The hero, the villain, and the epic battle between good versus evil are all universal aspects of stories that we take a little too seriously.
Everybody strives to achieve the characteristics of the the hero because that ultimately means you’re a good person.
Nobody wants to have the characteristics of the villain because that means you’re a bad or evil person.
In “The Retribution of Mara Dyer,” by Michelle Hodkin, the protagonist discovers that she plays the villain of the story, but to herself she is the hero.
Nobody is just the hero or just the villain. Someone could be a completely virtuous and an exceptionally good person, but in somebody else’s perspective they are still the villain and vice versa.
For example, characters like Spiderman and the Arrow are known as vigilantes. Both Spiderman and the Arrow are seen as heroes and saviors to the city they defend, but to the law enforcement they are nothing more than criminals that are undermining their authority.
From Harry Potter we learn that: “We’ve all got both light and dark inside of us.”
We are so much more than just good or bad because we are human. Humans aren’t supposed to represent one end of the extreme or the other, but to live as we choose.
According to Mail and Guardian, especially when considering morality and human rights, there is no clear distinction from the good guys and bad guys and from what it is right or wrong.
For the most part we live in the “grey area.” The “grey area” is the space between good and bad, right and wrong.
Our choices and opinions can never be defined as just good or bad because they consist of both.
No matter how much society strives to have everybody think and see the same things as either good or bad, it all comes down to our own opinions, which of course differ from others.
We don’t watch television in black and white anymore, so we shouldn’t still see the world this way.
