Is Eli Evil?

[covenant6452]

Eli = Evil? ....no.
Thing inside Eli = Evil? ....sure.
She just wants to live, does that make her evil? ...not in my book.

[God of Vampires]

Actually, in my book. If the thing inside of Eli are evil or not depends on its exact nature. If it is part of nature, like a virus or a parasite evolved as a natural organism. I would view it like a man-eating tiger, not evil but still very dangerous. If it was supernatural in nature, demonic or otherwise, or created by mankind in an ancient laboratory. It is clearly evil as it defies the natural order of things. One other difference is that the first type is driven by instinct while the second type is aware of their actions.

If Eli herself is evil, who exactly are good? I rather support evil if this side is made up of sweet innocent and considerate children like Eli. At least if good is supposed to be made up of people who kill you because don't fit into society.

[LastDarkness]

Yes and No, good and evil are points of perspective and drasticaly change in and out of context.

[Robin]

Yes and No, good and evil are points of perspective and drasticaly change in and out of context.

Do they though, would we all agree that Hitler was evil? Stalin? Mussolini and General Franco? Would Gilles de Rais be classed more evil? Or Vlad Tepes? How about George W Bush Jr for an what could be seen as an illegal war that not only ended the lives of his own citizens, but also those of other NATO countries (including my own UK citizens and a couple of personal friends) and Iraqi civilians? I've never found a true argument that evil its purest form is subjective. I agree that good people can do evil things that might not make them evil in the long run, but to be evil, as a constant, is surely only ever objective.

I seriously do not believe that Eli's evil, not even remotely so, but she can be seen as a good person forced into evil deeds through circumstance.

[LastDarkness]

Yes and No, good and evil are points of perspective and drasticaly change in and out of context.

Do they though, would we all agree that Hitler was evil? Stalin? Mussolini and General Franco? Would Gilles de Rais be classed more evil? Or Vlad Tepes? How about George W Bush Jr for an what could be seen as an illegal war that not only ended the lives of his own citizens, but also those of other NATO countries (including my own UK citizens and a couple of personal friends) and Iraqi civilians? I've never found a true argument that evil its purest form is subjective. I agree that good people can do evil things that might not make them evil in the long run, but to be evil, as a constant, is surely only ever objective.

I seriously do not believe that Eli's evil, not even remotely so, but she can be seen as a good person forced into evil deeds through circumstance.

From their perspectives do you think they considered themselves evil? What about the people in power under them? Whos more to blame, the Soldier who fired the gun or the man who told him to shoot?
Its far too ambiguous.

[Robin]

Possibly, it could be argued that we as soldiers have been programmed to believe a cause, based on misinformation and propaganda, not out of stupidity, but out of a need to do a job effectively, because otherwise either you or your friends die and it becomes a matter of believing to survive, even if you know the truth, a bit like Orwells DoubleThink. Of course those who take pleasure in the killing/mass genocide with the knowledge of the truth (ie some members of the SS etc) can be thought of in different terms.

[LastDarkness]

Possibly, it could be argued that we as soldiers have been programmed to believe a cause, based on misinformation and propaganda, not out of stupidity, but out of a need to do a job effectively, because otherwise either you or your friends die and it becomes a matter of believing to survive, even if you know the truth, a bit like Orwells DoubleThink. Of course those who take pleasure in the killing/mass genocide with the knowledge of the truth (ie some members of the SS etc) can be thought of in different terms.

Finaly someone else who read Ninteen-Eighty-Four.

[sauvin]

Possibly, it could be argued that we as soldiers have been programmed to believe a cause, based on misinformation and propaganda, not out of stupidity, but out of a need to do a job effectively, because otherwise either you or your friends die and it becomes a matter of believing to survive, even if you know the truth, a bit like Orwells DoubleThink. Of course those who take pleasure in the killing/mass genocide with the knowledge of the truth (ie some members of the SS etc) can be thought of in different terms.

Finaly someone else who read Ninteen-Eighty-Four.

In some ways, I found it doubleplus ungood.

[Wolfchild]

Finaly someone else who read Ninteen-Eighty-Four.

In some ways, I found it doubleplus ungood.

Oh don't be that way. Did you skip your Two Minutes Hate?.

[Pevalwen]

Reflecting on some of the things that have been mentioned, I don't think that Eli is evil.
Regarding her age and decisions in contrast to Virginia, I presume that at the time that Eli was infected, she wasn't at a mature age to perhaps even consider whether to end herself or not and maybe that's stayed with her (I remember Oskar noting some sort of mistake or ignorance that Eli showed and he suggested that it was because she still had the mind of a twelve year-old), and also, maybe the infection has locked that in place and matured inside her as to almost control her and keep her alive.
Regarding morals, I agree about what has been said about humans eating masses of meat. In a way, in that respect, maybe Eli is more moral than most humans, as she only feeds off of a couple of people over reasonably long periods while the average human may eat numerous amounts of meat in a day; I noted this when Virginia cooked beef stew or something and Staffan cooked chicken- it made me think about how nobody at all cared about those deaths with all the fuss about the Ritual Killer. It also made me think of Eli as animalistic and Lacke going to exterminate the 'dangerous' animal (who was ultimately just doing what she had to do to survive). You don't see anybody chasing Virginia for cooking a cow, yet in a way she's had it given to her to eat like Eli had had blood given to her to drink, and Eli actually needs it.