“In seasons of pestilence some of us will have a secret attraction to the disease--a terrible passing inclination to die of it. And all of us have like wonders hidden in our breasts, only needing circumstances to evoke them.”
-A Tale of Two Cities
This quote means that people are often attracted to destructive behavior and to things that are actually harmful to them. In Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, Mr. Kurtz is attracted to this destructive behavior. He goes mad in Africa with greed and power. He becomes very ill several times but will not leave. He oppresses the Africans, but his behavior is also hurting himself. The other agents mentioned in the book also are attracted to this savage and dangerous lifestyle.
This type of behavior was also in Lord of the Flies. The boys became savages, which ended up killing some of the boys. It made their chances of survival much slimmer because they all fought instead of working together in a civilized way. Even though it endangered their lives, the boys were attracted to this dangerous and destructive behavior.
