Katniss vs. Snow
According to William Hart, there is an ultimate definition of evil:
It can be concluded that President Snow is considered to be evil by a majority of the people who watch the movie. Snow is a cruel and manipulative dictator who has no mercy on other human beings. He thrives on the Hunger Games, and will go to any extent in order to stay in power. He secretly kills off people (including his own friends), in order to secure his power and essentially has no soul or guilty conscious. When looking back at William Hart's ultimate definition of evil, Snow fits the definition...almost. The only part that does not match up is: "the person has to have a sense of doing something wrong". Snow does not have this. He shows no remorse or feelings of sorrow for the people being brutally tormented and murdered in the Hunger Games under his watch. So, another definition of evil can be combined with Hart's in order to make a perfect definition of evil specifically for President Snow. When comparing Hart's reading to the article "What Do We Mean By 'Evil'?" by Rollo Romig, one can see that the two definitions of evil are somewhat different. Romig states: "But if evil is not always the product of an intention to destroy, it is always the product of a failure of intent: it’s the lack of an attempt to restrain oneself from inflicting what one knows will be great harm" and “'Evil' has become the word we apply to perpetrators who we’re both unable and unwilling to do anything to repair, and for whom all of our mechanisms of justice seem unequal: it describes the limits of what malevolence we’re able to bear".
When analyzing these quotes we see that Romig believes that instead of having a sense of doing something wrong, there is a failure of an attempt to restrain oneself from doing something one knows will cause great destruction and harm. This fits perfectly with Snow's actions; he has no ability to restrain himself from being an evil person. In the second quote, Romig is saying that someone is portrayed as evil when people are unwilling to do anything about the evil person. This also fits Snow's character. Everyone in the districts certainly view Snow as an evil person, but are unable and unwilling to do anything about it. They are unable to do anything about Snow because they are so poor and powerless. They are unwilling to try because they know they will get killed or tortured for trying to defy the Capitol. The Hunger Games are a constant reminder of what happened when the districts tried to rebel against the Capitol.
After watching the film, one can see a great difference between the characters Katniss and President Snow. Throughout the entire movie it seems as if Katniss herself is fighting against Snow; if there was someone else in power, the Hunger Games probably would not exist. The movie is a constant battle between good and evil; even within the Hunger Games one can see the contestants break off into groups of good and evil. Good and evil exist everywhere; even within good or evil situations themselves.
- Evil is an intentional human act (one can not accidentally be evil), there has to be some damage done, and the person has to have a sense of doing something wrong.
It can be concluded that President Snow is considered to be evil by a majority of the people who watch the movie. Snow is a cruel and manipulative dictator who has no mercy on other human beings. He thrives on the Hunger Games, and will go to any extent in order to stay in power. He secretly kills off people (including his own friends), in order to secure his power and essentially has no soul or guilty conscious. When looking back at William Hart's ultimate definition of evil, Snow fits the definition...almost. The only part that does not match up is: "the person has to have a sense of doing something wrong". Snow does not have this. He shows no remorse or feelings of sorrow for the people being brutally tormented and murdered in the Hunger Games under his watch. So, another definition of evil can be combined with Hart's in order to make a perfect definition of evil specifically for President Snow. When comparing Hart's reading to the article "What Do We Mean By 'Evil'?" by Rollo Romig, one can see that the two definitions of evil are somewhat different. Romig states: "But if evil is not always the product of an intention to destroy, it is always the product of a failure of intent: it’s the lack of an attempt to restrain oneself from inflicting what one knows will be great harm" and “'Evil' has become the word we apply to perpetrators who we’re both unable and unwilling to do anything to repair, and for whom all of our mechanisms of justice seem unequal: it describes the limits of what malevolence we’re able to bear".
When analyzing these quotes we see that Romig believes that instead of having a sense of doing something wrong, there is a failure of an attempt to restrain oneself from doing something one knows will cause great destruction and harm. This fits perfectly with Snow's actions; he has no ability to restrain himself from being an evil person. In the second quote, Romig is saying that someone is portrayed as evil when people are unwilling to do anything about the evil person. This also fits Snow's character. Everyone in the districts certainly view Snow as an evil person, but are unable and unwilling to do anything about it. They are unable to do anything about Snow because they are so poor and powerless. They are unwilling to try because they know they will get killed or tortured for trying to defy the Capitol. The Hunger Games are a constant reminder of what happened when the districts tried to rebel against the Capitol.
After watching the film, one can see a great difference between the characters Katniss and President Snow. Throughout the entire movie it seems as if Katniss herself is fighting against Snow; if there was someone else in power, the Hunger Games probably would not exist. The movie is a constant battle between good and evil; even within the Hunger Games one can see the contestants break off into groups of good and evil. Good and evil exist everywhere; even within good or evil situations themselves.