Assignment 3- Daryn Smith

             As far as absolute good and evil goes, I don’t think it is ever that simple. People that many would consider “good” sometimes do unkind things. People who are deemed “bad” can do good things. Narcissa Malfoy was widely considered a bad person, yet she saved Harry’s life because of other motives. Even so, these characterizations shouldn’t necessarily apply. What makes someone a good or bad person isn’t concretely defined; it is very subjective.

            There is not necessarily an ongoing conflict between good and evil. It entirely depends on one’s perspective. From each individual person’s point of view, their actions are more likely justified than not. Some may consider it a gray area where the two categories overlap, but I feel it is more so that each person has their own values and morals and acts accordingly. There is a set of common or standard ethics, and that, along with perspective, is how we determine what we consider to be good and evil.

            I do not believe that good and evil necessarily have to exist, but they exist through the norms that each society builds for itself.

           As Sirius Black said to Harry in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, “The world isn’t divided into good people and death eaters. We all have both light and dark in us. What matters is which part we choose to act on. That's who we really are."