Argumentative Essay On Lord Of The Flies

In the Lord of the Flies the boys began to act in a savage type of way. They began to compete for power and where more than willing to act in a violent manner to get it. When Jack and Ralph split up into different groups, Jacks group was stealing, torturing and killing people in Ralph’s group. These actions were due to the situation and environment these kids were put in. They originally came from a civilized nation and then suddenly they found themselves in an environment where there were no laws or morals that kept them from doing bad. They could now act like savages and there was no punishment for doing so. Not to mention the fear put into everybody about “the beastie” makes people act differently. Fear makes people do irrational things,

and they will do whatever is best for them, not thinking about what may happen to the others. There is much evidence to prove that the situation oneself is put in causes immoral behavior.
First, in 1954 an experiment was done by Muzafer Sherif. It involved twenty-two fifth grade boys at a summer camp for two weeks. Each boy not knowing one another. There would be two groups of boys and they would compete for rewards. His hypothesis is as follows: “When individuals having no established relationships are brought together to interact in group activities with common goals, they produce a group structure with hierarchical statuses and roles within it.” (Brook, 1). His hypothesis was found to be right. Lord of the Flies is an example of this. Immediately Jack and Ralph began to compete for power. Plus, all of the rest of the kids understood that Ralph and Jack was the boss. They essentially created a hierarchy. The main conclusion from this experiment was that if you put boys in a competitive environment there will be intergroup hostility. However, once you take the boys out of a competitive situation there is no longer hostility. In fact, most of the boys who were previously hostile toward one another were friends once the competition was removed.
Second, a philosopher by the name of John Locke believes that humans, in a natural state, are good.

“ The freedom then of man, and liberty acting according to is own will, is grounded on his having reason, which is able to instruct him in that law he is to govern himself by, and make him know how far he is left to the freedom of his own will.” (Locke). Locke expresses that man is given reason by god, therefore he has everything he needs to govern himself. In Lord of the Flies, the boys were acting like complete savages. This is because they were put into a situation that was not natural in their eyes. Jack, Ralph, Roger and the kids were use to living in a civilized nation. Once they were stranded on an island, there attitudes started to change and they showed several cases of immoral behavior. However, once they were rescued they no longer were trying to harass or kill one another. They all were sad and regretted what was done. This is because they were back in civilization and were able to reason and realize they have done bad. Toward the end of the book this was written: “ His voice rose under the black smoke before the burning wreckage of the island; and infected by the emotion, the other little boys began to shake and sob too.” This is proof that the situation they were put it caused the evil

behavior.
Third, Jean-Jacques Rousseau also believed that humans were born good. “ Rousseau saw a fundamental divide between society and human nature and believed that man was good when in the state of natural, but has been corrupted by the artificiality of society and the growth of social interdependence.” (Mastin). Rousseau is saying that man does combine self-love and reason to do good, however society has made people compare themselves to others and this causes people to do evil things.