Seven Deadly Sins: The Inheritance Of Evil Within Men

Introduction

The notion of the inheritance of evil has been prevalent since the onset of the Second World War, where homicide, rape and racism, captured the interest of moral, political and legal philosophers. As a complex and broad term, many religions shed light on this concept from differing angles. “The way in which we understand evil is crucial to our conception of morality”1 (Kekes, 1988).

The Original Sin and Evil are seen by Luther2 as “an inheritance from Adam and Eve, passed on to all mankind…”. This view offers an explanation of the inheritance of evil within men since the very beginning. This claim has been supported by Brian Masters3, the author of several biographies of several mass murders. In one of his interviews, Masters stated that ‘… Every human being has the capacity to commit evil acts”. The renowned Chinese symbol, the Yin Yang 4, also symbolises the impurity within all men, where there is always a form of darkness within even the brightest of souls, and conversely, brightness in the darkest of souls.

Within human history, the concept of the inheritance of evil within human nature has been and remains to be highly subjective. Many studies, such as the infamous Milgram Experiment5 and the Stanford Prison Experiment 6, have shown how good people commit acts of sin or evil when provided with the ideal circumstances. In Sam Raimi’s movie, A Simple Plan, the emergence of evil within men is also thoroughly portrayed and explored. It shows how “sometimes good people do evil things”. Novels, such as Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, where the protagonist meets his inner evil, through the head of a slaughtered pig also explore the inheritance of evil within men. Comment by Erfan MANGANI: Check to see if it makes sense

Evil acts originate in humans, yet evil exists outside them7.

Evil has no positive nature, but the loss of good has received the name evil8

The evil Within Man

“Evil originates in humans, yet evil exists outside them.”7

Hedonism 7, one of Aristotle’s most famous theories, states that a man will tend to do actions which result in pleasure and avoid pain. The word ‘Hedonism, originates from the ancient Greek for ‘pleasure’. However, the continuous cycle for a pain-free and happy lifestyle often leads to impulsivity. In Aristotle’s writings, ‘As amoral beings, our selfish nature as being driven with the impulse to achieve happiness makes us immoral… The impetus to achieve a certain kind of pleasure blinds man to what is morally right, thus he becomes immoral’. This immorality within men results in the behaviours, deemed as Evil.

The perpetual chase by Hank, the main protagonist, for ‘The American dream’ in the movie, A Simple Plan, demonstrates the effects of Hedonism on an individual. Hank’s impulse for retainment of the money, which would guarantee a pain-free and financially safe lifestyle, blinds him from his immoral actions. Similarly, impulse for power and control is also heavily explored in the novel, Heart Of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. In this story, the speaker, Marlow, recalls his encounters with Kurtz, a money-driven man who loses his sanity within the Congo forest. Conrad, in his story, portrays, the deceitful journey of Kurtz, being a loving husband, to a cold-blooded salve-master in his morally blind quest of reaching a financially painless state.

An experiment conducted by tale University psychologist Stanley Milgram (1963), The Obedience experiment and known as the infamous Milgram experiment, involved participants having to electrocute the ‘learner’. The purpose of this experiment, examined justifications for acts of genocide offered by these accused at the second world war. Their defense often was based on “obedience” and that they were simply following orders15. In order to explore and justify the men’s explanations, Having no visual sight of the learner, the participant could only hear the screams of the ‘learner’ (an actor), when answering with the wrong answer. Throughout this experiment, the participants were forced to electrocute the learner.

Hence, it could be concluded that the action of evil is not always caused by inner amoral attributes, but could also be due to outside pressures on a given subject.

Another example of evil commands pressuring pure subjects could be the Holocaust. The Subjects in this matter could be considered as the guards, in charge of the executions. Their strict orders enforced by the Nazi regime, pushes these, potentially pure, men into committing horrific acts of evil.

The exploration of the Inheritance Evil in texts

In all forms of text, the antagonists, or evil deemed characters, all share a common attribute of the Seven deadly Sins10. The seven deadly sins, as held in the Christian religion, are those transgressions which are fatal to spiritual progress. The seven deadly sins consist of Pride, Envy, Gluttony, Lust, Anger, Greed and sloth. More specifically, envy and greed are the most commonly present attributes in evil characters. In the work of Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness, almost all aspects of the seven deadly sins are explored. The manager, exhibits great pride, placing oneself over the wellbeing of others. Kurtz, exhibits greed, slaughtering for ivory and materialistic possessions. The bricklayer, exhibits sloth, as he does little while wanting to be manager. Majority of other characters below Kurtz exhibit envy towards Kurtz’s position. The overweight man on Marlow’s journey represents gluttony. Kurtz’s furious outbursts towards Harlequin exhibit Anger. The use of the seven deadly sins in order to showcase the quality of evil, within a given character, demonstrates how the evil qualities of the characters were not inherit, but achieved through choices made throughout life.

Aristotle, In his theory of human nature, argued that morality is something that is learnt and that all humans are born as ‘Amoral creatures’8 . He also stated that we become immoral not from birth, but form the choices we make.

The lack of decision making which leads to immorality, is heavily portrayed in ‘A simple Plan’, where the main protagonist, Hank, a loved neighbour, husband and soon to be father commits horrific acts of violence and betrayal due to the ill choices made. Similarly, in Heart Of Darkness, the main antagonist, Kurtz, showcases this attribute through his addiction to power. In a symbolic image employed by Conrad in his novella, Kurtz is depicted as a blindfolded woman bearing a torch against a nearly black background. This image captures how Kurtz is blinded by immorality and falsehood of his decisions and actions.

Perception of The Term based on Culture and Religion

According to the Oxford dictionary, evil is an action that is Profoundly immoral or wicked. The beliefs of societies regarding the definition of evil differ greatly, thus the act of ‘evil’ is also perceived differently. Numerous religions situate many different acts as forms of evil. Evil sometimes is even associated with sins. For example, in Islam, consumption of pork in is considered as sin and is referred to as evil, but the same practice is considered normal in a Christian society. Slavery could also be an example of how the term ‘Evil’, changes according to its context and era. Slavery nowadays is considered as an evil act but was considered normal during the 18th century in Europe. In an opinion piece in The New Yorker, Rollo Roaming refers to evil as an act that is, ‘…both harmful and inexplicable… What defines the act of evil is that it is permanently disorientating for all those touched by it’ (2012).

One may shine light on the term evil, from many differing angles also due to their background. In Christianity, left handed people suffered physical consequences of centuries of religious, scientific, and social thought12. Hence, based on Christian bibliography, left-handed people were considered as inherently evil. Similar norms also apply in Jewish writing, where the Old Testament writes that humans have two impulses, Yetzer Hatov and Yetzer Hara13. In Jewish ethics, these two impulses are used to explain the inheritance of evil within a given being from birth. The Yetzer Hatov, so called the ‘evil inclination’, is not a demonic force that pushes an individual to commit evil, but is rather a drive towards pleasure, property or security; which when left unlimited, could lead one to evil. In contrast, the Yetzer Hara, is the inclination towards goodwill in beings. When making sense of the human body, the Testament states that and inclination towards good appears on the right and inclination towards wickedness to the left. The right hand of the human body is also perceived to endure the righteousness of an individual, where as the left, as a unappreciable and unclean. As stated in E.W. Lane’s book, An account of the manners and customs of the modern Egypt14 ,“ It is a rule with the Muslims to honor the right hand above the left: to use the right hand for all honourable purposes, and the left for actions which, though necessary, are unclean”

Hence it could be concluded that the term ‘Evil’, is subject to intersubjectivity.

References

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