Throughout this entire semester, I haven't ever really thought much about this "potential". Yes, I've now witnessed through literature and film the horrors that evil can create and the miracles that good can contribute as well. However, after I heard this, I suddenly realized that nothing is ever set in stone, and everything could go either way. For example, today in class we discussed Hitler and his failed art career. But what if it had gone right? Would the Holocaust even have occurred? Probably not. I'm sure all of us know that one could easily do great deeds and yet still contain potential for evil. But it was definitely hard for me to truly understand how drastically different things could be if a person fell to one side rather than the other. After this course, I've been able to see the true effects of both sides, evil and good. So now I've been wondering, what does it take to be a good person? And what does it take to be evil? Circumstance and situation. But... how do we really know how good we are? How can we really say that we would never do such a thing, when it has happened so many times? Every time I think about this, I remember in Finding Beauty in a Broken World, when Williams says "never again, but with a comma it would be: never, again." How many times have we all said "never again"? And yet, even as we are saying this, even as we are crying and completely horrified by the events of those from the Holocaust or the Rwandan Genocide, we have to understand that no, the killing has not stopped despite our "promises" that they will.
What can we really do? We must remember and never forget. But the more I say these words, the more I realize how stupid I sound. Of course anyone could say these phrases and hope for the best. But what happens when we all begin saying these and no one is really meaning it anymore? Because aren't we truly making a mockery out of these promises just by continuing the killing even as we are promising that they shall never happen again? The more and more I think about this, the more and more I want to get up and do something about it. But what can we do as human beings to protect people from falling to this "potential for evil". Where does it enter and how does it take over so quickly? We saw today in Hotel Rwanda how the genocide began overnight. How does evil pervade through a society in one night? And what can bring us back to the "potential for good"? I'm not really sure.
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ReplyDeleteThis also really interested me, and it actually corresponds with a quote from Finding Beauty in a Broken World when Terry Tempest Williams says: “I look at my two hands. On this hand, good. On this hand, evil. I am capable of both altruism and atrocities, blessings and brutalities. With both hands open, how can I judge another?” (p 336.5). Like you, I cannot find the answers to these questions, or even form a complete idea for them …but I think we cannot estimate how good or evil we are. Obviously, we are capable of both, but that does not mean that we are consistently the same amount of good our entire lives. We cannot predict what we will or will not do in the future because we do not know what the circumstances will be. In addition, I think that every human is constantly striving to be better, and when people say “never again” it is because they hope for a brighter tomorrow. I do not think we are necessarily making a mockery out of the statement, but that we are just falling short. We want to believe that a genocide as horrible as the Holocaust and Rwanda will not repeat itself, but we cannot control things that are out of our reach. On one hand, yes people are making ‘promises’ they cannot keep to, but what is the other choice? To admit defeat and not hold any hope? I think that we just have to do whatever we can, even if it may not be enough. Take Beauty in a Broken World for an example: before Lily and Terry leave Terry reflects on the time spent in Rwanda and says, “We did the best we could” (p 340.5). Building a memorial for Rwanda is virtuous because it respects the dead and makes more people aware of the genocide, but a beautiful mosaic memorial will not stop another genocide from happening (considering the various concentration camp memorials have not). All I know is that we need to do whatever we can to help, and that in itself is goodness.
ReplyDeleteThis also really interested me, and it actually corresponds with a quote from Finding Beauty in a Broken World when Terry Tempest Williams says: “I look at my two hands. On this hand, good. On this hand, evil. I am capable of both altruism and atrocities, blessings and brutalities. With both hands open, how can I judge another?” (p 336.5). Like you, I cannot find the answers to these questions, or even form a complete idea for them …but I think we cannot estimate how good or evil we are. Obviously, we are capable of both, but that does not mean that we are consistently the same amount of good our entire lives. We cannot predict what we will or will not do in the future because we do not know what the circumstances will be. In addition, I think that every human is constantly striving to be better, and when people say “never again” it is because they hope for a brighter tomorrow. I do not think we are necessarily making a mockery out of the statement, but that we are just falling short. We want to believe that a genocide as horrible as the Holocaust and Rwanda will not repeat itself, but we cannot control things that are out of our reach. On one hand, yes people are making ‘promises’ they cannot keep to, but what is the other choice? To admit defeat and not hold any hope? I think that we just have to do whatever we can, even if it may not be enough. Take Beauty in a Broken World for an example: before Lily and Terry leave Terry reflects on the time spent in Rwanda and says, “We did the best we could” (p 340.5). Building a memorial for Rwanda is virtuous because it respects the dead and makes more people aware of the genocide, but a beautiful mosaic memorial will not stop another genocide from happening (considering the various concentration camp memorials have not). All I know is that we need to do whatever we can to help, and that in itself is goodness.
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