What defines good literature? Good literature can be defined as a work of art that opens the reader’s mind to something new. Though the idea of good versus evil is nothing new, the short stories “Markheim”, “Lost Hearts”, and “The Body Snatchers” by Stevenson and James create a setting that reflects the deeper meaning that they are trying to set. One of the points that these two great authors have written in their stories was about the personal choices of their characters and how it reflects them as people. In everyday life everybody sins, but it is not necessarily true that your sins define whether or not you are a “good” person. It was said Alexander Pope that “to err is human” so that means everyone commits sins, knowingly and unknowingly. Many people commit sins unknowingly but that doesn’t truly mean they are bad people. In contrast if you knowingly sin and you know that your sin will do harm to another then you can be considered a bad person. In “Markheim” the main character murders the store keeper but justifies his actions by calling himself an “unwilling sinner” (Markheim 11). Markheim tells the stranger “And you would judge me by my acts! But can you not look within?” to the stranger in an attempt to get him to understand the reasoning to his sins, even though some of the sins he committed were theft, and now murder (Markheim 11). Even though Markheim’s reason for murdering the storekeeper is pitiful Markheim still remains a good person for conceding to the stranger and coming clean to the maid at the end of the story. This proves to show that even though he premeditatively murdered the storekeeper his conscience prevailed (through the help of the stranger) which reflects a good person. On the news you can hear about serial killers and it is clear to see that they have no conscience for their lack of repent for the first murder, because they continue to commit the same sin over and over