In a simple story, evil is generally quite easily displayed in the open as the monster that stands unwavering in the path if the protagonist, who's only goal is to good. But in this world we live in, with so many perspectives, how do you know who is the protagonist and who is the antagonist? We often hear of evil people, monsters from our pasts that we try to forget but are they really the monsters we make them out to be? Often it is really hard to tell whether the protagonist or antagonist is out there at all. The only way to tell is a shift of perspective to find out.

For example, one of the "monsters" from our past; Hitler. Of course, its immediately assumed that he is the antagonist, he is the monster, but honestly think, just switch the perspective. There are many things about Hitler that not everyone knows, and facts not everyone has seen. There are many pictures that prove him to be a completely ordinary person, like us, and in HIS perspective, he was doing the right thing for his country. In his perspective, HE was the protagonist and everyone that stood against him was the enemy. Yes, mass murdering people is definitely wrong, from the perspectives of most people (Me included). To those people, they would be the protagonists of this story, and he the antagonist, but do the switch of perspectives and everything is backwards.

An example from everyday life, something much simpler, say the person who cut you off while driving to work in the morning. You would perceive this person as the antagonist of your story. They've cut you off, maybe almost caused an accident and generally ruined your day. They are the bad guy. Now switch to person who cut you off. They're frustrated, maybe they've been sitting in their lane for a while signaling to change lanes but no one would let them in. When you, like everyone else, tries to speed by and not let them in, you are the antagonist. In the form of a story, you are preventing them from completing their quest. So again, when perspectives are switched, the roles are reversed.

So are there really "evil" people? My answer to that question is no, there is no such thing as good people or bad people. Only people doing good or bad deeds, and even then, whether the deeds are actually good or bad depends on the perspective of the person committing the acts and the perspectives of the people around said person. Calling people who do/did terrible things (in our perspective) "evil" or "monsters", in a way is our way of separating ourselves from the "bad guys". Everyone is trying to convince themselves that there are evil people and good people. When in reality, no one wants to admit that each and every person is capable of being either good or evil and all of it depends on perspective. So whether you believe you're the protagonist or the antagonist, you're probably right, because either way someone out there will have a perspective that aligns with yours.