Mary Bains Reynolds Mrs. Gardner ADV EH 10-4 13 March 2024 World War II vs. Lord of the Flies: One in the Same? A football field, a video game, a deserted island, and a concentration camp in World War II. These environments are connected by one thing: they all allow for at least a small amount of man’s innate evil to appear, or even take over completely. The island in Lord of the Flies provides an environment for the boys to succumb to their natural instincts, and this same idea has been shown in simulated and real-life situations. For example, in the Stanford Prison Experiment and the Nazi regime, normal, civilized people acted in cruel, violent ways towards others simply because they could. When people are in positions of power, they in these situations had …show more content…
“Their obsession with hunting eventually leads them to bloodlust, frenzy, and murder” (“Cruelty in Lord of the Flies). The boys become consumed with the desire to kill, and begin acting violently toward one another. The island as well as World War II provided the perfect environment for people to show man’s inner evil and satiate their natural desire to kill. During the time of the war, the Nazi regime allowed for violence to occur with no consequences, such as Jews in Auschwitz being killed in gas chambers (“Holocaust”). The terrifying truth of the Holocaust is that these atrocities were committed by “normal,” “civilized” people. Bauer, a scholar, argues with the idea that the Holocaust “stands apart from history as something ‘diabolical’ or ‘inhuman’” and supports the idea that the people involved in it were human, just like everyone else (“Holocaust”). This truth is more difficult for people to accept than the idea that the people involved in this cruelty were an exception. This is because, by accepting this truth, one accepts that all humans have this innate evil inside of
At a time of loss, the German people needed a reason to rebuild their spirits. The Jews became a national target even though Hitler’s theory could not be proven. Even as a Jew, he accused the Jews people for Germany’s defeat in order to rally the people against a group of people Hitler despised. The story-telling of the Jews’ wickedness distracts the Germans from realizing the terror Holocaust. Millions of Jewish people died because Hitler said they caused the downfall of Germany. Innocent lives were taken. The death of millions mark the rise of Hitler. He sets the stage for the largest massacre in
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.
In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s book, Tender is the Night, Fitzgerald writes “He was so terrible that he was no longer terrible, only dehumanized”. This idea of how people could become almost unimaginably cruel due to dehumanization corresponds with the Jews experience in the Holocaust. The Holocaust was the ruthless massacre of Jewish people, and other people who were consider to be vermin to the predetermined Aryan race in the 1940s. One holocaust survivor and victim was Elie Wiesel, Nobel Peace Prize winner and author of Night. Wiesel was one of the countless people to go through the horrors of the concentration camps, which dehumanized people down to their animalistic nature, an echo of their previous selves. Dehumanization worsens over time in Night because of how the Jews treated each other, and how Elie changed physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
Activities in the concentration camp struck fear within the hearts of the people who witnessed them, which led to one conclusion, people denied the Holocaust. Nazis showed no mercy to anybody, including helpless babies. “The Nazis were considered men of steel, which means they show no emotion” (Langer 9). S.S. threw babies and small children into a furnace (Wiesel 28). These activities show the heartless personality of the Nazis. The people had two options, either to do what the S.S. told them to do or to die with everyone related to them. A golden rule that the Nazis followed stated if an individual lagged, the people who surrounded him would get in trouble (Langer 5). “Are you crazy? We were told to stand. Do you want us all in trouble?”(Wiesel 38). S.S guards struck fear in their hostages, which means they will obey without questioning what the Nazis told them to do due to their fear of death. Sometimes, S.S. would punish the Jews for their own sin, but would not explain their sin to the other Jews. For example, Idek punished Wiesel f...
1961, Stanley Milgram conducts an experiment on participating adult males utilizing the power of authority and electric shocks to examine two common underlying principles in humanity: blind obedience to authority and the fear of the repercussions of contravening. Similar to the focus of this study, the dreading of consequences and trusting higher authority are the basis of the plot in The Lord of the Flies, where William Golding depicts a large group of boys (aged twelve and under) stranded on a desolate island that are left to configure their own law and order. The essence of this novel is clear; the blind trust of authority in societal situations, which will tarnish the conditions of a person’s life, and the
The Germans can only be described as monsters, for their horrific acts of cruelty are wholly inhumane. During the Holocaust, the Germans strip the Jews of everything in their possession, to the point where the Jews are completely dehumanized. This is all a part of the Germans’ scheme to massacre the Jews with...
It is my belief that the author presents a very controversial view of the causes and implementation of the Holocaust. The root of the controversy is his contention that the German people, as a society, are responsible for the attempted extermination of the Jews. According to Mr. Goldhagen, in the eyes of the Germans, the Jews as nothing more than a cancer that must be removed in order to cure the ills of their nation. In the book Mr. Goldhagen has gone to great extents to prove his views. However, “…his theories will probably remain a point of contention with historians for years to come.”4 The brutality and horror that is described throughout the book is, at times, overwhelming. To realize that one group of people can treat their fellow man with such heartlessness and savagery in what we call a civilized world is almost beyond comprehension.
The 1954 novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding won the 1983 Nobel Prize for Literature and the novels allegorical nature has earned it positions in the “Modern Library 100 Best Novels, reaching number 41 on the editor's list, and 25 on the reader's list” (Lord of the Flies: Background). Golding’s thought provoking novel was written and published as the world was still remembering the horrors of the Second World War and many parts and components of the novel can be related to the Second World War, specifically Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Regime. Many comparisons can be made between Lord of the Flies and the events that occurred in Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Regime. The group of choir boys bossed by Jack Merridew can be compared to the brutal and intimidating Nazi police force the Gestapo. The character Jack Merridew himself can be compared to the father of Nazi Germany Adolf Hitler because both gained support through using fear. Dehumanization is also present in the form of young Piggy and the Jewish People is Lord of the Flies and Hitler's Nazi regime respectively.
World War II was an event that rocked the world. The Nazi party of Germany shocked the world with it's ideology. Adolf Hitler also stunned with his oratory skills and how quickly he seized power in Europe. William Golding's Lord of the Flies was published in 1950, written in a time when the world was recovering from the second World War. The novel was released at a time where the horrors of Nazi Germany and Hitler were still fresh in the minds of people all over the earth. It is highly speculated that Golding, a member of The Royal Navy during WWI, wrote Lord of the Flies as an allegorical interpretation of what occurred during those times: Hitler, his rise to power, the treatment of the Jewish people, and the state of world post-war. The novel, Lord of the Flies, may be compared in similarity to the historical figures and events surrounding World War II. The lesson that Golding learned because of his experience with the war is prevalent in the story of the novel. There is a clear connection between the characters and plot events Golding creates on the island, and the real characters and events that occurred in the 1930s and 1940s in Europe as well as around the globe. As both stories unfold, the same universal theme is revealed.
The events which have become to be known as The Holocaust have caused much debate and dispute among historians. Central to this varied dispute is the intentions and motives of the perpetrators, with a wide range of theories as to why such horrific events took place. The publication of Jonah Goldhagen’s controversial but bestselling book “Hitler’s Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust” in many ways saw the reigniting of the debate and a flurry of scholarly and public interest. Central to Goldhagen’s disputed argument is the presentation of the perpetrators of the Holocaust as ordinary Germans who largely, willingly took part in the atrocities because of deeply held and violently strong anti-Semitic beliefs. This in many ways challenged earlier works like Christopher Browning’s “Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland” which arguably gives a more complex explanation for the motives of the perpetrators placing the emphasis on circumstance and pressure to conform. These differing opinions on why the perpetrators did what they did during the Holocaust have led to them being presented in very different ways by each historian. To contrast this I have chosen to focus on the portrayal of one event both books focus on in detail; the mass shooting of around 1,500 Jews that took place in Jozefow, Poland on July 13th 1942 (Browning:2001:225). This example clearly highlights the way each historian presents the perpetrators in different ways through; the use of language, imagery, stylistic devices and quotations, as a way of backing up their own argument. To do this I will focus on how various aspects of the massacre are portrayed and the way in which this affects the presentation of the per...
The psychology of evil is vital to understanding why Jack and Ralph progress through the story as they do. In Lord of the Flies, evil is an undoubted key to life on the island. The main characters in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies demonstrate Zimbardo’s “Seven Social Processes that Grease the Slippery Slope of Evil,” most notable mindlessly taking the first step, blind obedience to authority, and de-individualization of self.
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.
Landry Mueller Mrs. Malmquist English 1B 10 May 2024 Human vs Nonhuman The question of what it means to be human explores the essence of humanity in the face of suffering and adversity. In the book Night by Elie Wiesel, he reflects on his experience of the Holocaust as a teenage jew. Around 6 million Jewish people were murdered during the Holocaust. Elie talks about his experiences as a teenage boy in Nazi concentration camps during the Holocaust. He deals with the complexities of human nature, inhumane treatment, and survival in the most challenging times.
THE EVIL OF THE HOLOCAUST by Sheena Lobrin Belmonte Humanity has come to a point where images of war victims bloodied and robbed of life, terrorists attacking schools full of innocent lives for their religious ideologies, and machine warheads constantly bombing cities for imperialistic motives are normalized. Film and television constantly feature themes of mass murder; slowly desensitizing us. Such ideas no longer make us widen our eyes in disbelief; the situation may hold our attention for a while but we move on and go about our lives. Perpetuation of such cycle has been part of humanity for centuries but one event of mass murder left a deep imprint in history that continues to linger in the human consciousness – the Holocaust. In this context,
William Golding’s Lord of the Flies is an author’s painting of the evil that resides in all of the human race. The tropical island setting presents an environment free from civil order introducing a battle ground for the war of good and evil. Showing different side of human nature one can ponder the question “What would I do?” Golding explains the good, bad and balance of human nature, revealing that in times of despair man can easily regress to a primitive state, leaving the strong willed to promote civil order, but often be extremely out numbered.