The ancient Chinese believed in the philosophical concept of yin and yang, two opposing forces that complement and complete each other. Numerous examples of yin and yang exist in nature such as the brightest light creating the harshest shadows. But perhaps the most fascinating application of yin and yang exists in the realm of fiction in the relationship between heroes and villains. We all listen to the same story growing up, the valiant hero overcomes the odds to defeat the despicable villain. We learn to view heroes and villains as part of a binary system, we root for the good guys and root against the bad guys. It’s a principle that all but defines the essence of storytelling as children we view this as an unbreakable law, but as we get older something very mysterious happens the line between heroes and villains starts to blur, all of a sudden heroes start to look a lot lamer while villains become more appealing. The villain is very synonymous with the word evil, but what exactly is evil? In most cultures the concept of good and evil is tied to our premise of morality, our morality is often determined by whatever spiritual or religious code we live by. We grew up with the devil embodying evil as the face of evil for the world’s most popular religion satan is most likely the most infamous villain in human history, he is portrayed as the incarnate of evil, meaning his actions literally define what it is to be immoral.
Dear Valentin,
I am in awe with your research on “evil”. You don’t just go skim the surface but you go beyond it. You explain through history steps. You started off as it being villian and hero and then moved into culture and finally into religion and the beginning of times. How there is a very thin line between evil and good.
You question, ” The villain is very synonymous with the word evil, but what exactly is evil?”, really go to me because, I am religious and mind concept of hero and villians have changed. therefore what truly is evil? I believe evil isn’t really in evil, it something that was created through its life hardships, such as the joker. He went through hell and they called him evil for showing in a way what he went through, with his actions.
All in all, i am truly fascinated with your research on evil and it background info and as well as how it got me thinking about
-Fatima
Dear Valentin,
I am very impressed with your post, “evil”, because you go in-depth about the concept and you also connect it to religion, and how you recognize satan as the prime example of evil. Your grammar and use of English in this post really pop, it almost feels like you could write a novel about evil. One sentence you wrote that stands out is when you said “We grew up with the devil embodying evil as the face of evil” because it connects to me personally because I was raised with lessons of how the devil (satan), was the primary example of bad and it was best to follow the teachings of catholicism which goes against his principles. Also, when you grabbed my attention when you said “the brightest light creating the harshest shadows” because I have never heard that analogy before and I realize how true it is. Thank you for writing, I know you’ve graduated but I hope I can hear more of your writings in one form or another one day. You really gave me the vibe of a person who could be an author with this post!
Dear Valentin,
I am very intrigued by your post “Evil” because you explore the concept of it and where or how the ideas were created way back in time. One sentence that stands out for me is the idea of yin and yang, and also one idea I’ve never heard of before was the brightest lights create the darkest shadows. Thanks for your writing. I look forward to seeing what you write next because I like how you dove deep into the idea of evil itself and how well you brought up other philosophies and backstories for it and even the cause of evil itself which I found to be a very plausible theory.
Dear Angel,
I relate to the fact that his statement that the brightest lights create the darkest shadows stood out. I have never heard that analogy in my life and I imagine that you and I had similar thoughts while reading this post.
dear Valentin
I am very interested in your post because I love how you were able to explain the basics of good and evil as it does play a big role in storytelling of all kinds. one sentence that stands out to me was ¨good and evil is tied to our premise of morality¨ I think this is absolutely true because depending on where the individual came from and how the individual was taught and treated might change the individual’s feelings and deep thoughts and opinions and might change its morals and values
thank you for writing I look forward to your next post because it is interesting