Casablanca: Good and Evil

Introduction

There are plenty of popular movies in which the fight between good and evil is clear cut, i.e., “Indiana Jones”, “Star Wars”, and “The Terminator”. These are clear cut due to the fact of the clear cut knowledge of who is the good guy and who is the bad guy. However, the movie “Casablanca” is a different type of good versus evil battle as it deals with one’s morals, and the fight to choose between what is right and wrong morally. In many ways, the elements contained within the storyline are an anecdote for all ages in which love conquers evil. In a time where malevolence and iniquity seemed to prevail, “Casablanca” is a theoretical passage of hope. Within this essay, I will relate character selections and scenarios to Immanuel Kant (deontology), and John Stuart Mill (utilitarianism). Furthermore, I will exemplify the concepts of good and evil to character selections and scenarios within “Casablanca”.

Background of Casablanca

During World War II (WWII), Europe saw mass exoduses that were fleeing the Nazis with many seeking refuge to America. Set in Africa during early WWII the movie opens, and we enter Morocco, where I was thrust into its exoticism that is entrenched in danger. We meet the American expatriate Rick Blaine, who sticks his neck out for nobody, and is the owner of Café American (Francisco, 1980). Rick who is a protagonist, appears to be aloof, cynical, and seems only concerned with his self-interests. However, the only route to America is through Casablanca, and now Blain finds his nightclub as a breeding ground for the Nazi resistance and enemy alike to conduct their business.

Ugarte, a regular at the Café, hands Rick letters of transit for safekeeping. To a refugee seeking exile, these papers hold great worth, and Ugarte was to be selling them to the highest bidder that evening at the club. Moments later, Ugarte