Was Barnes evil or was he just hardened?

I think one of the biggest themes Platoon offers is how war changes a person. The main character, Chris, evolves so much through the horrors he sees, from innocent young man to burn-out, weary veteran in just a few months. I always saw it as Chris seeing how he could go one of two ways - Barnes or Ellias - as the war went on (he even says they waged war on his soul). Both were probably similar to Chris when they went to Nam. It's just how you react and deal to the environment.

So, no, I didn't think Barnes was evil - he was just reacting to the war. He was scarred physically and clearly had some emotional baggage from his time there. There was a scene where his men were set up with that bomb and he just sat there where they died and stared into space. He wasn't one to cry but instead let it fester inside and eat at his soul.

Of course he was evil, if you don't think so, then you are evil yourself.

Then again, anyone that willingly kills and/or injures/maims human beings, is evil, there's no getting around that. A good human being does not injure, maim or murder another human being.

Killing an unarmed civilian, holding a gun to the head of a little girl, and killing one of his own go far beyond hardened. He was evil.