George Elliot's Balancing of Sympathy and Criticism in Godfrey Cass
Before I answer this question, I will first ask what we think of
Godfrey Cass himself; is he unlucky? Or are his problems his own fault
and he deserves what he gets? Well, I think that most readers feel
both because whilst we can see they are his problems, at the same type
Eliot helps evoke our pity for him and makes us think that they are
not necessarily his fault.
I think the main word to describe Godfrey is 'coward', for although he
is not evil and has no desire to harm anyone, he is not willing to
neither take responsibility for his own actions nor give up his
desires when they conflict with duty. In fact, his general character
seems to be summed up by Elliot's words on page 26 where she says he
is full of 'irresolution and moral cowardice'. This idea continues
throughout the book, where he will not admit the truth to Nancy,
thereby making the situation worse, although Godfrey believes he is
making it better because he is not hurting anyone and furthermore
nothing is hurting him. It is this theme that Elliot bases her
sympathy and criticism around, because on the one hand we can see he
isn't really doing the right thing by trying to hide his marriage to
Molly, but on the other we can see that he is trying to avoid trouble
and hurting people's feelings.
The first way in which Elliot balances sympathy with criticism, is by
the use of comparisons; the first main comparison is between the two
halves of Godfrey, for on the one side he is good natured, caring and
generally a 'good' man, as shown in the quote describing the view of
the village on Godfrey, 'But it would be a thousand pities if
Mr.Godfrey, the eldest, a fine, good-natured, open-faced young man,
went the same way as his wicked brother Dunstan.' (Page 20). But on
the other side we can see that he is selfish and will do anything to
There are two kinds of evil, moral and natural. Moral evil is things like murder, rape, stealing, terrorism, etc. Natural evil is things like suffering and unpleasantness typically as a result of moral evil. Evil is that which has no power of its own. Evil is darkness, a negation of light. Its power is in us, in our fear of it, in that we consider it a "something" worth responding to.
Good, is portrayed by God, and evil seems to be what fate has in store for the
verses evil, the monster is meant to be evil but we as the reader feel
who is evil. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him
Evil is to be morally wrong, bad, wicked, and a whole bunch of other synonyms that all boil into one pot. There is so much to this word that it’s almost impossible to pinpoint someone as truly evil. To be evil for no other reason than to be evil would be the worst possible evil. Adolf Hitler and Osoma bin Laden believe the evil they committed was justified by God, or some higher power. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, from the play by Shakespeare, were not evil because they wanted to be, they did it for a greater good.
One of the many questions Augustine raised is ‘what is evil’? Committing an act of evil is doing something malicious; the act is done with the intent to cause harm. However, there is a problem with this definition
this evil was occurring. If He was all-powerful, He would have the power to stop
Following the Moral Compass in Jane Eyre Jane Eyre is the perfect novel about maturing: a child who is treated cruelly, holds herself together and learns to steer her life forward with a driving conscience that keeps her life within personally felt moral bounds. I found Jane as a child to be quite adult-like: she battles it out conversationally with Mrs. Reed on an adult level right from the beginning of the book. The hardships of her childhood made her extreme need for moral correctness believable. For instance, knowing her righteous stubbornness as a child, we can believe that she would later leave Rochester altogether rather than living a life of love and luxury simply by overlooking a legal technicality concerning her previous marriage to a mad woman. Her childhood and her adult life are harmonious, which gives the reader the sense of a complete and believable character. Actually, well into this book I  I was reminded of a friend's comment a few years back to "avoid the Brontes like the plague.
Have you ever felt so much guilt and shame that you want to kill yourself? Francis Cassavant in Heroes, by Robert Cormier, is a realistic and relatable character who has suffered from this feeling ever since he was little. Even as a child, he has felt unusual and out of place compared to everyone else. Francis’s characteristics determine his actions throughout his story and motivate him to join the army, beginning his expedition as a so-called “hero”.
Evil; the White Witch, the snake or devil. God gives every human the potential to do well and avoid evil;
The creature’s evil nature does not acquit a victim since the beast calls for fellow devils, Satan and his confidantes
humane than his own creator because his wicked deeds are committed in response to society’s corruption; while
Firstly, Peter is seen as the human manifestation of evil yet he is capable of performing civil acts towards ...
is omnipotent then He would be able to stop any evil from occurring. Either way,