Role Of Evil In The Book Thief By Markus Zusak

867 Words2 Pages

Envision a world where evil has taken over, simply because decent people are willing to do nothing to oppose the evil that is taking over. The idea is not far off from reality, because many people believe evil is prevails when decent people do nothing. Among these people was Edmund Burke, who once said, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” He meant that injustice will continue to take place when good people don’t choose to fight against injustices. Many people agree with Burke, because true events have occurred that support Burke’s statement. Some people disagree, because they believe that even when righteous people intervene, evil will continue to prosper. However, Burke is correct in his statement …show more content…

Evil will triumph because when there is no opposition towards evil, over time even the ethical people will become corrupt. In The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, Death states that Alex Steiner, a German citizen who is a member of the Nazi party, “[had] an itch in his heart, but he made it a point not to scratch it.” (60). Before World War II, Alex Steiner was a man who lived by good morals, however after the rise of Nazism he became corrupted by the Nazi propaganda. The “itch in his heart” reveals that he knows deep inside that his decision to support Hitler, is morally incorrect, however he is so corrupted, that he decides to ignore his subconscious (60). According to an article from The Huffington Post called “Do Good People Turn Evil?” by Adam Grant, it states, “ordinary men would inflict severe pain on others simply because they were asked to do so by an authority figure in an experiment” (Grant). Ordinary people who lived by good morals suddenly decide to cause others pain because someone is instructing them to. When principled people listen to others and let them corrupt their point of view, they make the wrong decision. In the article from The Atlantic called, “When Good People Do Nothing: The Appalling Story of South Carolina's

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