Literary notes about evil (AI summary)
In literature, the word "evil" functions as a multifaceted symbol that embodies moral decay, personal conflict, and cosmic imbalance. It often throws into stark relief the struggle between opposing forces, as when a character's inner turmoil is portrayed as a destructive meeting of evils ([1]) or when reason itself is employed as a guide to understand good versus evil ([2]). At times, evil takes on a more ominous and fateful tone, warning of divine retribution or societal collapse ([3], [4]). Other narratives use evil to highlight how personal failings can corrupt not only individuals but also the broader fabric of society, whether by framing corrupted power or the insidious spread of malevolence within everyday interactions ([5], [6]).
- Evil in itself—my legs weary apace these latter days!—it met evil in me: anger, rage, and a lust to return evil.
— from Kim by Rudyard Kipling - Reason alone teaches us to know good and evil.
— from Emile by Jean-Jacques Rousseau - And the Lord said to me: From the north shall an evil break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land. 1:15.
— from The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete - Thus the emperor faithfully carries out his own principle, that evil must be overcome with good.
— from Meditations by Emperor of Rome Marcus Aurelius - Afflicted with the miseries of birth and dotage, man is fated to rot here below from the evil consequences of his own actions.
— from The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 1 - I have told you, a thousand times, that it was the evil genius of the house!—my evil genius particularly!
— from The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne
