Violence In Lord Of The Flies Essay

690 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Human nature lord of the flies

William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies is viewed as pessimistic to many because of the violence incorporated throughout the book. He is accused of having a negative view on human nature. It is natural to feel both the good and the evil in this world, but those aspects may override each other sometimes. The way the world is viewed depends on how human beings accept messages. In analyzing the different messages laid out in this novel, it is clear to say that many aspects view this book in a positive manner. Ralph is viewed as the role model and the optimist of the novel. Ralph’s defiance of Jack and the tribe implicates that there is such hope for good in a person. Ralph believes in civilization and order, while Jack believes in savagery and violence. Jack was able to persuade the other boys in joining his tribe of savagery and violence, but Ralph stuck to his beliefs and commitment in trying to find a way for everyone to get …show more content…

Instead of Ralph caring about how Jack and his tribe almost killed him, he was more astonished by the fact that he was finally rescued. Ralph faced near death experience, and he worked endlessly trying to save his life and everyone else's as he struggled to stay alive. As they are being rescued, all the boys started to cry which indicates that every single one of them abandoned the idea of violence and was overwhelmed by the idea of finally being rescued.The text states: The other little boys began to shake and sob too. And in the middle of them, with filthy body, matted hair, and unwiped nose, Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy. (Golding 182). This quotation explains how all of the boys were in shock because they never imagined of being rescued and for the end of darkness. Ralph’s rescue allows the reader to view the novel in a way where pessimism is not

Show More
Related

  • Essay On Man's Capacity For Evil In Lord Of The Flies

    621 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Lord Of The Flies - Analyzing

    818 Words  | 2 Pages

    Ralph is one of the few boys who realize that the only way to survive is through peace and order. Because he summons the boys at the beginning of the novel with the conch he and Piggy find, they look upon him as the most responsible of the boys and elect him as a chief over the humiliated Jack. Ralph creates a stable and peaceful society for the children to live; this significantly bothers Jack because he wants to have fun and do things that he never did back in the civilized society. Jack is eventually successful of pulling nearly all of the children out of Ralph’s control to form savages. Ralph represents the civilization, and Jack represents the primitive society.

    Read More

  • Critical Analysis of Golding’s Use of Tone in Lord Of The Flies

    1305 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Epilogue: Lord of the Flies

    791 Words  | 2 Pages

    His voice rose under the black smoke before the burning wreckage of the island; and infected by that emotion, the other little boys began to shake and sob too. And in the middle of them, with filthy body, matted hair, and unwiped nose, Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy (Golding, 290).

    Read More

  • Lord of the Flies essay

    894 Words  | 2 Pages

    Ralph shows that he has a better understanding of the boys than Jack. He knows that the boys need some sort of order on the island in order for them to survive. He starts a simple form of government and sets a few rules for them. Even though they don’t last very long, the fact that he tried to help the group is what makes him a better leader. Ralph’s wisdom and ability to look toward the future also has an advantage over Jack. He has a sense to keep his focus on getting off the island. When the fire goes out, Ralph gets upset because the chance to be rescued was gone as well. Ralph enforces his role of leadership as he gives the boys a sense of stability of an authority figure. He keeps the boys in pretty good order at the meeting by making a rule that they can only speak if they have the conch. Ralph knows that the littleuns are afraid and they need shelter to feel more secure. They work together for a while, but as the time goes on the smaller boys want to go play. They slowly lose all their help until Simon and Ralph are the only ones left to work on them. Ralph knows that this is a necessity and keeps bringing it up at the meetings. Jack, on the other hand, is doing nothing but causing chaos.

    Read More

  • Lord of the Flies

    972 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Savagery In Lord Of The Flies Analysis

    792 Words  | 2 Pages

    Would you be able to resist savagery from being away from society? Could you resist the urging power to kill? How about being able to find food without killing or not to go full savage on other people, could you still do it? A normal person could say no to all of these. In the novel, “Lord of The Flies”, William Golding shows that without civilization, a person can turn into a savage by showing progressively how they went through the seven steps of savagery.

    Read More

  • Ralph Leadership In Lord Of The Flies Essay

    607 Words  | 2 Pages

    He is trying to be a teamplayer not like Jack who want’s to go adventure and kill things Ralph is protective and really smart. So If I was in Ralph situation then I would have not been able to prevent the deaths because Jack was way out of control. Even though there has been times where Ralph did not do what a leader should of done. There was times he was picking on piggy and time he was acting like himself. Although the difference between Jack and Ralph is that Ralph is not evil, cynical, or selfish he knows the difference between right and what’s wrong.

    Read More

  • Cruelty And Violence In Lord Of The Flies Essay

    1055 Words  | 3 Pages

    Ralph’s power at the beginning is secure but as the group succumbs to their savage instincts, Ralph’s influence declines as Jack’s rises. This is due mainly to the cruelty and violence that goes on in the story. This cruelty reveals that Ralph’s commitment to civilization and being rescued is so strong that he will not allow himself to change his morals and become cruel like the others. The cruelty in this novel also shows that Ralph is a very intelligent character. His intelligence can be proven because there was a point in the novel when he hunts a boar for the first time and he experiences the thrill of bloodlust. He also attends one of Jack’s feast where he is swept away by the frenzy and participates in the killing of Simon. This is a very tragic moment for Ralph because this is when he realizes the evil that lives within himself and every human being. It is the cruel acts that happen in this novel that reveals Ralph’s character of being intelligent and being able to think deeply about human experiences. He even weeps when getting saved because of his knowledge about the human capacity for

    Read More

  • Qualities Of Leadership In Lord Of The Flies By William Golding

    1430 Words  | 3 Pages

    In spite of this, this novel proves that civilization has the power to keep one’s innate cruelty under control. The instance of a society running rampant with evil is seen when the group of boys abandon the civilized behaviors of the adult world, and predominately begin to take in Jack’s vicious influence on them. Thus, as the boys began to act more barbaric and savage, they do not feel the need to listen to Ralph's wisdom and guidance anymore. If they had listened to him, Piggy and Simon, in all likelihood, would not have had to die, and many wise plans would have been followed. Overall, the author reveals that due to the savage and violent nature of humans, qualities of physical power are more prominent than the often under looked qualities of civility and common intelligence in

    Read More

  • Ralph Lord Of The Flies Essay

    1545 Words  | 4 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Innate Evil in Golding's Lord of the Flies

    688 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Inherent Evil in Lord of the Flies

    838 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Evil in Humanity in Lord of the Flies by William Golding

    837 Words  | 2 Pages

    ... people are out in the wild, and also have no civilization or government to keep their evil suppressed. At the very end of the book when the boys are rescued Golding writes, “ His voice rose under the black smoke before the burning wreckage of the island; and infected by that emotion, the other little boys began to shake and sob too. And in the middle of them, with filthy body, matted hair, and unwiped nose, Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man's heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy” (202). In this quote Ralph is crying because he has now lost all of his innocence that he once had before he got on that horrible island, due to everything that has happened on the island. He is also crying because he had just lost his friend Piggy because of the savagery acts of the boys and now he realizes how evil everyone is.

    Read More

  • Good vs. Evil in William Golding´s Lord of the Flies

    725 Words  | 2 Pages

    “The loss of innocence for which Ralph weeps at the novel's close is not, however, a matter of transformation from childish goodness to adolescent depravity, is not a growing into wickedness. It is rather the coming of an awareness of darkness, of the evil in man's heart that was present in the children all along,” (Boyd). At the end of the novel, Ralph cries for a few reasons. He cries because he has lost his friend Piggy. He also cries because he has lost his innocence. He now realizes that there is evil in every man.

    Read More

More about Violence In Lord Of The Flies Essay

Open Document