To Learn the True Meaning: Benevolence vs Malevolence
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,
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forming implications in the created society on the island, and bringing good characters into existent. The debate between what is benevolent and malevolent is shown throughout Golding’s purpose of the novel, so readers should definitely pick this up. To give the readers a view of the struggle between right and wrong, Golding presents a conflict within each character. The boys listen to their instincts and act according to the moral codes they were taught during their upbringing. The boys set rules, assign jobs, and democratically elect a leader. Throughout the novel, the leader Ralph, the rational Piggy, and the Christ-figure Simon, manage to remain disciplined, while others indulge and let their morals decay slowly, especially Jack and the group of hunters. When the boys begin to fear a superstition called “beastie,” it is Simon who realized that the boys should really fear the beast or savage side within themselves. Simon states this by saying, “What I mean is… maybe it’s only us” (Golding 89). The peak of the boys’ fall from humanity comes when Piggy is murdered deliberately by Roger. The scene is described on pages 180-181 as “High overhead, Roger, with a sense of delirious abandonment, leaned all his weight on the lever. The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee; the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist” (Golding). As Piggy is killed, the conch, which is a symbol of authority and order, is also destroyed symbolizing the complete rejection of the moral codes. An example of a struggle that is fought within is by Ralph when he admits that Simon was murdered. On page 156, Ralph talks to Piggy, “At last Ralph stopped. He was shivering. ‘Piggy.’ ‘Uh?’ ‘That was Simon.’ ‘You said that before.’ ‘Piggy.’ ‘Uh?’ ‘That was murder’ ” (Golding). After admitting what the boys did, Ralph is scared and Piggy starts denying that it is murder and that it was dark and an accident. The struggle between right and wrong is straightforward in this situation because when Ralph admitted what he did was wrong, it was the right thing to do, and murdering Simon is the wrong the thing to do, and Ralph knows the difference. By representing human nature’s role in benevolence or malevolence, Golding clearly expresses that the morals of the boys start declining as their savage side comes out from within. Aside from the struggles the characters face, implications for society is a significant part of the novel. From the view of human nature, Golding draws deep conspiracies for society. Golding believes that because of the constituent potential in every person to commit evil acts is present, there will always be criminals and wrong doers in the society no matter how well a society is structured upon. By this, people know that a society without laws or law enforcement will fail. To represent the point, Roger’s behavior is a good example. In the beginning of the novel, Roger think about unleashing his trouble-making side because of the absence of adults. To hint at his actions, Roger “gathered a handful of stones and began to throw them” at the littluns, but purposely missing them by an inch or two (Golding 62). By the end of the book, Roger has realized that in the new society there are no consequences for wrongdoings and so he thought that it was okay to drop a huge rock on Piggy. As Golding writes, “High overhead, Roger, with a sense of delirious abandonment, leaned all his weight on the lever,” readers can infer that Roger dropped the rock on purpose because it says that Roger had a sense of abandonment in him, proving the isolation of Piggy to a certain level of death (180). Along with the statement of “delirious abandonment,” Golding had also said that Roger put “all his weight” onto the lever, which is showing how much Roger wanted Piggy to get hurt. Along with Roger, Jack also reacts to not having any consequences for the actions done. For example, Jack and the other boys, not including Ralph, Simon, Samneric and Piggy, become savage and start hunting, not even valuing lives for a second. The savage boys do this because they know that there are no consequences for their actions and so they feel free to do anything, including murder. By some of these examples, Golding represents how the society changes people’s morals overtime, for the better or the worse. Although Golding mostly informs readers about malevolence and not much of good in the society of the island, benevolence was present.
The characters Ralph, Piggy, and mostly Simon, represented the good of the island. Ralph was the elected leader who did everything in his power to be fair. For example, on page 23, the quote “ …the freckles on Jack’s face disappeared under a blush of mortification. Ralph looked at him, eager to offer something. ‘Jack’s in charge of the choir, so he will lead the hunters’ ,” shows how fair Ralph is because even though Ralph was elected was leader, he felt bad for Jack, so he appointed Jack to be the leader of the hunters (Golding). Piggy was the rational one who tried to help people realize the situation and to take responsibility. Piggy looked out for every single boy on that island, including Jack, who was cruel to him. Simon was the Christ-like figure who always knew what was good and bad. An example of Simon being Christ-like is described on page 56 when Golding writes, “Simon found for them the fruit they could not reach, pulled off the choicest from up in the foliage, passed them back down to the endless, outstretched hands.” This quote represents Christ because Simon is described as a provider of food; providing fruit in the way that Christ provided bread. Lord of the Flies has different levels of aspects for both good and evil. William Golding did a great job explaining the true meaning between benevolence and malevolence, which is …show more content…
doing what is right and knowing what is wrong. Benevolence is like sacrificing one’s own well-being for the sake of others’, whereas malevolence is just believing and treating people as objects. Lord of the Flies sends a message to the readers stating that human nature has a wicked side and that without consequences or punishments to keep it in check, the society would degenerate into a savage-like anarchy.
Golding illustrates this theme through the story of a group of boys stranded on an island who must overcome not only natural obstacles given by the island, but also the difficulties presented by their own human nature. Throughout the novel, readers witness the gradual decline of the morals of each of the boys and therefore the decline of their constructed society as a whole. Some might say that “good” is anything done out of love and “evil” is anything done out of hate, yet “love” and “hate” are so similar in many respects. Although some may define “evil” as that which displeases many by one’s own moral standards, others would define it as the act of taking the position of deliberately making one’s personal morals irrelevant with regard to our ambitions and desires. By this point, “evil” would be the freedom asserting the power of humanity to choose one’s own destiny. William Golding has wrote a beautiful novel about human nature, society, morals, and the strong difference between good and evil. Many should read this book in order to understand morals, human nature of being good and evil, as well as society’s impacts on who one will
become.
the novel, Lord Of The Flies by William Golding, the idea of cruelty is shown through many brutal actions that the characters find pleasurable.
William Golding’s Lord of the Flies portrays the lives of young British boys whose plane crashed on a deserted island and their struggle for survival. The task of survival was challenging for such young boys, while maintaining the civilized orders and humanity they were so accustomed too. These extremely difficult circumstances and the need for survival turned these innocent boys into the most primitive and savaged mankind could imagine. William Golding illustrates man’s capacity for evil, which is revealed in man’s inherent nature. Golding uses characterization, symbolism and style of writing to show man’s inhumanity and evil towards one another.
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.
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.
Golding makes very good use of characters in Lord of the Flies, he shows both good and evil through each of the characters. One of the characters that represents goodness is Simon. He is very good and pure, and has the most positive outlook. Simon is very different from the other boys, he seems to always be helping the Littluns and many other vulnerable boys such as Piggy. "Simon sitting between the twins and Piggy, wiped his mouth and shoved his piece of meat over the rocks to Piggy, who grabbed it." (Golding, pg.74) This quote interprets an example of a time when Simon helped Piggy by giving him food, it shows Simon's wholeheartedness. Another example would be when Simon helps the Littluns pick fruit from high to reach places. All in all Golding tries to portray Simon as a Christ like figure.
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.
The lord of the flies is a book about a group of boys stranded on a tropical island to illustrate the evil characters of mankind. Lord of the Flies dealt with changes that the boys go through as they gradually got use to the stranded freedom from the outside world. Three main characters pictured different effects on the other boys. Jack Merridew began as the bossy and arrogant leader of a choir. The freedom of the island allowed him to further develop the darker side of his personality as the Chief of a savage tribe. Ralph started as a self-assured boy whose confidence in him came from the approval of the others. He was kind as he was willing to listen to Piggy. He became increasingly dependent on Piggy's wisdom and became lost in the confusion around him. Towards the end of the story when he was kicked out of the savage boys he was forced to live without Piggy and live by himself. Piggy was an educated boy that was more mature than the others, that was used to being picked on. His experiences on the island were a reality check of how extreme people can be with their words.
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.
Whether people will deny it or not, it is certainly apparent that human nature is all too evil; for there is a demon that lurks in everyone, just waiting to come out. Humans can build civilizations and attempt to deviate themselves from such basic instincts, yet nevertheless, evil is not something that they can run from; it is not something that they can defeat. William Golding knew this, and so in his book, Lord of the Flies, he presents so by portraying a microcosm of a society in the form of little British schoolboys. Their plane, in an attempt to escape from the raging war, came to its own demise as it was shot down, leaving the boys stranded on an island they know nothing of. Ralph, later on the leader of the boys, and with the help of
“Earth is abundant with plentiful resources. Our practice of rationing resources through monetary control is no longer relevant and is counter-productive to our survival.” - Jacque Fresco. Lord of The Flies explores how a group of boys ultimately become savage after trying to ration resources. In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, a group of English boys are shot down while on a plane that crash lands onto an Island during World War II, where without any adults must survive on their own. They must overcome themselves and figure out how maintain a successful society. Through characterization and symbolism, William Golding asserts that man is innately savage and must be controlled through a civilized society.
In a civilized society, certain aspects of humanity must be adhered to. Qualities such as empathy, respect, compassion, and kindness are key to maintaining order. What happens in society when these qualities disintegrate, and cease to exist altogether? William Golding’s “lord of the Flies” accurately demonstrates that in the absence of humanity, civilized society quickly evolves into one of savagery. Golding shows this evolution through the steady decay of the boy’s morals, values, and laws. The evolution of savagery begins with the individual.
The issue on whether man is good or evil has been debated over several generations. In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, a group of young boys are stranded on an uninhabited island. In the beginning, the boys have fun and are carefree while adventuring on the island. With no adults around to tell them how to behave, the boys declare war on one another and face several conflicts. These conflicts provide Golding with the opportunity to explore the idea that society restrains the evil intentions of human nature.
The novel “Lord of the Flies” was written by William Golding to demonstrate the problems of society and the sinful nature of man.
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.
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.