Evilness In Macbeth

Part One
There is a distinguishing line between evilness and poor decision making that can quickly become blurred when one looses themselves to action without thought. Martin Luther once said, “I cannot and will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe” (1521). After reading Edgar Allen Poe’s Tell-Tale Heart and William Shakespeare’s, Macbeth, it becomes very apparent the unnecessary condition these men found themselves in due to their thoughtless actions. William Shakespeare’s, troubled character Macbeth and Edgar Allen Poe’s unnamed Narrator, both have a conscious, which leads them to feel convicted for their murderous actions, however, the strength of their consciousness varies, allowing one to confess
The unnamed person retreats in the shadows for quite sometime and then, plunges into the man’s blacken room, opening the lantern to shine the light on the “old man’s” wicked eye (Poe, 1843, p.1). The narrator then drags the old man across the floor as he lets out a single scream and then pulls the bed on top of the old man (Poe, 1843, p.1). When the unnamed narrator hears the man's heart stop beating, he lifts the bed off the man to ensure he is dead, which he certainly is (Poe, 1843, p.1). The narrator proceeds to cut up the body and places his remains under the old man’s floor board (Poe, 1843, p.1). A neighbor heard the old man’s scream and called the authorities (Poe, 1843, p.1). Three policemen arrive and question the narrator (Poe, 1843, p.1). He causally told them he screamed in his sleep and the elderly man is out of town (Poe, 1843, p.1). The police believed him, therefore the narrator decides to bring the officers to the old man’s bedroom (Poe, 1843, p.1). The unnamed person and the officers sit down and chat in the room and suddenly the narrator begins feel pale, his “head ached” and experienced a loud “ringing” in his ears (Poe, 1843, p.1). The ringing became louder and louder (Poe, 1843, p.1). Nonetheless, the officers still sit, smile and chat, as they had not heard a sound (Poe, 1843, p.1). The narrator began to overtly react,
The Tale Tell Heart and Macbeth truly reminded me that no person is above sin. If we do not stay aligned with God, it can become very easy to partake in things we never imagined we would. These men never imagined they could commit murder, the presence of their conscious speaks to such. However, they were so engulfed in their own desires that did not stop to think about the gravity of their actions. I am certain the old man’s eye was an awful sight, but was it worth taking his life to rid him of it? I am certain under differing circumstances Macbeth could have a made for a decent King, but is that title worth the death of his wife and murdering a handful of people? I think not. These stories sound outrageous, but how open do we loose ourselves to our own desires? How often do we not simply take the time to think a decision through thoroughly or even ask God if this is what He desire we do? I can think of countless times when I did not stop pray about something or even really think a decision through and I had to suffer the repercussions for it. God is a god of wisdom. Thus, he intends for us to act in a wise manner. THE VERSE YOU JUST READ ABOUT WISDOM