(429 words) Man is a complex organism. Sometimes we cannot say for sure whether our companion is kind or evil, generous or cruel, good or bad. This can be explained by the contradictory nature of each of us. How to answer the question of what controls people to a greater extent - kindness or cruelty? Of course, it all depends on the specific circumstances. But it seems to me that most often man is ruled by kindness: This happens only because being kind is easier and more pleasant than cruel. I will try to explain my point of view using arguments from Russian literature.
The protagonist of the story I.S. Turgenev's “Biryuk” seemed suspicious and gloomy to everyone around. He was considered cruel, because he, performing the work of a forester, did not allow even the poor and desperate people to break the law. Everyone who chopped trees in the forest, Biryuk caught. But once a stray traveler got into the forester's house. The forester himself invited the master to wait out the weather in a safe place. Then the guest found out that Biryuk lives in an old shack, he brings up small children, suffers a need. His wife had long gone with another man in search of a better life. It is not surprising that the hero became hardened, and his zealous service drowned out the pain of betrayal. Nevertheless, he, the unsociable and strict servant of the law, showed kindness by releasing the forest thief. Seeing the poverty and hopelessness of a simple peasant, Biryuk softened and released him, but on the condition that the thief would not tell anyone about it. This means that the hero could repeatedly lower the poor, and he supported rumors of his cruelty so that real criminals avoided meeting him. His hardheartedness was only an image, but in reality the forest ranger was a compassionate and gentle man ruled by kindness.
Sonya Marmeladova, the heroine of the novel F.M. Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment," was forced to go on a yellow ticket to feed her family. The young woman lived in inhuman conditions and still maintained faith in God, in justice, in a beautiful world in which one day there would be a place for all the poor and destitute. She could be hardened, and it is unlikely that anyone would blame her for this. But natural mercy saved Sonia Marmeladova, thanks to her attitude to life, the heroine saved herself, did not fall, did not become one of the hundreds of faceless and soulless women who provide intimate services for money. Of course, the girl was part of a cruel and vicious system that destroys the fate of youth, but she herself was distinguished by kindness and even generosity in relation to her environment, it was these qualities that determined her behavior.
So you can see that kindness rules them more. Each of us has a good beginning, which is not so easy to exterminate even by cruelty from the outside. You only need to be able to set goals correctly, remember something worth living for, and believe that a black stripe will follow a white one. In this case, it will be much easier to show kindness, but there will be no thoughts of cruelty.
