I'll add these thoughts: I think one would have to search long and hard to find ANY fiction in which cruelty is not a main character. From the Bible, with its hundreds of murders, tortures, rapes, and mutilations, to the Brothers Grimm, to spy novels, Westerns, romance novels, science fiction..."man's inhumanity to man" is a tried-and-true theme, and it's difficult to construct a villain who's not being cruel to at least someone, if not a whole LOT of someones.
--Josh
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