Nature Of Mankind In Lord Of The Flies

Mankind's Violent Nature: A Study on the Innate Wickedness of Humanity
William Golding once said, "Anyone who moved through those years without understanding that man produces evil as a bee produces honey, must have been blind or wrong in the head." He describes humankind to be malicious after his experiences in World War II. His excessive lack of faith in humanity allowed him to express this theme in a book about proper British schoolboys. This proclamation was portrayed as the major theme in the Lord of the Flies. Throughout this allegorical novel, Golding uses a major symbol, the conch shell, to express this theme. Golding's usage of the conch shell at first as a tool to govern the boys' meetings symbolizes order and democratic power. As

the novel progresses, the conch's power disintegrates and order crumbles. Through this, Golding demonstrates that rules and order prevent humans from expressing their true violent natures; therefore, when humans are placed outside of a system with consequences and punishments, they will destroy themselves.
Ralph discovers the conch shell and hopes to use it as a form of government to give equal participation for all during the boys' meetings. They are stranded on the island with no adults present, making some form of government and rules essential. Ralph, who is voted chief, declares, "I'll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he's speaking." (Golding 33). His idea allows others to contribute to the group without being interrupted. This idea seems suitable at the time to hold effective meetings. The concept of having any sort of government for a group of young boys suggests the beginning of civilization; it implies that their stay on the island will be pleasant and orderly because of their plan to keep each other in check. The survivors consist of bigguns and littluns, the bigguns are about twelve years old whereas the littluns are about six years old. Golding's division of the boys in two age groups is extremely significant, as the littluns usually just cooperate with whatever the bigguns tell them. The littluns, they "...obeyed the summons of the conch, partly because Ralph blew it, and he was big enough to be a link with the adult world of authority" (Golding 59). Golding portrays the littluns as thinking of Ralph as someone to look up to: an adult. The littluns obeyed the conch; from that, the reader can grasp that the conch not only allows for effective meetings but also makes the littluns obey Ralph. Through this, Ralph is viewed as a leader and his leadership is greatly influenced by the conch. Golding describes the littluns as loyal to the conch and immature, since they do not have a strong opinion or position on issues. If they do, it is not supported with reason. Their illogical nature can easily shatter their faith in the conch as quickly as they believed in it and cause future immoral acts. The conch initially seemed to be an efficient form of government for the assembly, but the inability of the littluns to comprehend its purpose will lead to its downfall.
As the novel evolves, the conch's influence declines. The conch government revolves around the idea of contributing intelligent opinions to the group, many of which, consist of being rescued from the island. Piggy, the intellectual of the group suggests that they make a primitive clock, "'I've been thinking...about a clock. We could make a sundial...then we could know what the time was...'" (Golding 65). His idea is intelligent, as the clock would inform them the time. It would also make them aware of how many days they have been stranded on the island. This makes the clock a symbol of reason and desire to leave the island. This idea, if accepted, would mean that the conch is still useful because it is still keeping the order in their government. Proving that the boys still understand the true purpose of the government: to contribute insightful ideas. Ralph rejects this idea unwelcomely, "'A fat lot of good that would be...oh shut up...'" (Golding 65). His rejection demonstrates how the boys have forgotten the purpose for their government, and is evidence that the conch's power is waning. This proves that not only has the conch's ability to influence the others disappeared, but its sole purpose has also vanished. Without the conch, the boys will slowly devolve to become more savage like. Many of them, such as Jack, no longer value order but rather power. His desire for power is shown by his abrasive personality: "Jack was the first to make himself heard. He had not got the conch and thus spoke against the rules; but nobody minded." (Golding 87). Jack isn't concerned with the established system the other boys have put in place, shown when he speaks whenever an idea pops up in his mind without possessing the conch. Jack's actions are against the rules but the boys defer to him, and discard the government, even though they should've punished him in some way. This demonstrates the loss of the conch's initial purpose: to keep order from fading away. Once order fades away, the boys’ violent natures will gradually appear. Finally, as more time passes, the conch seemed to hold such little value to the boys that they began to argue, "In a moment the platform was full of arguing, gesticulating shadows. To Ralph, seated, this seemed the breaking up of sanity." (Golding 88). From Ralph's point of view, this arguing was chaos, so chaotic that the conch could not even restore order. The conch's inability to restore order for a meeting foreshadows future uncivilized actions the boys will commit.
As the conch's influence on the island fades away, most of the boys become desensitized to violence.

This desensitization represents the true violent natures of mankind, unleashed in even children. The boys later murder Simon, believing that he was the beastie. Ralph and Piggy realize that they, along with the other boys, participated in killing Simon. The aftershocks of their actions were frightening as they could not believe they murdered someone, "'That was Simon...that was murder...it was dark. There was that - that bloody dance...we was scared...It was an accident...'" (Golding 156-157). The tone that Golding uses gives the reader the impression that Piggy and Ralph realized how out of character they had been acting, since proper English boys do not try to kill each other. The conch was a tool to keep them from making immoral acts but since its power has become useless, they are free to act as savage they would like. To avoid guilt, they try to convince themselves that they did not take part in killing Simon, because they were pulled into a frenzy by the dance. They were "scared." Their inability to realize their role in this heinous act shows how desensitized they've become towards murder. It foreshadows the next savage act the boys will commit, which is to murder Piggy. Shortly after their realization that Simon was dead, "Ralph, cradling the conch, rocked himself to and fro." (Golding 157). Holding the conch delicately represents that its ability to influence the boys has dwindled so much that they have to protect it from disappearing completely. Order is hanging by a thread that could snap at any moment; the fragility of this statement is shown after the following confrontation. After Ralph and Piggy face Jack's tribe, Roger rolls a boulder and it kills Piggy; "...the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist." (180-181). Golding's statement that the conch "ceased to exist" wasn't just due to the fact that it was broken. It

indicates how the boys have finally lost their conscience and let their dark, violent natures take over. The conch's ending represents how order ends. The boys have no idea what is wrong and what is right anymore because of the lack of laws. The conch's death symbolizes the unleashing of the boys' innate violent natures.
Golding's dark depiction of human nature in children shows how malicious and destructive humanity really is without the order that the conch symbolizes. He exposes that law and order restrict mankind from their true destructive essence. Golding communicates this through the use of a symbol: the conch shell. The conch, symbolizing order, deteriorates as the novel progresses. As the conch's power dwindles, the boys' vicious side becomes prominent. They become desensitized. These horrific acts that the boys perform allow Golding to prove that, "man produces evil as a bee produces honey." Golding also portrays that the flaw of their civilization was not their failed government, but perhaps the deficiency of human nature. Golding shows the reader that evil is in all of us, even children. His theme, although a valid depiction of human nature, is perhaps stated a bit too harshly.