We typically see the world as
being filled with good people and bad people. Good people are considered to be
the ones that help out one another, do the right thing, and try to be the best
person they can possibly be. Bad (or to some extent, evil) people tend to try
and harm others, cause disturbance, or just plain out do the morally wrong
thing in situations. This controversy is
interesting because it brings up the question: Why are people either good or
bad, and how can someone become evil?
Everyone starts out their lives as
good people. Everyone has a clean slate, and it’s up to them to decide how they
want to carry out their lives. For the most part, people try to be a good
person as their lives develop, but sometimes things change. Since there are
evil people in this world, there had to have been something that happened to
the good soul embodied in this person, but what? What usually marks the
transition from good to evil? I think that one of the main contributing factors
is the feeling of self-importance and greed. People get so caught up in their
own lives and only think about themselves and their future that they begin to
disregard what’s good for others. This is exactly what happened in Macbeth. Macbeth heard the prophecy that
he was to become king, focused only on the benefit of his well-being, and
completely disregarded the life of King Duncan (who was literally murdered
by Macbeth). This sudden sense of conceitedness is usually provoked by
surrounding peers. Others may make comments toward a person that switches their
train of thought and ideas of how they perceive themselves and others. For
example, in Macbeth, Lady Macbeth was
a huge contributing factor in Macbeth’s murder of Duncan. She basically peer
pressured him to commit the crime and altered his mindset on the way he viewed
himself as a person. She did this mainly by calling him names, and making fun
of him.
Once an individual has chosen the
path of evil in his/her life, it’s hard to go back. The memory of the evil
crimes/actions one has committed typically stay with that person internally
forever. This can cause dementia, or even lead to worse crimes being committed
in the future. Macbeth learned this fairly quickly. Once he had committed the
murder, it was all he could think about. He could not get the subject out of
his mind and was practically paranoid of the entire circumstance. Now, controversially,
committing one evil crime or just doing something evil doesn’t mean a person is
doomed forever evil. One could take the evil situation and learn from it. They
could become an even better person after learning what it’s like to do
something so bad and realizing that that’s not how they want to live their life.
Typically, this is not the case because once people have stooped to the level
of evil, it’s hard to go back. They see their lives as something meaningless
and not even worth fixing; yet, it’s amazing what a different mindset could do
for the bright future they potentially behold.
