The capacity for humans to do good and evil portrayed in the novels To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and Lord of the Flies by William Golding (title subject to change)

It is generally known that human beings have the power and the means to help and love one another as well as the complete opposite in hatred and destruction. These two novels deal with the theme of good vs. evil in their own respective ways. One concentrates on the affect of discrimination and negligence and naivety that allows people to respond in ways that can be interpreted as being evil. Whereas the other focuses on the affect that isolation and deprivation can take toll on the very fragile psyches of children who are unfortunate to live a life set with no
This firsthand knowledge of the evil that exists within him, as within all human beings, is tragic for Ralph, and it plunges him into despair. Atticus from To Kill a Mockingbird also retains the knowledge of recognising the human capacity to do evil deeds. In his case he manages completely throughout the novel to emphasise with people who have done bad deeds by placing himself in their shoes. "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view . . . until you climb into his skin and walk around in it". He recognizes that people have both good and bad qualities, and he is determined to admire the good while understanding and forgiving the bad. Atticus passes this great moral lesson on to Scout. This idea protects the innocent from being destroyed by contact with evil. Attticus's ethic is best shown in his defending of Tom Robinson, a black man, and so is subject to numerous amounts of scorn from the townsfolk as Maycomb is abundantly clear as a town filled with racial prejudice, the same prejudice that fuelled the immoral outcome of Tom Robinson's trial. This is an example that goes against the typical clichés that good always triumphs over evil and that justice always prevails when in fact it does not