Ralph, Jack, Simon, Piggy, and Roger are the most important characters in the novel for they play a key role in Golding’s literary experiment concerning the nature of humanity. Choose any three of these characters and show clearly the roles they play and the contributions they make to the theme of the novel. Note: you (Mr. Kelly) gave me (Cole) permission to use all five characters, and compare them to each other instead of only selecting three.
William Golding’s Lord of the Flies uses characters to develop his theme concerning the nature of humanity. There is an innate evil in human nature. Although certain characters appear to demonstrate the opposite, they are all defeated in the end by the evil within them and others. A comparison between
…show more content…
Piggy represents intelligence and rationality, while Roger represents brute force and sadism. In the end, brute force overpowers intelligence when Roger kills Piggy. Piggy’s proves he is intelligent because “Only Piggy could have the intellectual daring to suggest moving the fire from the mountain” (142). Piggy has intellectual superiority over the boys, and he uses it for good instead of evil, contrasting the main theme of the novel. Roger shows his sadism and use of brute force when he tells Jack “That’s not the way” (202) in regards to hurting Samneric. Roger is the only character sadistic enough with the use of brute force to challenge the chief’s method of torture, showing that the evil within him has taken full control. Before this, Piggy is killed by Roger, who threw a rock from a cliff that “struck Piggy, a glancing blow from chin to knee;” (200). Brute force and the evil inside Roger conquers the intelligence and good inside Piggy, because human nature is innately evil, so evil will always win. Piggy and Roger represent opposing forces, but the evil in Roger overpowers the good in …show more content…
Simon reveals he like to spend time alone at “a place [he] knows. A place in the jungle.” (92) This shows that he will remain neutral when the tribe splits up. He stays alone instead of choosing a side. Remaining neutral contradicts the theme, because he is not savage, and he has no grasp on civilisation to lose, so he will never give in to evil. Similar to Piggy, Simon demonstrates intelligence, but not rationality. Simon demonstrates wisdom when he suggests “maybe it’s only us” (96) in regards to the beast. Simon shares his wisdom with the group in an attempt to help, contradicting the theme that man is inherently evil. Finally, after he climbs the mountain, Simon shows he is truly good when “he was crying out something about a dead man on a hill,” (168), just before he met his demise. Even a character like Simon that is doing nothing but trying to help is still defeated by evil when the savages took his life. Simon shows neutrality, wisdom, and true inner good, but he is still conquered by
The lack of civilization and human goodness leads the young children to evils and a bad environment that they have never faced. Simon, a “skinny, vivid boy, (pg. 24)” is a member of Jack’s choir but soon leaves his tribe and joins Ralph because he is not able to deal with the cruel leadership. As all the other characters fail to maintain responsibilities and their commitments to the rules of the island, Simon is the only person who dedicates to them as things begin to fall apart. He is a character with a respectful, spiritual personality and has a human goodness with nature as he deals with the littluns and the older boys. For example, he helps the littluns pick fruit to eat, recovers Piggy’s glasses when they fly off his face, gives Piggy his own share of meat when he was refused a piece and gives ...
In spite of this, this novel proves that civilization has the power to keep one’s innate cruelty under control. The instance of a society running rampant with evil is seen when the group of boys abandon the civilized behaviors of the adult world, and predominately begin to take in Jack’s vicious influence on them. Thus, as the boys began to act more barbaric and savage, they do not feel the need to listen to Ralph's wisdom and guidance anymore. If they had listened to him, Piggy and Simon, in all likelihood, would not have had to die, and many wise plans would have been followed. Overall, the author reveals that due to the savage and violent nature of humans, qualities of physical power are more prominent than the often under looked qualities of civility and common intelligence in
Lord of the Flies provides one with a clear understanding of Golding's view of human nature. Whether this view is right or wrong is a point to be debated. This image Golding paints for the reader, that of humans being inherently bad, is a perspective not all people share. Lord of the Flies is but an abstract tool of Golding's to construct the idea of the inherent evil of human nature in the minds of his readers. To construct this idea of the inherent evil, Golding employs the symbolism of Simon, Ralph, the hunt and the island.
In William Golding’s “Lord of the Flies” he talk about two characters names Simon and Roger. Although they may not be the main characters they are each significant to both the protagonist Ralph, and the antagonist
The two characters that represented the good in people, both end up getting killed. Simon ends up getting mistakened as the fictional beast which causes him to get attacked by the other boys. Even though he cries out for them to stop, the boys are so blinded by fear they only see him as they want to and continue to literally rip him apart until he dies. What makes Simon's death even worse is that nobody really acknowledges that it actually happened. Ralph even convinces himself that he had nothing to do with it. Roger is the one who kills Piggy, by his own accord. He was not told to kill Piggy, he did it because he wanted to and was expecting praise. Earlier in the novel there is a scene where Roger is watching the little ones play in the water and feels a great need to throw rocks at them. The only thing that stops him is the implanted fear of getting in trouble with the authority. By the end of the book Roger comes to a full realization that there are no more real laws with punishments and this is what leads to him killing Piggy.
Ralph is the novel’s protagonist and tries to maintain the sense of civility and order as the boys run wild. Ralph represents the good in mankind by treating and caring for all equally, which is completely opposite of Jack’s savage nature. Jack is the antagonist in the novel and provokes the most internal evil of all the boys. Jack is seen at first as a great and innocent leader but he becomes t...
In the most dire situations, some children are able to put aside their childish behaviours and become a mature adult figure, one who takes the right actions and makes mature decisions. According to the National Institutes of Health, only a certain few children are able to act maturely in situations; the other completely normal children are not able to take it seriously. Even though some people think that a child who acts adult-like is not any different than the other children, being adult-like can be very important and useful in many situations, including ones without any parental supervision. In William Golding’s most memorable novel, Lord of the Flies, the most intelligent character – an overweight boy named Piggy – makes valuable efforts and contributions to help others. When Piggy finds himself stranded on an island with many other boys, he steps up to be the most mature and sensible one. Considering it is among the last abilities to mature in the brain, Piggy has remarkable reasoning and problem-solving skills for a twelve-year-old boy. Despite the fact that Piggy is unpopular with many of the big kids on the island, he always attempts to get his adult-like knowledge and opinion across. Piggy’s love for
Golding has a rather pessimistic view of humanity having selfishness, impulsiveness and violence within, shown in his dark yet allegorical novel Lord of the Flies. Throughout the novel, the boys show great self-concern, act rashly, and pummel beasts, boys and bacon. The delicate facade of society is easily toppled by man's true beastly nature.
"Piggy saw the smile and misinterpreted it as friendliness. There had grown up tacitly among the biguns the opinion that Piggy was an outsider, not only by accent, which did not matter, but by fat, and ass-mar, and specs, and a certain disinclination for manual labour." (Golding 68)
This paper will explore the three elements of innate evil within William Golding's, Lord of the Flies, the change from civilization to savagery, the beast, and the battle on the island. Golding represents evil through his character's, their actions, and symbolism. The island becomes the biggest representation of evil because it's where the entire novel takes place. The change from civilization to savagery is another representation of how easily people can change from good to evil under unusual circumstances. Golding also explores the evil within all humans though the beast, because it's their only chance for survival and survival instinct takes over. In doing so, this paper will prove that Lord of the Flies exemplifies the innate evil that exists within all humans.
When viewing the atrocities of today's world on television, the starving children, the wars, the injustices, one cannot help but think that evil is rampant in this day and age. However, people in society must be aware that evil is not an external force embodied in a society but resides within each person. Man has both good qualities and faults. He must come to control these faults in order to be a good person. In the novel Lord of the Flies, William Golding deals with this same evil which exists in all of his characters. With his mastery of such literary tools as structure, syntax, diction and imagery, The author creates a cheerless, sardonic tone to convey his own views of the nature of man and man’s role within society.
On the outside, people are often labeled quickly. But truly, there is more to us, within our character. In Lord of the Flies by William Golding, a group of young boys stranded on a deserted island is actually more than we realize. They each represent something. Something more. Something to describe how humans act. Therefore, three significant characters--Piggy, Ralph, and Jack-- symbolize a certain nature.
The novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding used a group of British boys beached on a deserted island to illustrate the malicious nature in mankind. Lord of the Flies dealt with the changes the boys underwent as they gradually adapted to the freedom from their society. William Golding's basic philosophy that man was inherently evil was expressed in such instances as the death of Simon, the beast within the boys, and the way Ralph was fervently hunted.
Much of history’s most renown literature have real-world connections hidden in them, although they may be taxing uncover. William Golding’s classic, Lord of the Flies, is no exception. In this work of art, Golding uses the three main characters, Piggy, Jack, and Ralph, to symbolize various aspects of human nature through their behaviors, actions, and responses.
William Golding’s Lord of the Flies is an author’s painting of the evil that resides in all of the human race. The tropical island setting presents an environment free from civil order introducing a battle ground for the war of good and evil. Showing different side of human nature one can ponder the question “What would I do?” Golding explains the good, bad and balance of human nature, revealing that in times of despair man can easily regress to a primitive state, leaving the strong willed to promote civil order, but often be extremely out numbered.