Human Objectionality In William Golding's Lord Of The Flies?

Thinking back on the history of mankind, there is a well known pattern of barbarian and aggressive behavior inherent in human beings. The desire to conquer and control their environment has been proven to be existent in human nature. Although mankind’s conscience manages to keep these instincts in check, they can become unleashed if provoked. Often when faced with adversity, humans tend to regress and lose their sense of rationality giving rise to an emergence of their “id” personality. According to Adam Roberts analysis of the unconscious mind, “the id works outside the realms of logic or reasonableness, it just wants, and it doesn’t care how or why” (Roberts 56). Therefore, the “id” makes up the subconscious of an individual’s consciousness where all primitive desires and urges derive from. It is not attainable to conscious thought, yet it affects all of a person’s actions.
The primal instinct inherent in man has been demonstrated historically as well as in written works of literature. These documented accounts and fictional writings shed light on a dark, intrinsic element to man’s consciousness. In the literary works Lord of the Flies and Night, the characters are exposed to adverse conditions that overrule rationality and evoke their inherent desire for survival by recourse of savagery and violence.
William Golding’s Lord of the Flies exemplifies man’s capacity to unveil his innate primal nature when there is a breakdown of social order and a thirst for power. The characters of his novel portray the monstrosity of evil which dwells within human beings. For instance, Kunwar’s analytical essay about Golding’s novel states, “Though the young kids are in a place which is far from corruption, a place with no outside infl...

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...survival with savagery. In man’s quest for survival, these primal desires gives rise to violence against the weak and oppressed. As a result, his rationality is questioned and a deep seeded, darker side of his nature begins to show.
Over the course of history, violence amongst men has shaped the world in which we live through wars, political protests, or social conflicts. Sadly, enough, this is a factor of human nature which resides in all individuals and cannot be controlled or avoided. Not only have these events of man’s inhumanity been documented, but they have also become the underlying theme for many well known works of literature. Both Golding and Wiesel shed light on the immorality of mankind’s actions by putting it under close scrutiny, leaving the reader left to wonder how human beings are capable of so callously hurting and killing one another.