Buffy the Vampire Slayer Essay - 6510 Words

Buffy the Vampire Slayer While the first seasons of Buffy are structured around an external threat seeking to corrupt the order of the world, later the source of the threat becomes increasingly internal, and the characters must embrace a side of themselves which is evil, irrational, or dangerous. When Giles kills an arguably innocent Ben, he does not suffer the moral ambiguity that Willow encounters when she kills a guilty Warren. Willow has to deal with an evil internal to her in a way Giles does not, and this apparent discrepancy is the result of a general evolution of the series, rather than a double standard. The murder of Ben is comparable to the murder of Warren, even though Ben is mostly innocent and Warren is mostly†¦show more content†¦But the Scooby gang doesnt know about any of these things and, even though Dawn obviously knows that Ben is a weak and, by virtue of the circumstances, treacherous human being because of his weakness, Giles certainly has no knowledge of any of Bens immoral actions when he kills him. Giles is acting on the assumption that Ben is completely innocent but powerless to stop Glory, should she ever wish to return for purposes of payback. Giles realizes that something needs to be done and that whoever does it will be incurring feelings of guilt -- otherwise he would have left Buffy to do it. By saving her from the act of murder, Giles acknowledges the moral ambiguity of the act itself, the (apparent) innocence of Ben, and the inevitability of guilt for whoever happens to do what, in Giles view, has to be done. (Similarly, he would have killed Dawn, if he had to). But, we notice, feelings of guilt never come, and the ambiguity of this act never surfaces (script directions describe Giles during/after the murder this way: Giles expression never changes). Giles objectifies the evil -- it is not in him, but he is merely the carrier, the means for an act which must be done, one way or another. In contrast, when Willow kills Warren, a situation uncannily similar (i.e., a Scooby killing a human) results in entirely different moral consequences. Warren also, presumably, deserves to be killed, and, one wayShow MoreRelatedBuffy the Vampire Slayer Episode 4101787 Words   |  7 PagesIn Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode 410 â€Å"Hush,† a group of demon-like creatures known as The Gentlemen take over Sunnydale, stealing the voices of everyone in the town and the hearts of seven random people. 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