Good Cannot Comprehend Evil: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
{{quote|''"So that was Mrs. Lundegaard on the floor in there. And I guess that was your accomplice in the wood chipper. And those three people in Brainerd. And for what? For a little bit of money. There's more to life than a little money, you know. Don't you know that? And here ya are, and it's a beautiful day. Well, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v{{=}}vmoYpJIUWhY I just don't understand it.]''"|'''Marge''' to '''Grimsrud''', ''[[Fargo]]''}}
Bob and Alice are being terrorized by [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|Doctor Deathmurderkill]]. He has hunted them, attacked them, and nearly gotten them killed on several occasions. Bob is convinced that Dr. DMK has [[Kick the Dog|kicked the dog]] more than enough times to warrant fighting back with lethal force. Alice, however, insists that he must have a good reason, or maybe that it's all just a big misunderstanding. Despite any evidence to the contrary, Alice refuses to believe that he can actually be 'evil'. After all, no one's that heartless, right?
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Compare [[Stupid Good]], [[The Pollyanna]], [[White and Gray Morality]]. Contrast [[Evil Cannot Comprehend Good]], [[Complete Monster]], [[This Is Unforgivable!]].
{{examples}}▼
▲{{examples}}
== [[Film]] ==
* ''[[Star Wars]]'': The Jedi Order suffers from this problem, and pay dearly for it, as the prequels show. In fact, the [[Star Wars Expanded Universe]] has shown again and again that for a group that acts as champions of good, the Jedi Order has absolutely no understanding of the Sith. Even when they're starting to ''turn into Sith.''
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== [[Live Action TV]] ==
* In the ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series]]'' episode "The Savage Curtain", Surak, Spock and President Lincoln have a hard time understanding the motives and actions of the opposing "evil" side. Only Kirk seems to have a grasp of their potential for deceptiveness and duplicity.
* In ''[[Power Rangers Wild Force]]'', Cole starts out as this, refusing to believe any creature is inherently evil and hoping to find a peaceful solution to the conflict with the Orgs. Sadly, his assumption that Orgs have anything in common with predatory animals hunting to feed themselves proves wrong - they are heartless beings and are literally [[Made of Evil]]. Fortunately he catches on fast, but he still [[Badass Pacifist|refuses to find any pleasure in fighting them]] or reacting to their leader out of anger or revenge {{spoiler|even after discovering he is the one who killed his parents.}}
== [[Video Games]] ==
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* ''[[The Batman]]'' has one episode where [[Batman]] actually tries to make sense of [[The Joker]]. By the end, it is safe to say that Batman figures out that doing this is an exercise of futility and madness.
* [[Avatar: The Last Airbender|Aang]] holds this view for the majority of the first season, in keeping with his pacifistic views. Even at the end, when he's facing a [[Complete Monster]] like Ozai, he can't bring himself to kill him until {{spoiler|the lion-turtle gives him an [[Eleventh-Hour Superpower]]}}.
* Henry Pim in ''[[The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes]]'' will often try to reason with enemies first, especially if they used to be his villainy-rehab patients. In his defense, it almost works on Wonder Man before Iron Man brings down an [[Interrupted Cooldown Hug]].
* ''[[Samurai Jack]]'': Up to Season 5, everything Jack has seen regarding Good and Evil has been [[Black and White Morality|black and white]], and while he clearly believes humans have free will, he overestimates the power of such a concept. The idea that anyone could be indoctrinated from birth to have [[Evil Virtues|outstanding virtues like loyalty and dedication]] while simultaneously being [[Ax Crazy|psychotic killing machines]] (as the [[Tyke Bomb|Daughters of Aku]] clearly have been) is new to him, and until he actually manages to talk to Ashi, he's almost as bad at understanding how it works [[Evil Cannot Comprehend Good|as she is.]]
== [[Real Life]] ==
* [[Ulysses S. Grant]]'s presidency was one of the most corrupt in American history. Historians often attribute this to Grant's political naivete - he himself was so morally upright that he couldn't see the shady dealings around him.
** Or maybe he's not upright, [[It's All About Me|he's just too arrogant to know that he shouldn't trust so many people?]]
* Churchill assumed that Hitler's orders to "stand and die" were to buy time to complete the (nonexistent) Alpine Fortress. He was Hitler of course, but even he wouldn't order people to die [[For the Evulz|for no practical reason]] would he?
* Livia Bitton-Jackson, a Jewish immigrant from Europe got a job teaching in America. One of her students asked, "What is [[The Holocaust|that number]] on your arm."
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Goodness Tropes]]
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