(387 words) Cruelty is an evil and indifferent attitude towards people around, which is most often manifested in aggression and violence. It can hardly be called an innate quality - it has its roots. Often cruelty begins with a family or social circle. If at the moment of choosing between good and evil, honesty and meanness, a person prefers the second, he thereby allows cruelty to enter his heart. To most fully characterize this concept, we turn to the domestic literature for examples.
So, A. Shvabrin, one of the negative heroes of the novel “Captain's Daughter” by A. Pushkin, can be considered the personification of this quality. The young officer whom Pyotr Grinev meets in the Belgorod Fortress does not initially seem to the reader to be evil and dishonorable. However, later it is discovered that Schwabrin is petty, vengeful and ready for anything for his own benefit. Manifestations of Alexey’s cruelty can be found, for example, in a duel scene between him and Grinev: he seized the moment, and when the main character was distracted, he wounded him. From this we can conclude that the young man showed cruelty. Another, more ambitious example is the Pugachev capture of the Belgorod fortress. The cynical officer immediately goes over to the side of the enemy and becomes one of his commanders, participating in reprisals and lynching over captives. It is this behavior that characterizes a cruel hero, because he not only hurts people, but also does not see a problem in this. To his goal he walks over corpses and does not feel remorse.
Another example is the protagonist of the novel F. M. Dostoevsky "Crime and Punishment", Rodion Raskolnikov. He is the embodiment of reflection, hesitation, and even a fierce search for the meaning of life. Confused in his reasoning, the hero committed a fatal act - he rather brutally killed the old interest-bearing woman, on the basis of the conviction that only a humane and strong-willed person is capable of such a step. Despite the fact that the woman he killed was not the embodiment of virtues, Raskolnikov soon realizes what a terrible mistake he made in his judgments. What he considered a manifestation of humanity towards society turned out to be just an act of aggression against him. Murder is the weapon of a cruel person, and when the protagonist realizes this truth, he undergoes deep spiritual suffering and torment of conscience. The cruelty shown by him in a crime becomes his own punishment.
Thus, based on all of the above, we can draw the following conclusion: cruelty is an aggressive, indifferent and evil attitude towards people around that a person shows when choosing the wrong priorities in life. If he decides that his needs are above the laws of morality, ethical principles or religious canons, then his heart will certainly become hardened.
