not practiced it is

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Wizard Of Oz Good Vs Evil

    • 946 Words
    • 4 Pages

    “People who claim that they're evil are usually no worse than the rest of us." He sighed. "It's people who claim that they're good, or anyway better than the rest of us, that you have to be wary of." (Page 213)…

    • 946 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Everyone is evil—but being immoral is in the eye of the beholder. Not every person will consider the same things evil. So in reality evil has many different faces and it seems to be more powerful than good. For example one person may think that tattoos are evil and others use tattoos to express their beliefs. The choices made are also a great influence in the outcome accomplished. In the novel “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” Flannery O’Connor explores the nature of evil.…

    • 1088 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gene Forrester Character

    • 742 Words
    • 3 Pages

    No person is truly good or truly evil. In A Separate Peace, John Knowles describes the conflict between good and bad. Gene Forrester is a prime example that good and evil are embedded in everyone.…

    • 742 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout the course of ones’ life, one encounters various forms of good and evil consistently. Often, examples of good and evil are not clearly defined, and this leads to difficulty in defining the distinction between the two. To be able to find the difference between the two terms, one must understand what each label really means. According to Google’s dictionary, good is defined as having virtue, righteousness, high morality, and integrity. On the contrary, evil is defined as pertaining to immorality, malevolence, and dishonorable actions. Although there are widely accepted definitions of good and evil, the final decision is up to the person facing the situation. In East of Eden, John Steinbeck…

    • 890 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Many philosophers, such as John Locke and Thomas Hobbes, have discussed over the years if he human race is naturally good or evil. People than choice their side of the argument, one side believing that humans have a basically good nature that is corrupted by society, while the other side believes that humans have a bad nature that is kept in check by society. As John Locke believes that the human race is good, it is reasonable to accept as true because we are born neutral, with free will, and fear of a higher power.…

    • 577 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lord of the flies

    • 481 Words
    • 2 Pages

    With proof from the book Lord of the Flies by William Golding I can say a person’s environment factors into their overall attitude, people naturally have evil thoughts, but will rules around them they are good. At the beginning of the book on page 38 Ralph says “Shut up! What! Listen!”. From the start of the look Ralph has felt power and the slight change of letting go of rules and becoming his natural evil controlling self. Ralph wants to keep order and the only way to keep order is with rules. Rules are what separate a person from doing whatever they want and being a bad person with doing good. From a more easily transitioned to showing evil we see on page 40 “His voice rose to a shriek of terror as jack snatched his glasses off his face.” Jack has no rules therefore he does whatever he wants and acts evil. If he was naturally good he would have felt some slight guilt for taking glasses from someone who can’t see without them. Essentially humans show their true nature given the opportunity that was given in Lord of The flies.…

    • 481 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Good is perceived as manifestations of love, purity, salvation and goodness in the lives of people. Lesser good is judged to be evil. Frequently, the perception of good and evil is based on our own frame of acceptance. When we judge other people, we create a separation between good and evil. Such people believe their actions are based on clear reasons and understanding.…

    • 1807 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    There are numerous beliefs on a man’s perspective. One, they are either born evil or two, they are born “nature good.” The belief that man is born evil is an outrage thought. On the other hand, the belief that man is born good and is dishonored by society though, is not. A philosopher that can agree with this idea is John Locke. “Locke believed that everyone was born with a blank slate and that what you experience determines if you are good or evil.” Now in my beliefs, I think that man is born good, with a clean slate and society is what corrupts man to evil. John Locke is accurate in what he believes in. Knowledge does determine whether if man is good or evil and society does take place as taking the role in corrupting humans. There are many great examples that can set this idea true.…

    • 493 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Philosophy of Hsun Tzu

    • 2192 Words
    • 9 Pages

    In order for humans to become good they must resist their original nature. “Therefore there must be the civilizing influence of teachers and laws and guidance of propriety and righteousness… From this point of view, it is clear that the nature of man is evil and that his goodness is the…

    • 2192 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Good and evil are polar opposites, yet one cannot exist without the other. To understand this intricate relationship, one must have a clear understanding on what exactly good and evil are. These two are not always so black and white, but good can be defined as acting agreeably with societical and personal values. Evil can be defined as going against those values. However, as societies and humans differ, so do their moral codes. What is seen as good in one society or time may be seen as evil in another. Two more factors to consider are intentions and actions. They are two separate entities. Actions are seen, and judged, by everyone else, but intentions are known only by the doer. This is why there is no clear-cut line between good and evil.…

    • 1002 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    mice and men

    • 546 Words
    • 3 Pages

    "All the characters are complex mixtures of good and bad, or rather of bad results from good intentions."…

    • 546 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    However, many researchers believe that we are born evil. According to the Christian concept of the original sin, all people are born sinful. The original sin is “an Augustine Christian doctrine that says that everyone is born sinful” (Original sin, 2009). Some Christians think that all mankind is born with a built-in desire to do bad things. They believe that people are born with an internal motivation to disobey God, and they refer this to the disobedience of Adam and Eve’s story to God (2009). The Christian clergy believe that the original sin is not one’s fault. It is the human being’s ordinary psychological condition that even a newborn baby is damaged by (2009). The Christian doctrine also justifies all the errors and faults in the world by having this original sin. It believes that having this evil inside the human soul is considered to be an inherited spiritual disease and imbalance in the human nature, and that is why, it will be regarded as condemnation if people go with this fault. According to the Christianity, people should work hard to purify themselves from this evil until they reach the heaven at the very end (2009). What is more, people who think that we are born evil have also biological evidence. According to a study made by a neuroscientist at McGill University called Daniel Lametti in 2002, it has been shown that people are born evil…

    • 1758 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    I believe all people are born generally good, but are corrupted by society later on in life. When we are born we have no idea of what our lives will become. As we grow, we encounter people that affect us in good and bad ways. We then have to take it upon ourselves to decide what is right and how we handle situations based on our previous experiences. Hence these experiences make our lives and tendencies good or bad. For example, many studies have found that those who grow up in a “broken home” or dysfunctional family are more likely to develop habits of lying, being irresponsible, and hyper-sensitive of peoples opinions about them. This is a direct effect of experiences they encountered growing up, whether it be trying to avoid harsh consequences by lying, trying to please someone who never shows support (causing hyper-sensitivity), or not having an influential adult who teaches them how to complete tasks properly (becoming irresponsible). I believe everyone I have come in contact with has been good in the end, meaning everyone has some sense of good deep inside of them. Whether that is apparent to the everyday person is decided by the unique path they've had through life.…

    • 544 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Society has been preoccupied by the concept of good and evil since the emergence of civilization and, just as humankind has evolved over time, so has the definition of evil. Evil was first used to describe someone who placed themselves above others and it wasn't until the Old and Middle English period that evil became associated with wrong-doing. As time passed, the definition continued to become increasingly more specific until it reached its modern day definition: “extreme moral wickedness.” (www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=evil) However, what one ultimately defines as evil depends on one's personal experiences, frame of reference, and culture. For instance, during World War II, the Americans believed that dropping an atomic bomb on Hiroshima was an act of good as it ended conflict with the Japanese. On the other hand, the Japanese viewed it as an act of evil as the bombings resulted in the deaths of thousands of people. This proves that good and evil cannot always be seen as simply black or white, but also as shades of grey making it difficult to label characters in various literary works, especially those of William Shakespeare. The ambiguity of evil in William Shakespeare's Hamlet forces spectators to interpret each character's thoughts, actions, and personality in order to place them properly on the gradient of evil.…

    • 1741 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A mysterious stranger wanders into the small mountain village of Viscos with eleven gold bars in his possession. He buries the first ten in a particular spot in the surrounding forest, and places the eleventh in a different location, all of this unbeknownst to the villagers. He then brings Miss Chantal Prym, a Viscos villager longing for the big city, into the forest with him and shows her the location of the gold bars. He then proposes a deal: if she can convince the townspeople to kill any nonspecific citizen in Viscos, the eleven gold bars with be turned over to the village, providing much-needed financial support for the town and its people. However, Miss Prym can also choose to steal one of the gold bars for herself. If the townspeople choose to act upon the stranger’s proposition, the stranger will conclude that all humans are evil. If Miss Prym chooses to steal the stranger’s gold (which is an easy means of escaping Viscos), he will conclude that both good and evil humans exist. He doesn’t bother mentioning a third outcome. Miss Prym internally debates for days whether to tell the villagers of the stranger’s deal, or to simply take the money and run out of fear they might choose to kill her. Eventually though, she tells the townspeople of the stranger’s twisted experiment, telling herself that the villagers are too kindhearted to commit such a horrendous act. As one may expect, she’s shocked when the people of Viscos ultimately nominate to kill Old Berta, an elderly widow deemed unnecessary to their society. Miss Prym is evidently unhappy with their decision, and attempts to figure out a way to stop it. Right before the villagers finally go to murder Berta, Miss Prym steps in and tells them to simply look at what they’re doing, and to ask themselves if it is truly justified. She convinces them to stop their murderous plans by reminding them that humans are not inherently good or bad, but that our nature depends on each person’s control and choices.…

    • 1233 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays