The Ambiguities of Good and Evil

The concepts of good and evil are often ambiguous and ever-changing, particularly when it comes to human beings. By nature, people are flawed and imperfect even as they strive to be good. Being good is not always easy. Likewise, attempting to determine good from evil is not easy.

The accidental killing of Dusty by Landreaux is seen by readers and by legal authorities as a tragic accident. (Dusty himself later says just this to LaRose.) However, despite the killing being an accident, Landreaux cannot will away his feelings of guilt and moral culpability. He has done a bad thing and feels that this now defines him as a bad person. Randall and others assure Landreaux that this is not true. Nola herself even stops believing that Landreaux must be held to blame later in the novel after realizing that Dusty’s...