The purpose of the study was to explore ethical problems in the works of literature of the postwar period, which reflected the juxtaposition of humanism and cruelty, in order to identify the deep mechanisms of the development of moral values under the influence of history, and to find out the features of reflecting ethical contradictions in the literary narratives of various authors. The research methodology includes a comprehensive theoretical analysis of journalistic texts, archival documents, folklore collections, and literary works by Ismail Kadare. The study also includes a detailed analysis of the author’s specific novels, such as The Palace of Dreams and The General of the Dead Army, with a focus on internal conflicts and their moral choices. The results show a greater repeatability of the theme of humanism against cruelty, which was reflected both through symbolic imagery and through intertextual references to important historical events, in particular, the consequences of the Second World War. The analysis of literary works and journalistic texts helps to establish that they not only showed external socio-political processes, but also deeply assimilated the moral decisions of individuals and society, forming an ethical basis for further cultural development. The conclusions of the study emphasise that the integration of traditional and modern methods of analysis is crucial for a deep understanding of complex moral processes in literary narratives, and the results obtained are used to develop new approaches in the humanities and literary studies, for example, to create interdisciplinary methods that combine literary analysis with historical, cultural, and sociological aspects. The practical significance of research is to develop recommendations for further interdisciplinary work in the field of literary studies, history, and cultural studies. The results obtained can be used to develop new methods for analysing works of art, which help to accurately determine the moral and ethical aspects of military conflicts.