The Evil Nature of the Human Race
In 1972, Flight 571 crashed in the middle of the Andes Mountains leaving its survivors in a desolate and harsh wasteland with little food and a chance to survive. In a miracle chance, some survivors were found two months later, broken and half alive. Their means of survival? Cannibalism or the consummation of the deceased passengers. When it came down to it, the rules and pressures of modern society didn't matter. The only thing that thrived was human nature to survive.
As humans we like to believe that we are innately good. But the fact is that we are taught most of our values and we follow them to conform to society. Sharing, caring, and being polite are all mannerisms we follow so that society doesn't erupt into chaos. We follow rules to construct this idea of a perfect society where everyone can get along and there is peace. But there will always be conflict because its a part of human nature. War, for example, strips humans down to their primal instincts. As shown in The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien, war reveals man's tendency to destroy and his truly selfish nature.
In the war, men fight for themselves. While men may have different intentions coming in, the war itself draws out the instincts that allowed cavemen to survive millions of years ago. They fight, claw, kill, and protect. There are no decencies. There are no formalities. And there is no mercy. When O'Brien kills the Viet-Cong soldier, another soldier consoles him, saying that he carried a gun and he had to die. But when is killing another human being ever all right? In the war they desensitize themselves to killing, causing pain, and taking revenge. In war there are no rules it is kill or be killed and these men face death on a daily basis. Society and its rules become arbitrary as they take their own justice. O'Brien shows this raw feeling when he plays his "prank" on Bobby Jorgenson. Fear causes irrational actions and thoughts but the instinct to survive is what leads us to kill.
How can men that are so good do such terrible things? And these aren't murderers and criminals, these are our American troops. Time and time again history has shown us that we cannot trust in the innate goodness of man. Even our founding fathers found this to be true. Alexander Hamilton, who experienced the American revolution first hand, saw the cruelty and culmination of man's poor choices. He advocated for an American monarchy where the people have no say in the government because he didn't believe the common people could be trusted with the rules. The United States today is a democracy not a republic. The people have a say in their government but it is limited by boundaries, laws, rules, and even other people, all to protect the fragile society we have crafted. This façade that we can all live in peace. But after all, what is peace without war? Can there be good without the bad?
No comments:
Post a Comment