Guilt

                “But mom, they MADE me do it,” is one statement that many of us have uttered before. Doing something forbidden by parents, then getting scolded for it is never fun, even if you think you do not deserve the blame. This childhood example of peer pressure can also be used to describe bigger events, like events in history. During the Holocaust, Hitler forced many individuals to persecute, torture, and kill their fellow man. This was all part of Hitler’s plan to create the “perfect race” that he could rule over. This power-hungry tyrant’s goal is similar to Macbeth’s goal in the play by William Shakespeare. Macbeth’s only concern is to be king and have power, and he will do anything to attain this goal. In both of these examples, Hitler and Macbeth forced others to carry out their merciless plans, compromising their morals in return.

 The soldiers during the Holocaust were forced to do terrible acts, even against their right judgment.  According to the article “Can You Learn Anything From a Void?”  by Adam Kirsch, the Nazi soldiers would “…first dehumanize them [the Jews], to see them as enemies or as statistics—or as a problem requiring a final solution.” This thought was thrust upon them by Hitler. This way of thinking is also present in Macbeth. Macbeth just saw King Duncan as an impediment to the throne, and although he felt a little guilty at first, he still killed Duncan. In Act III, Macbeth also has three murders attempt to kill Banquo and his son Fleance. The murderers are successful at killing Banquo, but Fleance is able to escape. Even though these men were ordered to kill and did not choose it freely, they are still completely guilty of the murders. God made everyone with the right to be free and make his or her own choices. The Nazis or murderers could have refused to kill others, but they chose to go through with it anyway. These men were under a lot of pressure, being ordered by high authority to do something, but they knew their murderous acts were wrong.

It is stated in the article that “Such men did not make the decisions in the Nazi empire, they only carried them out; and if they had not obeyed their evil orders, someone else would have obeyed them.” This statement is true in the fact that the Holocaust would have still occurred even if some of the soldiers refused to kill. Even in Macbeth, Macbeth would have found someone else to kill Banquo if the three men refused. However in order to save their moral beings, the men should have done just that. They should have refused. In order for one human to kill another, their moral convictions must be compromised in some way. Depending on the situation and conditions, like in the Holocaust, one’s beliefs could be clouded by what is going on around them. This is still no excuse though. An individual’s convictions may not be strong enough to begin with if they resort to killing other humans. The only way to combat the evil and maintain morals is to do away with the evil and temptation, no matter the cost. Macbeth and Hitler are also at fault for ordering the murders. Their consciences are not clear just because they did not physically kill the men themselves. In any situation, the individual who comes up with the idea and the executioner of the idea are both at fault.