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American Literature 25 March 2011 Unit 4 Essay Good versus Evil is a universal theme in literature often used to convey lessons of morality. Fairy tales, music, and novels all use the theme of good versus evil to explain morals to the young minds of children and adults. Therefore, to me four of the best examples that express the theme of good versus evil are The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, Alan Jacksons song Where Were You and Charles Perraults Sleeping Beauty in the Wood and Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper. These four all have a great use of the classic theme, good versus evil because they are both relevant in conveying moral lessons to the reader and because good versus evil is an issue that is instilled in the minds of all from a very young age. The narrative by Perrault, The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood, portrays evilness through the old fairy that happened to be upset from not being invited to the christening, not receiving the gift of the solid gold casket and lastly not being asked to be a godmother. Perrault portrays the old fairys evilness during the time she presented her gift to the young princess saying, The princess should pierce her hand with a spindle and die of the wound. This terrible gift was a form of evilness that was aimed at Sleeping Beauty out of revenge towards the king and queen. However, just like evil is presented in this fairy tale so is good. Good is represented through the kindness of the seven other fairies who gave the princess lovely gifts in which the last and the youngest fairy gave her the gift of not dying but falling into a deep sleep. In comparison to the evil shown in The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood, Cinderella in Perraults narrative Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper is shown as having all the qualities

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and characteristics of being good. She is not only kind and beautiful, but very forgiving as well, which is shown when everyone finds out that she is the beautiful girl that the kings son had been looking for. After finding that out, her two stepsisters threw themselves at Cinderellas feet to beg for forgiveness for all the mean things they did to her and Cinderella simply took them up, and, as she embraced them, said that she forgave them with all her heart, and begged them to love her always. Cinderellas personality of forgiveness allows her to forget all the evil things that her stepsisters have brought about her way and shows the kindness of her persona. On the other hand, with good also comes evil. Evil in Cinderella Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper is portrayed when Cinderellas step-sister shows disgust and arrogance towards Cinderella. This becomes more noticeable throughout the story when Cinderella hears how fun the ball was and then asks her stepsister: Ah! dear Miss Charlotte, do lend me your yellow suit of clothes which you wear every day." Which in response her sister said, Lend my clothes to such a dirty Cinderwench as thou art! I should be out of my mind to do so. This is a perfect example of how wickedness and evilness is portrayed in this fairytale. In the end, although fairy tales use the theme of good versus evil to explain ethics and morals to the young minds of children, good and evil are also portrayed through common stories and music like: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and through Alan Jacksons song: Where Were You (When The World Stopped Turning). An example of good in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis is portrayed through Aslan, a lion who is gentle and kind, and is simply just a symbol of everything that is good. On the other hand, the White witch represents evilness with her uses of magic and cruel personality. Lastly, an example of good portrayed in Alan Jacksons song: Where Were You is when he says, But I know Jesus and I talk to God

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And I remember this from when I was young Faith hope and love are some good things he gave us And the greatest is love. (Alan Jackson) This is seen as good to me because some of the greatest gifts God gives us are His unanswered prayers and His love. In contrast, the evilness in this song is seen throughout every stanza because Alan Jackson has everyone reflect on where we were that dreadful morning the United States got attacked by the evil actions against the people riding in the airplanes, the people who were in the World Trade Center doing their jobs, making their morning coffee, starting to work. In conclusion, good and evil will always be viewed and seen in literature. All conflicts found in literature reflect upon the theme of good and evil. There are always two sides opposing one another; one representing good and of course the other evil. This can be seen within the two fairy tales, the novel, and song discussed. Each had a struggle against someone or something within their story line.