Malcolm and Donalbain's Evacuation

     The decision to take action and flee the scene of their father's murder, ultimately negatively affected not only Malcolm and Donalbain, but also the entire country.  In Act II Scene IV, instead of remaining in Scotland to discuss the steps that must be taken after Duncan's death, Malcolm, who has been named heir to Duncan, and Donalbain, who is also a descendant of Duncan, decide to take off to England and Ireland.  When someone flees the scene of a murder, they can be categorized as one of two people; they are either the individual who does not wish to get murdered along side the first dead or the individual who has committed the crime.  The men of Scotland automatically assume the ladder when Malcolm and Donalbain do not go to the meeting to discuss Duncan's murder.  However, Malcolm and Donalbain were simply protecting themselves with the decision they made.  Through the act of moving to different countries, they not only painted themselves as guilty, but Malcolm also surrendered the Scottish throne to Macbeth.  For these two sons of Duncan and the entire country of Scotland, Malcolm and Donalbain's decision to flee the country was not a virtuous one.

     This can be reflected outside of the play in logical fallacies students are taught in English class.  Through false cause, the men of Scotland made errors in their reasoning of determining that Malcolm and Donalbain were the individuals who killed Duncan.  By knowing that murderers flee the scene of a homicide and that Malcolm and Donalbain fled the country, they assumed that Malcolm and Donalbain fled the country because they were the murderers.  It is through this fallacy of false cause that these men reach their suspicion of who killed Duncan, not true reason.