The Bad Seed and the Good Son
Though evil has many faces, it can be easily stopped or avoided if it strikes where we are expecting it. However, evil is extremely dangerous and a larger threat to us when it wears the mask of innocence. Rhoda and Henry, the heroes of the movies The Bad Seed and The Good Son respectively, are two characters that prove this hypothesis to be fact. They had innocent faces that hid their murderous sides. Evilness and a joy for assassination were common properties they shared; however, there were differences in their professionalism, intelligence, and emotional response as killers.
Rhoda, a beautiful little girl, was the kind of girl who wanted everything for herself. Every time she could not get something she asked for, her cute angelic face transformed to a scary frown as she started yelling and protesting. Her selfishness pushed her to commit murders against people who refused to give her what she wanted. She easily killed her little schoolmate when he refused to let her take his medal away from him. She also murdered the janitor, LeRoy, when she doubted his truthfulness about him knowing about her first crime. Eventually it was revealed that Rhoda had also murdered a neighbor lady when she was living in Wichita, yet Rhoda experienced neither remorse nor guilt.
Henry was a little child for whom killing was a sport. His evil behavior became apparent when he killed a neighbor’s dog with a homemade crossbow. This behavior escalated when he took his sister, Connie, ice-skating and purposely shoved her toward the thin ice knowing it would collapse, and Connie would drown. After this incident, Henry’s mother discovered some leads that made her suspicious about her son Richard’s death. She asked Henry firmly if he murdered his brother, and he implied he
Hemidach 3 did. Henry eventually tricked his mother, lured her to a cliff, and shoved her off in an attempt to kill her. When comparing these two characters, we see many differences. Unlike Rhoda, who did not know
Rhoda, a beautiful little girl, was the kind of girl who wanted everything for herself. Every time she could not get something she asked for, her cute angelic face transformed to a scary frown as she started yelling and protesting. Her selfishness pushed her to commit murders against people who refused to give her what she wanted. She easily killed her little schoolmate when he refused to let her take his medal away from him. She also murdered the janitor, LeRoy, when she doubted his truthfulness about him knowing about her first crime. Eventually it was revealed that Rhoda had also murdered a neighbor lady when she was living in Wichita, yet Rhoda experienced neither remorse nor guilt.
Henry was a little child for whom killing was a sport. His evil behavior became apparent when he killed a neighbor’s dog with a homemade crossbow. This behavior escalated when he took his sister, Connie, ice-skating and purposely shoved her toward the thin ice knowing it would collapse, and Connie would drown. After this incident, Henry’s mother discovered some leads that made her suspicious about her son Richard’s death. She asked Henry firmly if he murdered his brother, and he implied he
Hemidach 3 did. Henry eventually tricked his mother, lured her to a cliff, and shoved her off in an attempt to kill her. When comparing these two characters, we see many differences. Unlike Rhoda, who did not know