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Evil In Humanity In Lord Of The Flies By William Golding
Dark side of human nature in Lord of the Flies
Lord of the flies throws light on human nature
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Reading Lord of the Flies, one gets quite an impression of Golding’s view
on human nature. Whether this view is right or wrong, true or not, 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. This
opinion, in fact, is a point that many have disagreed with when reading
his work. There are many instances throughout Lord of the Flies that
state Golding’s opinion suggesting an evil human nature. Each of these
instances are the bricks holding together his fortress of ideas that are
constantly under attack.
Lord of the Flies is but an abstract tool of Golding’s to construct the
idea of human nature in the minds of his readers. Throughout the novel,
it is stated that all humans are evil. It is said that this evil is
inescapable and will turn everyone evil. 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 (a Christian deity), 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.
At many points throughout Lord of the Flies, Golding writes for the
characters to become gradually more and more evil. This attribute even
reaches the symbols of goodness and order, such as Ralph. Once, when
Ralph and Piggy go to the feast on Jack’s beach, they begin to meld with
the others and their evil ways. “Piggy and Ralph, under the threat of the
sky, found themselves eager to take a place in this demented but partly
secure society” (Golding 138). This really only proves their common
longing for a place with others, not any depth of evilness. Golding also
has all of the characters eventually participate in the hunts, his
representation of an evil ritual that humans perform. By having all of
the characters practice this, he illustrates his belief of everyone being
susceptible to turning evil. This fact is not necessarily true. Humans
develop their own dedications to their own beliefs, morals, and ethics.
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.
Ralph has several positive characteristics but he also has several crucial weaknesses that prevent him from being the perfect leader. In chapter one the boys decide who they want to be leader. The boys decide on Ralph, “”Vote for a chief!”…every hand outside the choir except Piggy’s was raised immediately. Then Piggy, too, raised his hand grudgingly into the air.” (Golding 18-19). From the very beginning Ralph is seen as the leader. He becomes the one the boys look up to and depend on to make decisions in their best interest. Ralph has natural leadership skills. Landing on the island with no adults to take control, the boys chose to follow the one boy who seems to be doing something productive, Ralph. An example of Ralph being purposeful and productive is when he blows the conch to get the attention of all the boys on the island and bring them together for a meeting. When Jack and his choir find the other boys gathered he asks where the man with the trumpet is, Ralph replies, “There’s no man with a trumpet. We’re having a meeting. Want to join?” (Golding 16). Ralph asks Jack and the choir boys to join the meeting because he wants all the boys to work together so they can be rescued as soon as possible. Other than his leadership and purposeful qualities, Ralph is also hard working. When tasks are given out to the boys, such as building shelters, hunting, gathering food, the hard work of most boys turns into play and exploration leaving Ralph to do most of the work by himself with little help from others. When the other boys gave up on their tasks Ralph continued working, this proves his hard work. Leadership, purposeful, and hard working are all positive qualities that helped Ralph succeed in the novel, but Ralph also had some majo...
Golding's views about human nature are displayed and developed quite extensively in chapter four. This essay is going to explore what they are and how they are portrayed throughout the duration of this chapter.
and they both start off as the leaders. Later on the boys have a vote for leader and Ralph is selected. The first impression we get about Ralph is that he is active and doesn't like authority. When he found out that there were no grown ups on the island he "stood on his head and grinned" Piggy is the first of the other survivors that Ralph meets.
The Lord of the Flies by William Golding is a peculiar story about boys stranded on an island, and the plot and characters relate to many prevailing events and problems. A specific problem that is currently occurring is the mutual hatred and enmity between North Korea and South Korea. This is a current event, but the North and South’s hostility has been ongoing since 1945, when Korea was split into North and South, Communist and Capitalist. When the 38th parallel(Border between North and South Korea) was created, Kim Il-Sung ruled the North, and Syngman Rhee ruled the South. As of now, a power hungry dictator, Kim Jong-un rules the north, and an optimistic president who wants to see change was recently elected in the South, named Moon Jae-in. In Golding’s book, Ralph is a character who aimed to keep everyone alive and to stay together. Jack on the other hand, wanted to have fun and hunt, and although he also wanted to be rescued, he made no effort to help. In this sense, North Korea is a clear representation of the character Jack and his quest for power, and opposingly, South Korea is a representation of Ralph and his strive for order, democracy, and civilization.
In life, humans pass by many different enemies, but the reality is humans are each other's greatest enemies due to human weaknesses that manipulate them. This is very well demonstrated through the novel, “Lord of the flies”, by Sir William Golding. The book focuses on a group of British students that are stuck on island after a plane crash. Throughout their survival on the island, many temptations come in effect. The group of boys are trying to survive together but are manipulated by the temptations that turn into human weaknesses. So, in the novel it is proven that humans become each other's greatest enemies because of human weaknesses. It will be shown by describing the many weaknesses and temptations that are in effect during the novel.
“I cannot believe there is caste system in society; I cannot believe people are judged on the basis of their prosperity.” No matter how much you’ve got to bring to the table, society will always find a way to put you down and aim for something else whether that something is worst or better than what you have to offer. In the novel Lord of the Flies, William Golding has shown this external conflict several times throughout the story with characters such as Ralph and piggy. The conflict of character vs. society is present in these characters: Ralph, the elected chief of the group of British schoolboys is constantly having to remind the group of the bigger picture; Piggy, ultimately the brain of the
Inherent Evil of Man Exposed in Lord of the Flies & nbsp; 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 of mankind. Lord of the Flies dealt with the changes the boys underwent as they gradually adapted to the freedom of 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. & nbsp; Through the story, Simon acted as the Christ Figure. The death of Simon symbolized the loss of religious reasoning.
"An attempt to trace the defects of human society back to the defects of human nature. The moral is that the shape of a society must depend on the ethical nature of the individual and not on any political system however apparently logical or respectable."
At the beginning, clearly Ralph feels that Jack is an ally, a companion; not a rival for leadership, "Ralph found himself alone on a limb with Jack and they grinned at each other ... that strange invisible light of friendship". The chosen leader of the group, Ralph tried to lead the stranded boys into some kind of order. The authority of Jack and the sensibility of Piggy easily sway him. When Ralph first meets Piggy, he sees him as a lower person who should be ridiculed. He starts off by asking for his name and he is told that people used to make fun of
"Everybody has good and evil within them. All we're trying to say is that people are not all good or all bad. People are more complicated than you think, and one has to be more knowledgeable about the complexities.." Everybody has good and evil within them. All we're trying to say is that people are not all good or all... N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Jan. 2014. .
During World War II, the United States killed 90,000 to 166,000 people in Hiroshima with an atomic bomb. The bombing of Hiroshima demonstrated the uncivilized behaviors of humankind: hunger for power, misuse of technology, and subconscious reactions to conflicts. Lord of the Flies, an allegorical novel by William Golding, illustrates a horrific tale of boys who are stranded on an island and lose their ability to make civil decisions. Throughout the book, Ralph and Jack fight for power, Piggy’s spectacles are constantly taken to create fire, and several of the boys become “savage” and act upon their subconscious minds. From a sociological perspective, Golding’s novel portrays man’s voracity for power, abuse of technology to the point of destruction, and his venture to inner darkness.
People are privileged to live in an advanced stage of development known as civilization. In a civilization, one’s life is bound by rules that are meant to tame its savage natures. A humans possesses better qualities because the laws that we must follow instill order and stability within society. This observation, made by William Golding, dictates itself as one of the most important themes of Lord of the Flies. The novel demonstrates the great need for civilization ion in life because without it, people revert back to animalistic natures.
A book about a plane crash with schoolboys on an isolated island has a deeper meaning. Within the story is a fight for power and the struggle of being isolated ,the story also shows how human nature is at its most primal state.William Golding’s Lord of the flies illustrates the fragility of civilization and is a warning about human nature to the readers.
Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding is an allegory in novel format about a group of young boys stranded on an island without adults. The story is a microcosm in which Golding reveals his opinions about humanity and the society that has been created. Golding, using an abundance of symbols and themes to show his beliefs on politics, religion and society as a whole. Throughout the story Golding shows that people look at the outer appearance of situations instead of really looking into what is happening. This leads them to making poor decision for society, especially when it comes to leadership. The leaders that are chosen can have a truly damaging effect on the mortality of people and they can even be followed religiously. This is detrimental