Theme Of Evil In Lord Of The Flies

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When in a life-or-death situation, man will reveal the worst inside him in order to survive. William Golding expresses his belief in this through his novel, Lord of the Flies. After serving in World War II, Golding developed an ideology that man is inherently evil. Lord of the Flies follows the adventures of a group of boys following a plane crash that forces them to live on an abandoned island. After a short period of time, most of the boys turn into savages. While on the island, the boys are paranoid of an imaginary beast. The three main characters are Ralph (the first leader), Jack (who overthrew Ralph), and Piggy (who stays with Ralph, but ends up dying). Throughout the book, Jack represents the natural evil inside of humans. Alternatively, Piggy and
Ralph represents a mix of these characters as he is mostly civilized, but towards the end, his character and Roger’s character change towards evil and savagery. Author William Golding displays his ideology that man is inherently evil through imagery, the development of characters, and symbolism in his novel Lord of the Flies.
Golding uses imagery to illustrate the evil inside of Jack, which is present inside of all humans. “He began to dance and his laughter became a bloodthirsty snarling . He capered toward Bill, and the mask was a thing on its own, behind which Jack hid, liberated from shame and self-consciousness” (Golding 64). Golding specifically uses “bloodthirsty snarling” to create the image of a crazy barbarian. This is what the boys have become while on the island and it is what Golding believes every human will become

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