Existence Of Evil Essay, Research Paper

Since the beginning of time, evil has existed and evolved. There are many questions and theories about what evil is and where it comes from. There are three meanings of evil in particular: my definition of evil, the real life situation?s definition of evil, and Wiesel?s meaning of evil.

My definition of evil is having the intent to do harm. An example of intending to do harm to others would be the Oklahoma City Bombing, or the mass murders of Charles Manson. They both killed many, many people, with the intent to do so. If someone is driving down the road one day and a pedestrian jumps out in front of them, and gets killed, that is not evil generated from the person driving, that is not evil, but a force beyond control of mankind.

The real life situation definition, in consideration of the Oklahoma City Bombing, would be harming other people with the intent to harm them. Timothy McVeigh, for months, plotted to make the sure the bombing would go through, which is definitely the intent of harming and killing others.

An example from Night that presents the Wiesel?s interpretation of evil, having no humanity whatsoever for others-when the troops execute the hostages without reason, and without compassion. ?They were made to dug huge graves. And when they finished their work, the Gestapo began theirs…they slaughtered their prisoners, (p. 4).?

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These three previous paragraphs have countless similarities between the ideas that they explain. The real life situation, my definition, and the definition from Night all have to do with the intent of killing others. The real life situation and the definition of Night both also have to do with killing extreme numbers of people mercilessly, with the intent of killing these people, and plotting it out over a substantial period of time.

These three paragraphs also have many differences. Although my paragraph has no numbers, I feel that even killing one person is evil, while McVeigh killed hundreds, and Hitler killed millions and millions. Also a difference between Hitler and McVeigh is that were the reasons: Hitler wanted to finish ethnic cleansing and rule the world, while McVeigh simply was attempting to voice his opinion (in a volatile way), and prove a point.

There are three meanings of evil in particular: my definition of evil, the real life situation?s definition of evil, and Wiesel?s meaning of evil. My definition, along with the real life situation definition and Wiesel?s definition, says that evil is the intent of doing something wrong or committing a sin. Although Hitler?s acts and McVeigh?s bombing were both acts of evil, Hitler?s millions were even more evil than McVeigh?s hundreds, although they both had somewhat similar intents. Because evil has evolved through time and is seeming to grow at an exponential rate, we must learn to control it, and not harm others to reach our goals, because if we attempt to do this, evil will come to a screeching halt, and the world a better place.