The article, “Can you learn
anything from a void”, creates an interesting dilemma for the reader. Upon
reading the article, the reader must decide if a person is guilty of murder
merely because he or she was submissive. Is a person guilty of murder if he or
she is simply carrying out the orders of someone in a position of higher power?
Is a bystander who did not have the courage or morals to defend the victim
guilty as well? Although these questions are incredibly controversial and have
been debated throughout history, the answer to all of these questions is quite simple.
If a person has not done absolutely everything in his or her power to prevent the
murder of another person, he or she is in fact guilty in their own manner,
although each to different degrees. One must then address the degree to which
each person is guilty of murder. The executioner who completes the demand of
his or her master is as guilty as the person of power handing out the orders
despite the amount of guilt he or she may or may not feel. It is the duty of
each individual to simply have the courage to say ‘no’ regardless of the
consequences he or she may face. Kirsch’s article introduces the idea that such
an executioner may, in fact, be innocent due to the fact that the victim may be
murdered notwithstanding the executioner’s lack of compliance, as was the case
in the Holocaust. This likely would have been the case in Macbeth as well had
the executioners under Macbeth’s orders refused to comply. Regardless,
executing a human being, even under another’s demands, simply because the
execution is inevitable, is murder. The article adds that one particular Holocaust
executioner shamelessly announced his lack of regret or guilt for slaughtering
Jews. Not only is this man guilty of murder in multiple cases, but also he is equally
horrible and vile as Adolf Hitler himself. Although a bystander does not actively
participate in a murder, he or she is guilty of appeasement. Once again,
regardless of the consequences, it is the individual’s duty to do everything is
his or her human power to prevent murder, and not having the courage support
one’s morals is, without a doubt, a crime when the issue is murder. Those who do
not even possess the morals to believe the particular murder is wrong to begin with are
even more reprehensible. Had bystanders possessed the courage and morals to
condemn the genocide of millions of Jews or to condemn Macbeth’s executions,
history could have played out much differently, both in reality and in theater.
