Are Humans The Source of All Evil?

Kurt Vonnegut and Tim O’Brien, writing about thirty years apart from one another, both write novels that claim to have no meaning. In fact, both works explicitly inform the reader that the contents inside the novel are untrue. But upon further examination and analysis of each novel, the reader finds an important message in both books, if not many. After reading both of these novels, I found myself thinking about the concept of evil, and how it seems that both authors portray the fact that human beings are the constructors of the evil present in the world. People often associate evil with malicious intent, but in both novels, evil is portrayed in a different way. In regard to Cat’s Cradle, atombomb creator Felix Hoenikker’s indifference, unawareness of surroundings, and investment in his own life, to support the claim that lacking the moral capacity to care about other people is a huge concern in terms of technological advancement. Thus, because humans create technology, there is a serious danger in technological advancement, and subsequent human survival; it seems as though science’s invention of the atomic bomb could support the claim that science has little interest in humanity’s survival. In addition, for The Things They Carried, Kiowa’s recurring death in several different chapters to emphasize the fact that there is a highly unneccessary component of wastelessness and carelessness that goes along with war. Also, in the chapter "The Man I Killed," O'Brien the narrator repeats himself numerous times regarding the physical appearance of the dead man, but he also invents a story of the man's life, making O'Brien seem even more guilty but also somewhat evil, in that he acted in a profoundly immoral and malevolent way.