I definately agree with the statement: "Evil triumphs when good people remain silent." Many times when people are stuck in compromising situations they choose to lay low and keep a low profile. If they just chose to open their mouth and say something then they could maybe help the situation. What often causes people to remain silent is the fear of being ridiculed or singled out. This proves to be true in Robert Cormier's novel, …showed first 75 words of 501 total…

…showed last 75 words of 501 total…maybe this would not have happened. In conclusion, evil does triumph when people remain silent. Jerry showed that by speaking out you can stop evil from triumphing. On the other hand, Gene chose to be silent and his jealousy eventually caused him to hurt one of his closest friends. Sometimes it is hard to speak out and other times it may seem easy but you can never help any situation unless you open your mouth.