Eric Burdon, a famous singer-songwriter and member and vocalist of rock band, The Animals, and the funk band, War, once wrote, “Inside each of us, there is a seed of both good and evil. It’s a constant struggle as to which one will win. And one cannot exist without the other.” Both good and evil are inherent in humans, however it is up to man to discover which trait will be displayed dominantly. William Golding, a witness of the destruction of humanity during World War II, has the ideology that man is inherently evil. Through his novel “The Lord of The Flies,” Golding introduces the thoughts of evil in society. To exemplify that man is inherently evil, a variety of characters, allegory, and metaphors are used to convey the occurrence …show more content…
of evil throughout the novel. Evil is inherent and must continuously be acknowledged and controlled. Without a stable system of rules keeping humans in control, evil characteristics are likely to surface. In the novel, evil is exhibited through the struggle between order and chaos, the loss of innocence in the boys, and the lurking of evil in everyday society as a natural and assumed behavior. One aspect in this story that portrays Golding’s feelings about the evil that surfaces are the struggle between order and chaos. The conflict between order and chaos in a civilization is shown through Ralph versus Jack. Ralph is the protagonist in this novel who desires a strong system of rules and order, while Jack is the antagonist who exemplifies savagery and desire for power. Jack ignites the savagery within the rest of the boys and enables chaos on the island. In the novel, Piggy states, “‘Which is better -- to be a pack of painted Indians like you are, or to be sensible like Ralph is.... Which is better -- to have laws and agree, or to hunt and kill?'" (LOTF, 180). This demonstrates the difference between Ralph and Jack, and order and chaos. By doing this, one can see how Ralph’s side seems more efficient but Piggy now has to convince people to follow their morals since everyone’s evil is surfacing. The boys are losing their sense of what is right versus what is wrong. During the hunting dance and chant, “Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!” (LOTF, 152) the boys become enthusiastic and end up killing Simon with their bare hands. The significance of his death is that is the last trace of civilization leaving the island. The island is now a savage terrain and violence has taken over. Piggy also ends up dying at the hands of violence. Golding, through these examples, shows that evil is inherent and without strict authority, evil will take over. While on the island, Ralph sets rules and restraints but the rules are eventually unacknowledged and forgotten, resulting in the boys becoming savage. The boys lose their societal manner and turn to the side of chaos by following Jack. Evil is inherent when one loses their innocence.
The boys’ loss of innocence makes them vulnerable and believe there is a beast. The beast represents how evil is inherent within the boys. The fear of the beast is a metaphor of evil, Golding’s ideology about the beast is the same for what he believes about evil. The beast is a characteristic that is apparent in other characters. By showing the beast inside other characters, Golding portrays the nature of evil. “The forest near them burst into uproar. Demoniac figures with faces of white and red and green rushed out howling...stark naked save for the paint and a belt was Jack” (LOTF, 140). Jack and the hunters have become the spitting image of evil. They attack Piggy and Ralph in an effort to gain more power. “I'm warning you. I'm going to get angry. D'you see? You're not wanted. Understand? We are going to have fun on this island! So don't try it on, my poor misguided boy, or else” (LOTF, 143). The boys have lost their innocence and do not know their rights from their wrongs. Through the pig’s head, which is an offering made to the beast by Jack's tribe, Golding shows that evil is inherent in man. Simon is the first to have an encounter with Lord of the Flies and he learns that evil is not just the beast but is apparent in the boys themselves. Golding shows that the pig’s head represents the innate evil that all men possess and thus acknowledges the fact that it usually overcomes any innate good one acquires. It …show more content…
represents not just what man is capable of doing, but also the voice of evil itself. Simon talks to the pig’s head on a stick, which is a representation of his loss of civilization. The importance of this quote, however, goes beyond that of a boy losing his mind and actually showcases that Simon represents everything that is good. In contrast, the Lord of the Flies (the pig's head) represents all that is evil. All of these incidents show how the boys have lost their innocence that they once had at the beginning of the novel, by acting on their savage side. Finally, evil is inherent because people imitate how evil lurks in everyday society as an assumed behavior.
Golding compares this savagery and evil within people to the naval officer that shows up at the end of this novel. This shows how evilness lives in everyday society, but is seen as adequate because it is covered up by civilization’s morals. When Golding compares this savagery to a naval officer, he shows just how human this evilness is. Adults are even taken over by it, by hiding behind a more civilized mask. Golding shows what evil is capable of through the quote “a stick sharpened at both ends”(LOTF, 190); which seems incomprehensible to Ralph. The killing of someone is bad enough, but to be proud of it and parade it to people, like what Jack plans to do, is worse. By telling this, Holding is showcasing the disgust of evil. “On the beach was a cutter, her bows hauled up and held by two ratings. In the stern sheets another rating held a sub-machine gun” (LOTF, 200). The comparison of the 'littluns’ and their ‘stick sharpened at both ends,’ with the 'naval officer' and his 'revolver' is where Golding shows how one sort of evil can put end to another. This can be reflected in present day situations where war is used to put an end to terrorism. A bigger sort of evil is being used to oppress another. This shows how evil is present in our everyday lives, but isn’t seen as ‘evil’ in everyday
society. All in all, without civilization keeping humans in control, inherent evil is likely to surface. This is shown by Golding’s findings about the struggle between order and chaos, the loss of innocence in the boys, and how evil lurks in everyday society as a natural behavior. Evil is inherent in every person and must consciously be acknowledged, controlled, and what one should truly be afraid of. This novel will remain in the hearts of all who read it and affect all of them, just like the evil of which this novel describes.
Mankind is innately evil. The allegorical novel, The Lord of the Flies, allows for little interpretation about human nature. William Golding depicts the idea, “evil is an inborn trait of man” (Golding). Throughout the novel the children who have crash landed on the island begin to uncover their savage nature. Although all of the children somehow succumb to a heinous behaviour, Jack, Ralph, and Roger become most noticeably corrupt. Ultimately, it becomes clear that malicious intent is intrinsic in mankind.
Ralph, the first character introduced to the audience, is probably the most likable character in the entire story. Although he does not ponder such deeply like Piggy, is not as spiritual like Simon, or as energetic as Jack, there is something in him that attracts the audience. Ralph serves as the protagonist of the story. He is described as being a playful, innocent child in the beginning, but towards the end he matures significantly. In the first chapter where he takes his clothes off and goes swimming like any child would do, he seems to be Adam in the Garden of Eden, a child left to play with the nature.
Part of Golding’s intent was to demonstrate that the evil is not recognised in specific populations or situations. On the island the beast is manifest in the deadly tribal dances, war paint and manhunt: in the outside world the same lust for power and control plays out as a nuclear war. Throughout ‘The Lord of the Flies’ Golding has managed to show that evil is present in everyone.
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.
This is symbolised through the fire that the boys light as the fire represents the boys’ connection to civilisation seeing as the fire gets dimmer their will to get back to civilisation decreases and their true instincts come out the more they are exposed to nature. "Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!" The repetition of this quote many times demonstrates the primal and evil diction that Golding utilizes through each character's speech. aggressive verbal expression conveys the harshness of their wicked and blood thirsty intent. Additionally, the diction of the boys is immature and unsophisticated which aids in portraying and reinforcing the youthfulness of the characters. The pig's head on a stick is also symbolism for the metaphorical Lord of the Flies, which is ultimately the demon found to be within each of the boy's hearts and minds. This can be interpreted as the inner voice of evil. "You knew, didn't you? I'm part of you? Close, close, close! I'm the reason why it's no go? Why things are what they are?" This certifies that the beast is indeed within Simon as well as all of the boys. In truth, when the Lord of the Flies is talking to Simon, it is really Simon hallucinating as he hears the voices of the boys as a whole in his own
The Lord of the Flies by William Golding is tale of a group of young boys who become stranded on a deserted island after their plane crashes. Intertwined in this classic novel are many themes, most that relate to the inherent evil that exists in all human beings and the malicious nature of mankind. In The Lord of the Flies, Golding shows the boys' gradual transformation from being civilized, well-mannered people to savage, ritualistic beasts.
In Theodore Dalrymple’s “Theodore Dalrymple Reflects on Human Depravity”, the author discusses how The Lord of the Flies by William Golding refers to the instinct in all humans through the characters of Ralph, Jack and Piggy, and serves as a reminder to us all of what we can and cannot control. Dalrymple discusses the “evil of man” which lurks in us all, the ruthless barbarian inclination to do whatever, whenever. The price of decency is eternal vigilance, according to Dalrymple, because there is an evil awaiting its opportunity to take over. The author also points out that the idea that evil is lurking proves how thin and fragile civilization (the only thing protecting us from barbarism) stands. Evil, however, can get around civilization through the rise of power.
Golding makes it clear that evil is part of all humans through the discussion of the beast. Simon comes to a realization that evil is within themselves, not only in the boys on the island, but in everyone’s hearts, when he speaks to the Lord of the Flies. Lord of the Flies is never actually talking to Simon; Golding chooses to make Simon hallucinate in order to hear the voices of the boys altogether in Simon’s mind. The sow confronts Simon with the truth, he questions Simon: "You knew, didn't you? I'm part of you?” (Golding 143). The sow confirms the reality that the beast is without any regards within Simon as well as all the other boys. Although the beast is within the children, Golding never shows Simon to have any evil intentions. Instead he makes Simon deny the beast’s accusations and makes him pass out due to shock and confusion: “Simon found he was looking into a vast mouth. There was blackness within, a blackness that spread" (Golding 144). The sow’s head, or the Lord of the Flies, represents the evil found in the boys’ hearts and minds. Golding shows the sow’s head as a symbolic object. The head allowed Simon to understand and hear his inner thoughts about evil. Golding uses this conversation between the Lord of the Flies and Simon to fully demonstration that the “beast” is skulking inside of the boys and therefore being a natural essence of the boys, and mankind.
In William Golding's Lord of the Flies, the boys who are stranded on the island come in contact with many unique elements that symbolize ideas or concepts. Through the use of symbols such as the beast, the pig's head, and even Piggy's specs, Golding demonstrates that humans, when liberated from society's rules and taboos, allow their natural capacity for evil to dominate their existence.
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.
People are privileged to live in an advanced stage of development known as civilization. In a civilization, one’s life is bound by rules that are meant to tame its savage natures. A humans possesses better qualities because the laws that we must follow instill order and stability within society. This observation, made by William Golding, dictates itself as one of the most important themes of Lord of the Flies. The novel demonstrates the great need for civilization ion in life because without it, people revert back to animalistic natures.
It is imperative to know the real difference between benevolence and malevolence, or good and evil. To learn about the true meaning of good and evil, one must read the novel, Lord of the Flies by William Golding. The novel examines controversial aspects of human nature and the implications for society. Lord of the Flies was written as a response to the novel The Coral Island by R.M. Ballantyne, which demonstrates that humans are born good at heart and that evil is a force that tempts to corrupt innocent people. Unlike The Coral Island, Golding wrote Lord of the Flies in an opposite view, where evil comes within. Golding represents evil and good by creating struggles within each character,
In the words of Eric Burdon, “Inside each of us, there is the seed of both good and evil. It's a constant struggle as to which one will win. And one cannot exist without the other.” In William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies, a group of schoolboys are marooned on an island with little to no chance of escape. The boys are in a seemingly endless battle within themselves and each other as they fight to decide what should be done. Golding’s symbol of the beast conveys his belief that there is a clandestine evil that corrupts humanity.
In The Lord Of The Flies by William Golding, the author believed that humans were born naturally evil. Hitler, Stalin, and Osama Bin Laden were evil because they were born with the basic tendency of immoral human nature. Golding believed this because of his experience in WWII, watching the boundaries of society crumble as he witnessed sanctified murder in war. Furthermore, in 1954, when Golding wrote The Lord Of The Flies, America had just released the atomic bomb upon the unsuspecting city of Hiroshima, instantly killing 80,000 people. Golding, along with many civilians of America could not fathom the evil that had been committed. This event led Golding to write the classic novel, The Lord Of The Flies. Although there is evidence that William
It seems as though there is so much more evil than good in the world today. We hear of war and fighting 24/7 but we rarely hear about the good things that happen. Everyone is born with both good and bad within them. We, as humans, must choose which one we want to be. In The Lord of the Flies, Ralph is good while Jack is evil. Ralph represents the good side of us while Jack represents the evil side. Although sometimes it is easier to be evil, it pays off to be good. The novel is a perfect example of how all people are born with both sides. At the beginning, the boys choose the good side, with morals and civilization. But as the story moves on, the boys find it more exciting to be on the bad side. It shows that all the boys are torn between good and bad and there is a very thin line that separates both. We realize that people are born inherently good and bad because in life there are always right and wrong choices, children are born good but are easily influenced to do bad, and it is always harder to do what is right than what is wrong.