From Cruelty to Goodness

Cruelty can be unseen and unheard as well as kindness can. In From Cruelty to Goodness, by Phillip Hallie, we are able to see a different and interesting perspective on good and evil and cruelty and kindness. He refers to historical events, such as the Holocaust to highlight where cruelty and goodness lie. He talks of institutional cruelty, such as can be seen in slavery, and discusses cruelty and relationship with power. He discusses kindness as a form of cruelty and choosing perspectives which we all have the power to do. All of what he discuses focuses on that cruelty and kindness are around us, it is for us to choose which we side with.

While reading From Cruelty to Goodness, by Phillip Hallie, I was persuaded to look differently at cruelty and kindness, and how it impacts my life. Hallie describes pain and looks closer at the Holocaust and the terror it caused so many, as he says, "Still, the word "pain" seemed to be a simplistic and superficial way of describing the many different sorts of cruelty" (Hallie 4). This really spoke to me. Pain is to common of a word, and when it comes down to such circumstances of the Holocaust, pain does not express enough meaning. Horror and cruelty are seen in the Holocaust, and as Hallie says there are many different sorts of it. There are many different types of cruelty seen often including relationships and institutional cruelty. The one I found to be interesting was the idea of kindness being a form of cruelty. The extent of our kindness may still be cruelty, such as Hallie describes about slaves, "The kindness of the slave-master only gilded the chain. It detracted nothing from its weight or strength. The thought that men are for other and better uses than slavery throve best under the gentle treatment of a kind master" (9). Although kind to move the chain, it is an evil act to chain this person. Kindness does not amount here and the cruelty is hard to look away from. Cruelty and kindness are both very different, and after reading this passage I was able to recognize what affect they both have on others.