Notes

Since the beginnings of time and the existence of humanity, people have always had the desire to know all the answers. One of the most doubted thoughts is the difference between good and evil, physically or emotionally. According to philosophy, good and evil are both very abstract concepts. Most philosophies accept the dualism of good and evil. Good coexists with evil and there can be no thing such as ‘good’ unless there is ‘evil’ and vice versa.Who sets the right definitions to both good and evil? Society has its own point of view,whatever is beneficial to mankind is considered reasonably good and whatever is not is evil, The fact that people label their actions as good or bad are based on perceptions and judgments. These perceptions and judgments are set by the way humans are raised, the religion followed or what the common sense tells each and everyone. Throughout stories, specially creation stories and short stories, good and evil are symbolized or characterized to be protagonist and antagonist to create examples of what is moral and opinions.
The creations stories in general, tell the story, more like a theory, on how the world was created and the appearance of life in forms of animals and humans. According to the Christian creation story, God did not only created life but also nature around them, it says that he created earth that was shapeless and covered in darkness. “God said `Let there be light´, and the there was light. God divided the day from night, naming them ´day´ and ´night´”. Darkness was not created by God, he created light and therefore if there is no light, dark existes. This is a straight comparison to good and evil. God created good but in absence of good, evil exists. God created humans, Adam, first man, and Eve, first woman. Adam and Eve had all goods from paradise, the had no worries, no pain, and were eternally happy. Until, the evilness took shape and transformed into a serpent. In the reading it says that God warned them that they could live in the Garden of Eden eating whatever they wanted to except for a forbidden fruit. The fruit is of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. “But the most cunning animal, which God had made -the serpent-, tempted Eve to eat the forbidden fruit.”, The serpent tempted the woman to eat the fruit and make the sin. Sins come from evil and God punish those who commit them, just like Adam and Eve. The reading in page 1, in the last paragraph, states,”But God knew of their sin and called out to them. Then he cursed the serpent and Adam and Eve, and in shame they were driven from the beautiful Garden. God told Adam he would now have to toil and sweat to work the very soil from which he had been created. Then God blocked the entrance to the Garden with a great fiery sword so that no one could enter.” The serpent is represented as evil and Adam and Eve, or just every human, is known as a sinner.
God is good, perfection and essence. He is the absence of evil and evil is the absence of God. God is always the path and way out of evil. In the Psalm 23, he offers christians and just anyone who feels lonely or lost to follow him. In the first line of page 339 it says “The lord is my shepherd, I shall not want, he maketh me to lie down in green pastures” This line means that he provides needs, and he gives rest. He is pure good, he teaches humans to follow his example. If humans follow his steps, their actions will be completely packed on generosity, honesty, and obviously morality. “He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name´s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, For thou art with me.” (lines 5-7). These lines mean that God guides and protects humanity from the darkness and the evil. The last line of the poem says that he will always be watching over forever. There is also a Christian parable that tells the story of a father and two sons. One of the sons was tempted by evil and began to commit sins. The reading in page 344 says, “And many days after the younger son gather all together and took his journey into a far country and there wasted his substance with riotous living”. “The Parable of the Prodigal Son” is an allegory because this symbolize when many Christians fall away from God and return with repentance. As mentioned before, good is characterized by God.
In Christianity, there is also a epic that demonstrates that the evil do exist and has been also characterized. Evil is shown as the antagonist according to the readers judgment and perception. In the “Fall of Satan”, the readers discover who Satan is, when he rebelled and other biblical teachings about the spiritual adversary and his army of dark angels. As the reading says in page 368, lines 71-75, “For those rebellious, here their prison ordained in utter darkness and their porion set as far removed from God and light of Heaven as from the center thrice to the utmost pole. O how unlike the place from whence they fell!” The rebellion from God cause the angel to fall from Heaven and created evil. Satan has now become the Arch-Enemy as mentioned in line 81. To create an analogy, light is compared to darkness and Heaven is compared to Hell. Heaven as known, is a perfect place without sins and eternal peace but in the other hand, Hell is the opposite. The “Fall of Satan” describes in lines 46-58, the torments, pain, perdition and the chains and penal fire found in Hell. Hell is considered to be the home of evil, the home of Satan. “What can it the avail, through yet we feel strength undiminished or eternal being to undergo eternal punishment?” (lines 153-155) The absence of good is considered to be punishable, to disobey the will of God is contemplated as evil. God is goodness, and Satan is evil, one being the protagonist of the stories and of the lives of humans and the other is the antagonist.
The symbolism and characterization of evil and good throughout the stories help the reader have clear examples, to create moral and opinions. Evil is the absence of good and good was created by God. The first sin was made by the first humans. Adam and Eve. in Paradise, who were tempted by evil in the form of a serpent. The sinners were punished and thrown out the Garden, this is said in the Christian creation story. In the Psalm 23, God is shown as goodness and essence. He is always looking over us, protecting us and guiding us to the right path of good and not evil. God is the way far from evil. In the “Fall of Satan”, the creation of Satan, who is the personification of evil, appears. The creation of a Hell filled with torture and pain is the opposite of what Heaven is known, Satan is evil and God is mercy and goodness.