“There is no good and evil, there is only power and those too weak to seek it” ― J.K. Rowling. In William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies, a group of schoolboys end up stranded on an uninhabited island which leads to a struggle for power and survival. The author argues that man is naturally evil; however, the characters Ralph, Simon, and Roger suggest that they were molded into their state of being.
Ralph, the leader of the boys throughout most of Golding’s novel, sets up a prime example of what benevolence a human being can have; however, this is a result of the conditioning that he endured, not as a quality he was born with. In Fire on the Mountain, the boys are discussing the courses of action that need to be taken to ensure the group’s survival. During this time, Ralph proposes that “[the boys] must make a fire [so they] can help [ships] find them” (38). The mere action of Ralph considering building a fire to get the boys rescued is one that defies any trace of evil. Moreover, the fact that this action is not only benefiting him, but rather the entire group, portrays some sort of empathetic side of Ralph as opposed to the narcissist side that Golding would attempt to show if Ralph were to be evil. The reason why Ralph has not turned into a conceited individual would be a result of his training from the neutral “state of nature.” Before arriving on the island, it is probable that Ralph’s life was controlled by his parents’ rules over right and wrong. Because he cannot differentiate the two, he was unknowingly conditioned to perform good deeds instead of bad. Thus, when Ralph suggests to build a fire, he does not know that he is performing an amiable action because it is part of his regular routine. Ralph was born into a neutr...
... middle of paper ...
... has some form of empathy by not throwing rocks, but later on is influenced to do otherwise. Jack, the most power-hungry person on the island, convinces Roger to regress into savagery, to “have fun,” and to make it tolerable for him to throw rocks (150-151). An authoritative figure needs to be present in order for one to accomplish a goal, just like hunting, and building fire as well as shelter. Jack acts as this power in the case of Roger by persuading him that “having fun” is key on the island. In having fun, events may have a disastrous effect, which were the parameters present in the death of Simon. “Evil” roots when one is mislead and is not present directly at birth like Golding argues, one is molded into the position because one has no way of knowing right from wrong. When Roger aimed the rock at Piggy at Castle Rock, he did not aim to miss, he aimed to kill.
Mankind is innately evil. The allegorical novel, The Lord of the Flies, allows for little interpretation about human nature. William Golding depicts the idea, “evil is an inborn trait of man” (Golding). Throughout the novel the children who have crash landed on the island begin to uncover their savage nature. Although all of the children somehow succumb to a heinous behaviour, Jack, Ralph, and Roger become most noticeably corrupt. Ultimately, it becomes clear that malicious intent is intrinsic in mankind.
Over millions of years, man has transformed from a savage, simple creature to a highly developed, complex, and civil being. In Lord of the Flies, the author William Golding shows how under certain circumstances, man can become savage. During nuclear war, a group of British schoolboys crash land on an uninhabited island to escape. Ralph the elected leader, along with Piggy and Simon, tries to maintain civilization, while Jack and his group of choir boys turned hunters slowly become savages obsessed with killing. Through characters’ action and dialogue, Golding illustrates the transformation of civil schoolboys into bloodthirsty savages.
It is in these games were the boys get carried away and Ralph feels a
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 in mankind. Lord of the Flies dealt with the changes the boys underwent as they gradually adapted to the freedom from 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.
Whether people will deny it or not, it is certainly apparent that human nature is all too evil; for there is a demon that lurks in everyone, just waiting to come out. Humans can build civilizations and attempt to deviate themselves from such basic instincts, yet nevertheless, evil is not something that they can run from; it is not something that they can defeat. William Golding knew this, and so in his book, Lord of the Flies, he presents so by portraying a microcosm of a society in the form of little British schoolboys. Their plane, in an attempt to escape from the raging war, came to its own demise as it was shot down, leaving the boys stranded on an island they know nothing of. Ralph, later on the leader of the boys, and with the help of
Katherine Paterson once said, “To fear is one thing. To let fear grab you by the tail and swing you around is another.” William Golding, who is a Nobel Prize winner for literature, writes Lord of the Flies, originally published in 1954. Golding’s novel is about a group of boys who crash land on an island. All of the adults are dead and they are abandoned on an island. The boys try to set rules and create a fire in efforts of being rescued. The group of boys chooses Ralph to be their leader. This choosing makes a literary character named Jack, who doesn’t show his anger until half way through the plot. The novel shows the nature of humans and how fear can control them. The novel also shows the difference between good and evil. Golding experienced this when he was in World War II. There were many times fear controlled the boys in the island in Lord of the Flies.
The author, William Golding uses the main characters of Ralph, Jack, and Simon in The Lord of the Flies to portray how their desire for leadership, combined with lack of compromise leads to the fall of their society. This desire for leadership and compromise led to the fall of their society just like multiple countries during times of wars.
Firstly, a notable trait that distinguishes Ralph from the other children on the island is his ability to think more rationally. As the boys become influenced by Jack’s rule, they regress into uncivilized savages that lack discipline. Whereas, Ralph is wisely able to keep the boys under order, which is particularly apparent through the meetings that he regularly holds. It is in those meetings that circumstances can be confronted with rationality and equanimity. For example, Ralph instructs the boys with, “I’ll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he’s speaking,” (Golding 36). By saying this, Ralph enforces his role of a leader by making rules for the boys on the island to
The classic novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding is an exciting adventure deep into the nether regions of the mind. The part of the brain that is suppressed by the mundane tasks of modern society. It is a struggle between Ralph and Jack, the boys and the Beast, good and evil.
“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.” This quotation from Stephen Schwartz establishes that even the best of people can be bitter by their own nature. In the novel, Lord of the Flies, William Golding removes the restraints of society to prove that it is human nature to live primitively and that evil lies within all of us. The sanctions of society begin to deteriorate due to the loss of communication, Jack’s obsession with hunting, and the inhumane nature of Jack and his “tribe”.
(evil and barbaric). This quote will be from The World Set Free by H.G. Wells. Also, it will dig deeper into meaning of the reason why Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies, portrays his belief of evil being the natural state of mankind. In The World Set Free, “That dream was but a moment in a man’s life, whose proper business it seemed was to get food and kill his fellows and beget after the manner of all that belongs to the fellowship of the beasts.” (page 6) That dream was but a moment in a man’s life, whose proper business it seemed was to get food and kill his fellows and beget after the manner of all that belongs to the fellowship of the beasts.” (The World Set Free, page 6) This quote explains how humans once lived in their early ages of existence. When we all started civilizations, all of mankind remained civilized (and lived in a civilized manner), In Lord of the Flies, the children seemed more human and still knew their English. Nevertheless, the beast-like group of children were used to living on this island and turned into a wild condition, away from any city or town. Furthermore, most of these children didn’t have any survival skills and needed a leader to keep them thriving. They would have to rely on someone to take care of them, unlike the older kids in the island (Example: Ralph). Young and entertainment-craving kids would
In the book Lord of the Flies by William Golding, a group of young boys from England are evacuated out of their country due to a war. The plane is then shot down and results into a plane crash on a deserted island. The boys are left all alone with no adults, no supplies, and no one to come and rescue them. They are all on their own and have to establish a new “society”. The boys have to choose someone to govern them and that person ends up being Ralph, who had an internal struggle between what is right and wrong closer to the end of the novel. The boys turn into savages, killing each other, and showing their evil inside each of them. According to, William Golding man is inherently evil, evil is in all of us, but it is oppressed by society, and comes out when there is not anything to hold us back, civilization is what holds back evil from coming out, or it is what triggers evil inside of man.
Any individual may seem to be innocent and harmless, but in reality every living being has the capability to be evil. In the story Lord of the Flies by William Golding, some of the most innocent characters allow the evil half of their mind to control them. One example of evil on the island is when Roger murders Piggy in cold blood. This shows how he had progressed from throwing small stones around Henry to pushing a large boulder down a cliff, killing Piggy. Also, the entire group takes part in the murder of Simon, because they fear it is the beast. This brings up a new point about how anybody can access the evil part of their mind while in fear. Then, at the top of the food chain, there is Jack Merridew. Jack wants everything to do with violence
In his novel Lord of the Flies, William Golding shows a story of boys who are trapped on an island, and must figure out how to survive. The story represents the fall of mankind, as symbolism is present throughout the entire novel. It is best seen through a historical perspective. Golding uses events from his own lifetime, the Operation Pied Paper, and Hitler’s ruling to compare it to the major events, the beginning of the story, and Jack’s personality.
The novel that I am going to talk about is Lord of the Flies by