Why do villains sin? - essay help

The essay title is:
"Why do villains sin?"
Base on three modern literature (movies, books, poems).

Essay outline:
1. introduction: define "villains"

2. "the dark knight"
- Joker sin out of whim; for no reason at all (for pleasure)
- Harvey Dent sin after crises (death of his wife)

3. "Harry Potter"
- Voldemort - pure evil, family background, personality
- Snape - the circumstances

4. "Death Note"
- Kira - out of goodness, given unlimited power (super power), corrupted mindset, personal interest

write about 3000 words

This is for my HKAL Literature in English portfolio.
I need some advice. Are the modern literatures relevant? I need more points!
Thanks =)

Good afternoon :)

Your pieces look good. How about these:

-Rodya in "Crime and Punishment": Acted out of desperation/greed

-The Grinch in "How the Grinch Stole Christmas": Acted out of coldheartedness and selfishness

-Count Dracula in "Dracula": Acted out of hunger/nature.

-Draco Malfoy in the "Harry Potter" series: Acted out of jealousy/insecurity.

I hope this helps!

Regards,
Gloria
Moderator, EssayForum.com

Thanks for your advice.

The Grinch in "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" destroys Christmas because of his unpleasent childhood experience, right? not just coldheartedness and selfishness... is it correct?

i will use "the dark knight" and "harry potter" for sure... still deciding on the third one... =)

There isn't any reference to an unpleasant childhood experience in the book or cartoon version of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." I am not sure what other versions of the tale there are out there, but the book and cartoon versions both start out explaining "No one quite knew the reason why..." I would double check the source you have in mind.

Best of luck!

Regards,
Gloria
Moderator, EssayForum.com

hey gloria,
i've decided to use the Dark Knight and Harry Potter for the essay. Thanks for your help =)

Here are my points:

Reasons for sinning
1. Evil Nature
2. Circumstances – lost of loved ones / Unhappy past
3. Temptation of power/ feel powerful
4. Jealousy
5. No explanation / no definite reason

Points to explore:
a) Villains do not take a permanent form (transformation)
Villains -> good
Good -> villains
Villain-> no reasons (whim)
b) Being cursed, despised -> enjoy it despite others' disapproval
c) Result: win /lose - What does this implies?
sometimes winning or losing doesn't matter
sometimes the villain appears to lose, but actually they have won

I am thinking weather Snape is a villain... it is quite contradictory...

are there any points to add?

Oh, I think you are off to a great start, and I had an idea: If you find C.S. Lewis's book Mere Christianity, you can read the first 20 pages and get a great idea about human knowledge of good and evil. Lewis would be a great writer to cite for this essay.

:)

Kevin