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Emily Solomon
Mr. Girba
English 1H period 6
2 February, 2016

Good VS. Evil

Elizabeth Gilbert once said, Listen - of course money changes everything, but so does
sunlight, and so does food: These are powerful but neutral energy sources, neither inherently
good nor evil but shaped only by the way we use them. This quote explains that certain things
change the way we act, and grow up. When we are babies some people say that we are born evil.
On the contrary other people believe that all people are born good, and outside influences change
how a person acts. Dr. Karen Wynn who made the baby lab has expressed her opinion through
experiments with babies. She makes the baby watch a play in which there is a good bunny, and a
bad bunny. At the end of the play she makes the baby choose which bunny they liked better. In
the article it reads, The baby is then presented with the two bunnies from the show. A staff
member who doesn't know which bunny was mean and which bunny was nice will offer both
bunnies at the same time to the baby. The baby's mother, who is usually present during the study,
closes her eyes so as not to influence the baby in any way. Which bunny do the babies choose?
More than 80% of the babies in the study showed their preference for the good bunny, either by
reaching for the good bunny or staring at it. And with 3-month-olds, that number goes higher, to
87%. (Chun CNN 5) Dr. Karen Wynns opinion is that she

believes babies are born with a sense of good, and innocence. Other people may say that people
are born evil because parents dont teach kids to be evil they teach the kids to be kind. They
have to tell them not to be bad but good.

I believe that humans are innately good. I have come

to this conclusion because our instincts to take care of each other, our environments that we grew
up in, and tests and statistics prove that weve been born into this world good.
Humans are inherently good because we all have the instinct to take care of each other.
When one hears a baby cry a normal person would try and help that baby, because of their
instinct to take care of the baby. They wouldnt just let the baby cry, they would try and make it
stop. In Lord of the Flies there are many examples of the characters taking care of each other
without actually realizing it. When the littluns said they saw the beastie, they werent brave
enough to say it in front of everybody so Piggy helped them. He still says he saw the beastie. It
came and went away again an came back and wanted to eat him (Golding 36) This quote
shows how Piggy helped the littleuns get their thoughts out. Piggys instinct to take care of the
littluns is shown through his willingness to help the littleuns. This reveals that Piggy has a good
moral core. Later when Piggy was done helping the littleuns because they had nothing left to say,
Jack went on to say, But if there was a snake wed hunt it and kill it (Golding 37) This quote
explains how Jack was willing to hunt down the beast for the littluns. Jack shows his instinct to
take care of all of the boys by protecting them from the beast. He willingly offers to protect the
boys because of his kind and caring instinct. Jacks true nature shines through this scene, and it

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is his good nature. Piggy also shows his instinct to take care of Ralph when he says, Look, Im
going to say, youre stronger than I am and you haven't got asthma...But I don't ask for my

glasses back, not as a favor,. I don't ask you to be a sport, I'll say, not because you're strong, but
because what's right's right" (Golding 171). This quote explains how Piggy knows whats right,
and wants to handle things properly. It is important to note this because if Piggy hadnt stuck up
for himself in the way that he did then it wouldve shown that he didnt care. But since he does
care and want to help the other kids he does not result to violence during a hard time, but results
to using his words instead. Violence is evil, and Piggy decided to use his words which showed
that he has a good nature.
In the short story Thank you Maam, written by Langston Hughes, Mrs. Jones shows a
great example of showing her instinct to take care of Roger. When Roger tried to steal Mrs.
Jones pocketbook, instead of getting mad and turning him into the police, Mrs. Jones took him
into her home and took care of him. In the middle of this scene she said, You ought to be my
son. I would teach you right from wrong. Least I can do right now is to wash your face. Are
you hungry? (1). This quote shows exactly how Mrs. Jones took control of the situation in a
very instinctive way. She showed she cared for the boy by taking him into her home, washing
him up, feeding him, and later giving him money for some new shoes that he was in need of.
She would've turned him into the police, but she went with her instincts to take care of him.
Mrs. Jones was very nice to Roger. Mrs. Jones like everyone else has inherited the value of
kindness. Later while theyre were eating she also showed her instincts when she acted a certain

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way. The women did not ask the boy anything about where he lived, or his folks, or anything
else that would embarrass him (3). This quote explains how Mrs. Jones acted in a way that she
knew would not embarrass Roger. She showed she cared for Roger and his feelings by not
talking about anything personal, and accepting the fact that some things need to stay in personal

boundaries. Again this quote confirms that Mrs. Jones is good by nature, and cares and helps for
others. This suggets that they are motivated by a genuine concern for other people's welfare, rather
than by a desire to look good. (Monbiot 4)

All human beings are born good until effected negatively by their environment, or badly
influenced by something or someone. I was born and raised in a great family. My parents have
taught me right from wrong, so I know what I should and shouldnt be doing. Since I was born
good, I have stayed a good person, because I have not been badly influenced by my environment
or somebody else. In Lord of the Flies, Jack was influenced by hunting, and that turned him into
somebody who was evil. On page fifty five Jack says, If I could only get a pig. Ralph then
goes on to say, All you can talk about is pig, pig, pig! (Golding 55) These quotes clarify how
Jacks obsession over the pigs started. It started because he didn't want to stop hunting down the
pigs until he got them. He would not give up. It is important to note this because when Jack
started getting obsessed with the pigs, he started turning evil or savage. All he could think about
was killing the pigs, and violence. Since Jack and his goodness was effected by the evil of the
environment, he was no longer good, but evil. This change happened because he didnt see

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anymore good, but instead he saw evil. He then went along with evil, and became obsessed over
it.
When a baby is born it is born good. Some people think that babies are just selfish, but
they have to be in order to survive. If babies werent selfish, if they didnt cry when they needed
something, like food, then how would we know to feed them? It is what is around them that
affects the babies. If someone grew up with no dad, brothers and sisters that were constantly in

trouble with the police, and a mom who didnt care or payed any attention to them, that person
would probably not know how to act good because all around them is evil. As a child grows it
learns a lot in the early stages of life. Children tend to watch and listen to the things around them
to know how to act. This suggests that if a baby grows up in an evil household then they will act
bad and evil. In the Dangerous Game General Zaroff started hunting as a kid. My hand was
made for the trigger, my father said my whole life has been one prolonged hunt Impossible
for me to tell you how many animals I have killed. (Connell 6) This quote explains how the
General has been hunting all his life, and has killed many animals. This is important because the
fact that the General has been hunting his whole life means that the evil part of hunting has taken
over his life. He doesnt know that hunting is evil because that is all hes ever known. The
general was born into this world good, but the hunting environment he grew up in has turned him
evil.
Many researchers have proved with tests and statistics that everyone in the world was
born good. George Monbiot wrote, Were not as Selfish as we think we are. Heres the Proof.
In the article Monbiot goes on to prove that babies are born good. 74% identifies More

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strongly with unselfish values than with selfish values. (2) This quote from the article proves
that out of the 1,000 people that were surveyed for the Common Cause Foundation, think that
unselfish morals are the right thing to have, instead of selfish morals. This is important to note
because it proves that we have been good from the start. We didnt need someone to tell us that
we needed to be nice to others, but that we knew this all along. Certain circumstances may
change one's perspective, but we know to help each other out and not be selfish. People, these
findings suggest, are basically and inherently nice. (3) Monbiot then goes on to explain and

describe how we are inherently good, by age. By the age of 14 months, children begin to help
each other, for example by handing over objects another child can't reach. By the time they are
two. they start sharing things they value. (3) This quote confirms that at a very young age we
start to help each other in the small ways, but the littlest things always go the furthest. It is
almost impossible to be born evil, then within the first 14 months turn good. A baby's brain isnt
advanced enough to even make that change. This verifies that all humans were born good.
Based on the evidence, readers may take away that through statistics babies have been proven to
be born good, and everyone is also born good.
It is sometimes thought that people are born evil because babies can be very selfish, but
babies are only selfish because they need to survive. If babies werent selfish then they wouldnt
survive. However, it is essential for people to recognize that babies are born into this world
good. This is confirmed by the fact that every one's instinct to take care of each other, their
environment, and statistics prove that we are born into this world good. One should
acknowledge the goodness that is inside everyone, and not forget who they are and what they
stand for.

Citations
Connell, Richard. The Most Dangerous Game. New York: Colliers Weekly, 1924. Print.

Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. New York: Penguin Group, 1954. Print

Hughes, Langston. Thank You Ma'am. Worlds: Childs. Print.

Monbiot, George. Were not as Selfish as we think we are. Heres the Proof. The

Guardian. 14 October 2015. Web. 17 October 2016.