Evil is present in literature, in our daily lives, and the world at large. However, how a person chooses to face that evil impacts whether it will spread or diminish. Before fully exploring how a person should act in the face of evil, it may be necessary to determine how that person does act in the face of evil. Did he/she act appropriately? Could he/she have acted differently to change the results of the situation for the better? "What is evil?" may also be an essential question that must be contemplated.
This was my essay:
When one is faced with evil, it must first be determined what that evil is. My brother calls me evil whenever I'm bothering him; what I'm doing is not evil though, it's just mean. What must be determined is everyone's view on where the line between evil and bad is crossed. I think that line is crossed when one does not regret the bad things that have been done and when they have no feelings about committing horrendous crimes like murder or rape. Another question that is essential to understanding what evil is would be where the evil is coming from. I think that there are two main origins of evil. I think that the two main locations are inside of you, an internal, personal demon, and outside of you, an external evil. Both of those are harmful to people both mentally and physically.
When one is faced with internal evil, I believe that they should act in a way to get rid of those demons, such as therapy or confronting them. In Harry Potter and Order of the Phoenix, Harry is having nightmares in which he sees into Voldemort and Nagini's mind. When Harry sees their actions inflict pain on his loved ones, like when Nagini attacked Mr. Weasley, Harry believes that he is the one that performed those actions and he thinks that he is to blame for Mr. Weasley almost dying. Harry then reacts by staying away from all of his loved ones, afraid that he will turn into a giant snake and attack them. He believed that the evil was coming from inside of him and that his subconscious thoughts and actions were to blame. Harry reacted that way in the face face of internal evil, but I don't believe that was the way that Harry should have acted in the face of evil. I think that Harry should have confronted what he knew to be evil, which ultimately, with occlumency (blocking Voldemort's thoughts and actions from seeping into his mind during his sleep), is what wound up happening.
Harry is also faced with the external evil of Voldemort and the Death Eaters. They present a constant external evil. I believe that Voldemort is the epitome of evil. The only thing he wanted was power over all. He used hatred of those that did not have pure wizard blood to fuel his campaign and he went around merciless torturing and killing those that simply didn't agree with him. He had no regret for his actions and did things that evil wizard before him wouldn't even think of doing, such as creating seven horcruxes. He did that by splitting his soul seven times, meaning he murdered seven people, which divided his soul in half, and then placed that soul into another object. He did this so that even if he was murdered, he would be able to come back to life. He used hatred and greed to gain power over others and preyed on the weak. That is what I think evil is.
Another example of evil in pop culture is in the television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer. There were two teenagers who were called upon to be the slayers of vampires, Buffy and Faith. Faith, after having accidentally killing a human, joined forces with a demon that she thought would win and became a hit woman for him, while Buffy stayed with what she believed was the good side. Buffy then attempted to kill Faith, to cure her boyfriend who Faith poisoned. After Faith killed a human being, she broke down and stopped caring about her actions, while Buffy regret her action afterwords and was extremely sorry about what she did.
There are many different faces of evil, and it's up to each person to determine what they believe on the subject. I believe that people should face evil with fortitude and bravery and try to destroy it before it can blossom. Evil can have many different appearances. Weather it's your face, or the face of a monster. All evils are capable to overcome, and the way a person should act in the face of evil should be straight forward and vicious. They should be looking to destroy that evil. I know that doesn't always happen, and that evil may always be lurking in darkness, but if enough people believe that evil can be overcome, ultimately it can. Evil is an intangible thing and is given power by thoughts. If people had a more positive attitude and intolerance and hatred didn't exist, neither would evil.
