Critical Analysis The Novel | The Bad Speed
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Added on 2019-10-01
Critical Analysis The Novel | The Bad Speed
Added on 2019-10-01
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1Critical AnalysisThe novel, “The Bad Seed,” is an embodiment of the turmoil and dilemmas faced by parents who come to know that their children can kill anyone without any feeling of guilt or remorse. The novel is a critical commentary on the conditions of such parents and on the ways inwhich those parents must act. The novel is an amalgamation of contradictions in which good andevil as a continuum has made it difficult for the readers to place perfectly characters like Christine, Rhoda, Monica, Leroy, etc in their respective position of ethics and morality. This very contradiction has been amplified in the article, “The Recurrence of an Illusion: The Conceptof ‘Evil’ in Forensic Psychiatry, in which Knoll (2008) has strived to provide a solution to the problem and to the ongoing dilemmas. Going through Knoll’s (2008) article, one might be able to justify the positions of the central characters of the novel, “The Bad Seed,” though in a complex manner. Though the concept of evil has been taken into consideration from a critical perspective in the field of psychiatry and psychology, Knoll (2008) has pointed out that in the sphere of such sciences and in the sphere of the criminal justice system the concept of evil has been treated as illusionary moral dilemma. The very theme of the novel when interpreted from Knoll’s angle can make the readers understand that those who commit crime in the novel are the ones plagued by immoralitybut such immorality has been deliberately depicted in the form of evil to emphasize more on the continuous conflict between the spiritual and the demonic. Quite interestingly several of the characters’ action in the novel (that are apparently evil) can be justified if interpreted from the standpoint of Knoll’s interpretation. Quite interestingly, this can be done by citing the fact that Knoll (2008) has considered the concept of evil to be an illusion and a delusion. For Knoll (2008) the concept of evil is merely a subjective one that is
2created by individual human being in his/her own way. For Knoll (2008) the concept of evil is not only illusionary but also relative and no universal definition of it can be properly given. If such a view is to be admitted then the confusion and the dilemmas projected in the novel, “The Bad Seed,” can be resolved. A reader, going avidly through the novel, might feel confused how to justify several actions of several characters. But if the same reader is introduced to Knoll’s article then he/she might find a way to compromise with the novelist’s intents. If Knoll (2008) has to be believed then it becomes an undeniable truth that primitive cultures still use to considernatural calamities as evil manifestations, but the same is not considered by modern cultures. Hence, the actions of some of the characters in the novel could not be judged from a fixed, universal, moral perspective because; morality, as Knoll (2008) has pointed out, itself is relative, depending on time, society, and circumstances. Knoll (2008) has pointed out that several scholars have suggested that the concept of evil can never be scientifically defines as it is a mere illusion that has no practical basis. Just like goodness, evilness is also a concept that is subjective. And if this has to be believed then none of the actions committed by the characters in “The Bad Seed” should be discriminated on the basis of the universal division that exists between right and wrong, evil and good, spiritual and demonic, human and inhuman. It must also be noted that though some of the characters in the novel commit acts of violence, if Knoll’s (2008) theory is to believe then such deviant acts should not be judged from the perspective of evilness as such judgment would then be erroneous.It would be erroneous primarily because; a concept that denotes an illusion can be made the basisof psychological interpretation. Hence, judging from Knoll’s (2008) perspective the acts of deviance projected in the novel cannot be considered evil. The demarcation and distinction between good and evil is a long-drawn subject of debate. And going through Knoll’s (2008)
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