An Ordinary Man Rusesabagina Analysis

Can someone be entirely evil or be purely good? In the autobiography An Ordinary Man Paul Rusesabagina, Paul tells his story of being an ordinary man who becomes a hero during by the Rwandan genocide and how he just did his job and saved countless lives. Within the story, Paul explains how human nature truly is. He tells how even the evilest people have a soft, compassionate side. Man is neither inherently good nor evil but, rather a combination of both.
People are not purely good or evil, human nature is the combination of both, even hard people have a soft side. “He had a soft side and a hard side and neither was in absolute control of his actions,” (121). Paul explains his way of seeing people isn’t in black and white it’s in degrees of
“We were all born with a powerful herd instinct and it can force otherwise rational people to act in inexplicable ways,” (193). It is part of human nature for people to follow a higher power. We can show unexplained reactions when in extreme situations and follow as we are told. We are not inherently good or evil, we react quickly as we are told and not as we should and be rational. There were killers during the genocide who were not entirely evil. “Individual acts of courage happened every single day of the genocide. Some were partial killers, it is true, showing compassion to some and murdering others,” (200) This shows how people can go from murdering to being compassionate humans. We are able to be on both ends of the spectrum and produce both good and evil actions.
Man is not inherently good or evil. The colonel, the Nazi guards, and the few killers, who spared some people, shows that people aren’t all evil or good. Humans lose our rationality and are blind to the instinct to follow the herd but, we are not pure evil. Good people can corrupt and be ruthless and bad people can be softened and compassionate towards others. We are not purely good or evil but a combination of