To See, or Not to See. Evil Exists and Grows.

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Recommended: Mental and physical consequences of war for soldiers

When a small amount of evil is seen yet disregarded, the ignorance breathes life. The evil grows and strengthens, gradually taking over any good that may be left. But when evil is all around and good is hard to come by, does that same evil now become normal? During a time of war, good people become killers and bad people become customary. The fine line between good and evil becomes blurred into a senseless smudge in the eye of reality. The good people now, whilst protecting their freedom and family, are simultaneously destroying the families of those unknown individuals who become numbered fatalities. Ignoring evil allows it to happen, but there comes a time when evil overpowers any good that may try to stop it. Like a single person attempting to halt a tidal wave in its path. When evil is seen but not stopped, it gradually gets out of control, destroying anything in its path and the mess it leaves behind is painfully all too familiar for this human race.

When there is conflict, there is regret; whether it is a small fight between two people, or a full blown World War. Georg Trakl, the author of “Grodek” explores his personal pain of the helplessness he felt while witnessing evil and not having the power to solve the problem. The final note of this poem, “The grandsons yet unborn.” (Trakl 17) Leaves a lasting thought in the reader’s mind, as if this were what is constantly going through the Trakl’s mind as he saw those soldiers suffering. The influence of this war will not only linger with the people experiencing it, but will affect generations to follow, or in some cases not follow.

When only few people oppose the damage that war brings, there is little that they can do to go against the masses. The metaphor of evil being lik...

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...o recognize that one dry patch on the ground in a storm will still get wet. Evil can only be stopped when it has only just begun, however if ignored or unnoticed it grows into an uncontrollable force, where even the good people are strained to become bad to save their own freedom.

Works Cited

Bosch, X. "The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil." JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association 298.11 (2007): 1338-339. Google Scholar. Web. 10 Feb. 2012.

Brecht, Bertolt. "When Evil-Doing Comes Like Falling Rain." The Bedford Anthology of World Literature. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2003. 525. Print.

Butcher, James Neal, Susan Mineka, and Jill M. Hooley. Abnormal Psychology. Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 2010. Print.

Trakl, Georg. "Grodek." The Bedford Anthology of World Literature. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2003. 512-13. Print.

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