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Human Behavior: The Black Death And Gourevitch's After The

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Human Behavior: The Black Death And Gourevitch's After The
Creatures of Habit

Human behavior is a study that will never end, nor will there be one distinct theory or answer to the question that most people have pondered at one time or another: why do humans behave the way they do? Or, were human beings born inherently evil or good? Human beings are naturally selfish and carnal beings, having these tendencies from birth without having to be taught. Basic and consistent human behavior, Barbara Tuchman’s “This is the End of the World: The Black Death,” and Philip Gourevitch’s “After the Genocide” reflect how Thomas Hobbes’ theory of human behavior may, very likely be true. At a very young age, humans show signs of selfishness and greed. An infant or toddler naturally wants all the toys for their …show more content…
This horrific event in history took place because of simple greed and power struggle. The Hutus that were to blame for this genocide planned, physically trained, and mapped out this entire event for one result. The Hutus simply wanted control and ultimate power in Rwanda. Gourevitch states “Perhaps, in examining this extremity with me, you hope for some understanding, some insight, some flicker of self-knowledge-a moral, or a lesson, or a clue about how to behave in this world… but when it comes to genocide, you already know right from wrong” (841). Human beings do not have to be taught to desire control, power, wealth, etc. Human beings already have these desires within them naturally. As a child we dream about being a person of power- the president, actor, singer, police officer, children don’t dream at a young age of being someone who makes a positive difference or being inspiring. We naturally seek power and authority. As Gourevitch stated, anyone should know right from wrong in this situation but there has to be a greater desire to do wrong than right for someone to go through with an act as abominable as the genocide in Rwanda. Somehow, the members of the Hutus who murdered these 800,000 people missed some sort of development or illustration of good versus evil. The Hutus were very likely not developed to have good character or common
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