Come to the Dark Side, Luke - Keanu Gomez

There is no definition for absolute good and absolute evil. Each person has a certain set of beliefs, morals, and values that have been instilled upon them throughout their lives. These societal and ethnic influences shape an individual’s criteria for good and evil. This can be seen during the American Revolution. To the colonists, the British were evil because they refused to grant the colonies a voice in government. And to the British, the colonists were evil because they refused to submit to the authority of the mother country. The cultural difference is evident as the colonies began to break away from their British cultural mindset, which has been replaced by their emerging American identity. Different mindsets develop a different sense of purpose. The American Revolutionary War had two main opposing forces fighting against each other. Each saw the other as “evil” or being driven by “evil”.  And each saw themselves as being “good” or driven by “good”. This has led me to the conclusion that good vs. evil is simply another way of classifying two opposing forces. The classification itself will be based on the eyes of the beholder. Their experiences and cultural mindset will determine whether a one party is good and the other is evil. Being an American living in this time period and having grown up in this society, can we all agree that the terrorists who attacked our country on September 11th, 2001 are bad? The majority of us probably can, but do the terrorists classify themselves as the same? Probably not.

Since opposing views and opinions will never cease to exist, this battle between good and evil will never cease to exist either. Because of this, one side will never overpower the other. In one of Optimus Prime’s most famous quotes, he said “One shall stand, one shall fall.” And although this is true for individual battles, the collective battle between good and evil will continue, for all people will never have a single, unified, and  universal opinion.