Tales of violence: good-evil within

Abstract

The evil does not anymore lurk in the dark and hidden lands as in fairy tales orromance. It resides very near to the civilized societies appearing in many diverseforms. By the beginning of the twentieth century, the man, once glorified andplaced at the centre of the universe, was portrayed as a morbid creature that has aserious potential for evil. As the line between the good and evil has becomeblurred, the novelists have produced texts depicting human nature in its bareform. Therefore, disregarding the outdated imaginary borders separating thegood and evil, the novelists of the second half of the century, inspired by thedevelopments in psychology and affected by the chaotic world of the Post-SecondWorld War, attempted to reflect the evil and the urge for violence inherent inevery man. In this study, three types of instinctive violence and evil presented inthe novels of post-1950 English dystopian fiction will be analysed; firstly, violencecommitted by the innocent towards the innocent; secondly, the violence exercisedby the victims towards another victim; and finally, the violence committed by socalled innocent society towards the previously evil. The scope of the study will belimited to the dystopian novels; William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, MargaretAtwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and Anthony Burgess’s A Clockwork Orange.