In psychological terms, reward and punishment are two forms of behavioral conditioning. Reward is a positive reinforcement that increases a certain behavior while punishment decreases a behavior. The Book of Job sparks so much confusion because one would think that good behavior would result in reward, not punishment. However, God punishes Job even though he is a moral, pious, and “good” man. Readers of the Book of Job speculate the reasoning behind the punishment of Job because it goes against the universal idea that good should be rewarded while evil should be punished.
The distinguishing of good and evil actions and their consequences is vital to society, in which its members should act in accordance with the general will. In each society, what is good and what is evil is subjective and based off of that society’s own ethical guidelines. But either way, for a society to succeed and have its members cooperate, actions that benefit the general will should be positively reinforced while destructive actions should be discouraged. Otherwise, the behavior of the people is not conditioned and their actions may be equally good and evil. However, there is the problem of conflicting subjectivities of a member of the society and that of the society itself. What a person may deem “good” may be “evil” to the society. For example, in the novel 1984, any person who was independent, free-thinking, and aware of the corruption of the Party would be considered evil and would be punished. Even though the person’s ethical values may seem right and good, to the society they are dangerous and evil.
The problem with being “good” and living in an “evil” society is that the good person is less likely to express his opinions and act in a way that supports his ideals. Unfortunately, the few individuals who are good cannot punish the bad society, since society is led by the government or officials. This is evident in countries throughout the world such as North Korea, Cuba, and Congo where the government exhibits evil behavior but the good citizens are powerless. In this case, the corrupt government of such countries should be punished but other countries with more ethical values in an attempt to stop their inhumane actions. On the other hand, when a society is good and a person’s behavior is evil, he will quickly be punished and be less likely to express that behavior in the future. The latter situation helps society function and upholds ethical values, while the former situation strengthens the power of the government while morals seem to vanish. However, if every evil behavior is punished and every good behavior rewarded, then the problem of despotic governments would ideally cease to exist.
Even though good should be rewarded and evil should be punished, good people do not “deserve” to have good things happen to them. Many times, bad things happen to good people but there is absolutely no relation between the good behavior of a person and the bad thing that happens to them. The most moral, ethical, and giving person in the world could become fatally ill or I could receive a terrible grade on a test even though I studied for hours. Bad things happen, but not necessarily in response to good actions. Going back to the example of a despotic government, there are cases in which ethical acts are punished. A person who acts ethically within such a society will be punished and many times killed. However, by acting ethically and by accepting the punishment, that person is sending a message to other people. Many others will become even more afraid to act ethically knowing the consequences, but a few will admire that person’s courage and uphold his ethical values. An effective method to change an unethical society is to protest by acting ethically and accept the punishment. A combination of resilience and sense of ethics led to the successful Civil Rights Movement when minorities in America had been suffering from persecution and injustice. Supporting personal ethical values in the face of punishment can eventually cause society’s ideals to become more ethical as well.
God punished Job, but not for the sake of punishment. Jobs’ punishment is not a direct effect of his behavior, but of what Satan says to God. When God was holding council, "the satan" brought up a valid question—is Job only loyal to God because he is fortunate and wealthy? God does not know the answer to Satan’s provocative question; he may be omnipotent and omniscient, but he has no knowledge of what has not happened or what does not exist. Thus, the only way to determine if Job is really a follower of God is to test his faith when he is struck with hardship, loss, and sickness. Throughout Job’s life, he is rewarded for good behavior, considering his wealth and happiness. In the context of the story, it is “good” to devote oneself to God and to be an upright man in that society. God punishes Job to determine if his faith was based on just reward or on true devotion.
