Doing a little evil for good ends is treason’s insolvable paradox

Evidence

Aziz’s role is to speculate on the difference between Abdullah’s apparent persona as a humble philanthropist and his suspected one as a terrorist financier. In the process, Aziz raises the insoluble paradox that lies at the heart of A Most Wanted Man: “[Should] good men accept a little bit of bad as a necessary element of their work[?]” (256, emphasis in original). Abdullah’s answer involves allowing a small part of that wealth he uses to alleviate Muslim suffering to be diverted into violent activities. Aziz tacitly condemns him for his inability to resolve the moral conundrum of doing a little bad that good may come. Yet, of course, this challenge is also faced by the Western agents in the novel, too. — Peter Morey, Islamophobia and the Novel, 335