The two most pivotal parts from each of these books, Heart of Darkness, and Lord of Flies, are the two scenes that will be compared. The grove scene from Heart of Darkness is incredibly powerful and express much about the human condition. Similarly, the boar head scene in, Lord of Flies, is also very powerful and expresses similar things about the human condition. These books were both wrote at the beginning of the twentieth century, and like many other writers, Joseph Conrad, and William Golding both viewed the upcoming century with a pessimistic view. Both authors saw the human condition going downhill and fast. These stories both depict how they view the human condition then, and what they thought it would become. Three things that each scene portrays about the human condition are, everyone has evil in them, everyone will lose their innocence, and everyone is manipulative.
First of all, both Lord of Flies, and Heart of Darkness, express that everyone has some evil in them. In Heart of Darkness, Marlow sees the horrific effects of slavery and immediately the evil of humans is exposed. "The conquest of the earth, which mostly means the taking away from those who have a different complexion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves, is not a pretty thing when you look into it too much. What redeems it is the idea only" (9) The people around that Marlow had met were fairly kind to him, but here they were human beings waiting around to die. The boar head scene expresses evilness in every human through the boys. The boar head shows how the savagery of the boys, but it also shows the savagery in all of us. This scene is Golding’s way of showing how easily people can lose their sanity, and their evil side comes out.
Next, ...
... middle of paper ...
...This is when Simon understands that the boys all manipulated themselves, bringing about evil in themselves and the destruction of themselves.
Heart of Darkness and the Lord of Flies, are both texts that express a negative view on the human condition. Conrad and Golding were giving their opinions about the present and future of the human condition. They like many others expressed that the new century would not be a great new change in the world, but instead a declension of humanity.These scenes, the grove scene and the boar head scene, are predictions of what the human condition will become. Golding and Conrad were predicting that humans would become more cruel, causing everyone to live in a more harsh world. Living in a harsh, cruel world would lead to the loss of innocence more quickly and allowing evil to grow in each one of us for a longer amount of time.
The evil in man is seen in many parts of life and it could be only be brought out when they have the power and position to do it. In the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding symbolism is used to show the theme of the Inherent Evil of Man through the conch, the Lord of the Flies, and the fire. The breaking of the conch shows how the boys forget authority and destroy their only symbol of civilization. The Lord of the Flies shows the violence of the boys, and the temptation of the evil Lord of the Flies. The fire shows how something used for rescue and hope is turned into something violent and evil. The fire burns down trees and parts of the island when the savage boys are trying to kill Ralph.
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.
Throughout the novel, Lord of the Flies the major theme shown throughout is innocence. For the duration of the novel the young boys progress from innocent, well behaved children longing fir rescue to bloodthirsty savages who eventually lose desire to return to civilisation. The painted bloodthirsty savages towards the end of the novel, who have tortured and killed animals and even their friends are a far cry from the sincere children portrayed at the beginning of the novel. Golding portrays this loss of innocence as a result of their naturally increasing opened to the innate evil that exists within all human beings. “There isn’t anyone to help you. Only me. And I’m the Beast. . . . Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill! . . . You knew, didn’t you? I’m par...
Golding has a rather pessimistic view of humanity having selfishness, impulsiveness and violence within, shown in his dark yet allegorical novel Lord of the Flies. Throughout the novel, the boys show great self-concern, act rashly, and pummel beasts, boys and bacon. The delicate facade of society is easily toppled by man's true beastly nature.
It’s one of the most famous stories to ever exist, the story of how two people changed what defines us as humans. It’s the story of Adam, Eve, a serpent, and the unbecoming of mankind, the Fall of Man. This iconic account has been the premise for many works over the centuries. Today, Lord of the Flies by William Golding is considered one of the most influential novels of our time, not only for its adventurous story of stranded boys on a lost island, but also because of its allegorical tale of the true fault in man’s soul. William Golding leans heavily upon the Biblical account of the Fall of Man to highlight man’s depravity in his novel, Lord of the Flies.
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 the novel The Lord of the flies, William Golding illustrates the decline from innocence to savagery through a group of young boys. In the early chapters of The Lord of the Flies, the boys strive to maintain order. Throughout the book however, the organized civilization Ralph, Piggy, and Simon work diligently towards rapidly crumbles into pure, unadulterated, savagery. The book emphasized the idea that all humans have the potential for savagery, even the seemingly pure children of the book. The decline of all civilized behavior in these boys represents how easily all order can dissolve into chaos. The book’s antagonist, Jack, is the epitome of the evil present in us all. Conversely, the book’s protagonist, Ralph, and his only true ally, Piggy, both struggle to stifle their inner
...religious allegory. He depicts a story in which the boys are stranded on an island and need to fend for themselves. However, instead of focusing on rescue and building a fire, the boys ultimately shift their priorities to hunting and killing. They turn a once beautiful and majestic island into a place of terror and evil. Additionally, they maul and kill their only hope of ever changing, Simon. Lord of the Flies is reminiscent of the television series “Lost.” Just like in Golding’s world, “Lost” is staged on a remote far away island after a plane crash. However, these people are not children. They are adults, which makes the story even more chilling. These adults eventually succumb to murderous acts and violence, further proving the point Golding sets out to make. Humans are inherently evil, and without any system to keep them in line, they will destroy the world.
In his novel, The Lord of the Flies, William Golding uses symbolism to illustrate the theme that darkness of the heart is a trait within all of us- some people fight against it while others allow it to take over.
One of the most important and most obvious symbols in Lord of the Flies is the object that gives the novel its name, the pig's head. Golding's description of the slaughtered animal's head on a spear is very graphic and even frightening. The pig's head is depicted as "dim-eyed, grinning faintly, blood blackening between the teeth," and the "obscene thing" is covered with a "black blob of flies" that "tickled under his nostrils" (William Golding, Lord of the Flies, New York, Putnam Publishing Group, 1954, p. 137, 138). As a result of this detailed, striking image, the reader becomes aware of the great evil and darkness represented by the Lord of the Flies, and when Simon begins to converse with the seemingly inanimate, devil-like object, the source of that wickedness is revealed. Even though the conversation may be entirely a hallucination, Simon learns that the beast, which has long since frightened the other boys on the island, is not an external force. In fact, the head of the slain pig tells him, "Fancy thinking the beast was something you could hunt and kill! Ö You knew, didn't you? I'm part of you?" (p. 143). That is to say, the evil, epitomized by the pig's head, that is causing the boys' island society to decline is that which is inherently present within man. At the end of this scene, the immense evil represented by this powerful symbol can once again be seen as Simon faints after looking into the wide mouth of the pig and seeing "blackness within, a blackness that spread" (p. 144).
¬The human condition fundamentally embodies the experience of what is essentially considered vital to ‘being a person’, including not only the physique of a human, but more specially their behaviour and mentality. Due to the immense number of perspectives and variations of ideologies texts can demonstrate, a responder’s comprehension of the human condition can be substantially developed to create a broader understanding of society. These traits are particularly established in Samuel Wagan Watson’s poems itinerant blue (2002) and the finder’s fee (2002), as well as Fyodor’s Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment which delve most into mortality, insight and uncertainty respectively. Thus, these texts predominantly examine the psychological aspect of the human condition and mark it as the most significant.
Golding drives the point that the instinctual evil within man is inescapable. At one point in the book, when the Lord of the Flies is representing all evil, this theory is stated as, "The Lord of the Flies was expanding like a balloon" (Golding 130). Along with this idea is the religious symbolism that is used for ineffectively confronting the evil. At a point in the book, Golding has Simon, symbolic of Jesus Christ, confront the Lord of the Flies. This is a pig's head on a stick that is imagined to talk and represent the evil in all humans. Simon tries to act and spread the knowledge of this evil to others but is killed. This is a direct reference to the death of Christ, alluding to the Holy Bible.
In the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding, the representation of childhood as times of tribulation and terror along with the community accepted portrayal of innocence shapes the theme of civilization vs savagery.
Many of the themes present in Heart of Darkness and also present in Lord of the Flies. Both novels deal with the theme of civilization versus savagery. Also, both novels imply that every man has a heart of darkness or an evil that is usually drowned out by the light of civilization. However, when removed from civilized society, the raw evil of untamed lifestyles within his soul will be unleashed. For example, in the Heart of Darkness the main character Marlow journeys up the Thames river and as he gets further away from civilization, the more he journey's into a heart of darkness. A darkness where societal morals no longer exist and savagery has taken over. In the Lord of the Flies the boys in the novel are stranded on an island and the longer they stay on the island and are absent from civilization the more savage like they become.
The Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad, displays the power of humans and nature. Joseph Conrad says, “ My task is by the power of the written word before all, to make you see.” His words display, the contradiction of humanity and their actions through the manipulation of the light and dark forces. The heart of darkness is ambiguity between humans, their malcontent with themselves, and how they bend to natures will.