I believe that people who are not "evil" take the first step into evil because they seek some benefit out of "turning to the dark side". In Macbeth, we see him take the first step into evil when he kills King Duncan. He was tempted at first by the three witches when they told Macbeth of the prophecy. The second witch says, "All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, thane of Cawdor!", then the third witch says,"All hail, Macbeth, thou shall be king hereafter!" (Macbeth, 1.3). Macbeth is shown this path to power and we see that even a respected and brave warrior can have a deep desire for power and how outside forces can easily corrupt and tempt him. He shows his desire for power by killing eveyone in order to gain and keep it. He was also being Lady Macbethed along the way, but Macbeth was the only one who actually killed the guards and King Duncan. We see Macbeth change into an independent diabolical force that plots the murder of his Banquo and Fleance in order to keep his power.
The consequence of choosing evil are the loss of one's morals, loss of sanity, guilt, and the punishment after being caught. In Macbeth, we see the loss of his sanity as he continues to murder more people. For example, after killing King Duncan Macbeth says, "I'll go no more: I am afraid to think what I have odne; Look on't again I dare not" (Macbeth, 2.2). He acknolwedges that he has killed and therefore has relinquished his morals, but ignores the significance of losing them and chooses to ignore it. After Banquo is killed Macbeth sees his ghost. This represents the buildup of guilt within Macbeth and the consequence of losing his sanity in order to keep an appearance of innocence and ignoring what he has done. These murders have a snowball effect and once Macbeth started he could not stop. Macbeth was a respected and brave warrior before he turned into a murderer and someone with good morals does not easily give them up. There must be consequences.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MRS. GENESKY!!! HERE'S SOME CAKE!!!
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