Everyone Has Empathy, but Only Some Decide to Use It for Good

Even bad guys are capable of being good, and good guys are capable of becoming evil if they are pushed far enough. I’ve found that human nature is a complex puzzle and all of the pieces must fit together perfectly in order to avoid wickedness, sadism, and selfishness, yet it is still all-consuming for many of us. In short: Good people can do bad things, often by accident.

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, was quite fascinating to me because of Lennie's seemingly harmless character: The guy killed bunnies and various creatures, eventually a woman, simply because he was hugging everyone too hard, and George’s character became more and more relatable as the story went on. Neither one of these people meant to be villains. Lennie was clearly delusional, unaware of the power of his own strength, yet the part of the story that stood out to me most was that George, the supposed hero, killed Lennie: His friend. What made the narrative even more complex was that he actually did it for the guy’s own good: He wanted to protect him from Curley.

So, in essence, George killed Lennie out of empathy for him, which shows just how twisted human beings can become when put in certain situations.

This has taught me to be very mindful of my actions in life: Just because one has empathy doesn’t mean that an individual will use it for good. In fact, many have said that a person with empathy is more dangerous than one without it: If someone knows what hurts another human being, they know exactly how to twist the metaphorical knife into the other person’s chest and fuck with their mind. So, ironically, using empathy to cause someone else pain can become destructive.

What I’ve learned is that it is not only important to experience empathy, but to examine every issue from several angles, deciding which course of action is most prudent. I’ve also learned the hard way that bullying someone because you know what will hurt them is deeply wrong, and that one should instead use the gift of empathy to try to make the situation better insted of causing more pain. Whenever I’m in a situation that requires empathy, I ask myself if I’m acting in a self-serving manner or if I’m actually doing what’s good for everyone involved. It doesn’t always work because I’ve made more mistakes than I can count, but at least it’s a start.