To grasp a solid understanding of what evil is, St Augustine looked to an act of perversity in the adolescent years of his life. The act consisted of going out with a group of friends and stealing pears from a local farmer, and throwing them at his pigs. This act bothered Augustine, for there seemed to be no reason to perform it other than it was not allowed. For one thing, the pears themselves were of low quality and therefore were not good to eat. But second, they threw them at some pigs nearby, wasting any potential the pears had to

Augustine was showing the world that everything is “liable to corruption” (St. Augustine p. 124). By demonstrating the concept that everything starts good only to have some good taken away, he comes to the conclusion that if something were “to be deprived of all good, they would not exist at all” (St. Augustine p. 124). This is based on the basics of creationism from God that declared everything good. If there is something that is not good, that would mean he did not create it, but that is a contradiction, for he has created all. Therefore, “as long as [things] exist, they are good” (St. Augustine p. 124).

In examining the conflicts between good and evil, St Augustine helped people understand the interaction of God with human kind. He made people see that it was not God's Fault that there was perversity in the world, or that that it was a punishment from God, but in fact it was just a conflict of interest situation between two good things. In reality evil could not exist for it is not good. By displaying a significant event in his life, the stealing of the pears, St. Augustine could show how the human mind worked and where people's pursuits rest. Eventually everyone will no longer be fulfilled by the pursuit of perversity, but instead filled with joy from the pursuit of God.

Looking more closely at Augustine's confessions, we can see a third and even smaller circle emerge next to the circle of perversity. This circle is designated for the pursuit of God. He believes we all have a natural tendency towards this pursuit of ultimate pleasure which is God. Not only does man desire to pursue perversion, but also “to praise [God] is the desire of man, a little piece of your creation” (St. Augustine p. 3). To be the smaller circle implies that it takes more focus and attention to actually act on this natural instinct towards avoiding sin, and perusing God; implying that it is much easier to start down the path of perversion, for

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