Death and destruction surround mankind, producing much sentiment and ideas which are crucial and meaningful. In Lord of the Flies by William Golding and The Tragedy of Macbeth by William Shakespeare, one is able to examine the theme of death and destruction in close-depth by the vivid descriptions in their remarkable writings. Such theme, in both literature, portrays death caused by misjudgment, death of the innocents, and the destruction of human conscience; which all are significant with respect to the essence of human nature.
Deaths, in many occasions, are attributable to individual’s misjudgment- an erroneous determination or decision by which people are unfortunately killed as a result. In Lord of the Flies, the preadolescents who have a feast in the dark fail to recognise Simon, thus, mistaken Simon as the ‘beast’ and kill him out of fear (Golding 168-169). Likewise, in The Tragedy of Macbeth, Macbeth also causes the death of many based on his misjudgment about the witches’ enticing prophecies, which in effect, leads to harmtia- the hero’s tragic flaw and downfall. This is evident as Macbeth admits, ‘Accursèd be that tongue that tells me so, For it hath cow'd my better part of man! And be these juggling fiends no more believed, That palter with us in a double sense.’(5.8.21-24) Therefore, death occurs not only by intentional or rational means. These two stories clearly exemplify that death caused by misjudgment is feasible and prevalent, furthermore, elucidate humans’ mental vulnerability at different times in human history.
Throughout the history of humanity, uncountable deaths of innocent victims are ordinary. Lord of the Flies and The Tragedy of Macbeth also illustrate this type of death and its connection to murder. The...
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...sjudgment, death of the innocents, and the destruction of human conscience, respectively. Death and destruction are two serious, closely related matters. Both writings essentially, through characters’ behaviour, actions, and environment, depict a reflection of human nature, and emphasise how it can turn into insanity and ruthlessness based on many contributing factors. Lastly, leaving the readers many questions with regards to the psychological and ethical issues dealing with the ‘unnatural deaths’. And perhaps, after plentiful observations on human atrocities, one may still discovers and values the preciousness of life and other positive elements of human nature.
Works Cited
Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. London: Faber and Faber, 1954.
Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Macbeth. FOLGER Shakespeare Library. New York: Washington Square, 1992. Print.
Shakespeare, William. Tragedy of Macbeth . Ed. Barbara Mowat and Paul Warstine. New York: Washington Press, 1992.
Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Macbeth. Element of Literature, Sixth Course. Austin: Holt, Rhinehart & Winston, 1997. 300-382. Print.
In the early 1600’s, William Shakespeare penned an Aristotelian tragedy ‘Macbeth’ which provides his audiences both then and now with many valuable insights and perceptions into human nature. Shakespeare achieves this by cleverly employing many dramatic devices and themes within the character of ‘Macbeth’. Macbeth is depicted as an anti-hero; a noble protagonist with a tragic flaw that leads to his downfall. This tragic flaw of Macbeth’s, heavily laden with the themes of ‘fate or free will’, and ‘ambition’, is brought out by Shakespeare in his writing to present us with a character whose actions and final demise are, if not laudable, very recognisable as human failings.
Shakespeare, William. Tragedy of Macbeth . Ed. Barbara Mowat and Paul Warstine. New York: Washington Press, 1992.
...Throughout the literary eras we can see stories containing anything evil from monsters to murderers to even ordinary men. However, no matter what type of evil these stories contain whether it is physical like the monsters in Beowulf, internal like the men in the Pardoner’s Tale or a combination of both like the witches and ambition in Macbeth, it is still greatly influential in the plot of the story and can only lead to the one end result of evil: death.
Death is an eternal mystery and the most controversial subject stemming from human inexperience. Its inescapability and uncertainty can give insights on the core principles and vulnerability of human nature. In Shakespeare’s tragedy Hamlet he skilfully makes use of death as a lashing force to explore the depths of his characters along the way illustrating man’s continual dilemma “To be or not to be”?
In Shakespeare’s Macbeth the theme of guilt and conscience is one of the most prominent in the play. It gives life to the play and gives depth to the characters, it makes Macbeth a much more realistic character because we are shown that he is not perfect and still responds to temptation. The results of committing evil acts have such a powerful effect on the human mind, that it is eventually destroyed by it. Macbeth’s destroyed mind is evident when he states, “O full of scorpions is my mind dear wife!”. Macbeth and his wife, like all of us must live with our own actions; unfortunately his choices make this impossible and light the way to a tragic and dusty death for the Macbeths.
Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Macbeth. Ed. Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine. New York: Washington Square, 1992. Print. The New Folger Library Shakespeare.
Destruction is a cycle that comprises of various smaller divisions of emotions that come together to complete the cycle of destruction. Often it is found that, many authors establish a central issue that revolves around the theme of destruction. However, it is frequently forgotten that destruction can’t occur from one specific life event, it must accumulate the unconstructiveness through various conditions and at last, the individual in the situation is “destroyed”. Destruction is not the actual step, it is the process, where the smaller situations result in innumerable emotions that eventually lead to it. The Tempest, illustrates the theme of destruction specifically by using smaller sentiments throughout the work that symbolizes the different emotions that lead to the overall theme. The Tempest uses emotions like ego and over self-confidence, deceit and resilience to highlight the three individual steps that
Through Macbeth, Shakespeare makes the case that being human is not merely physical; rather, to be human one must also have emotions and that anything less makes one ‘weird.’ With Macbeth’s tragic flaw Shakespeare probes the gray area between biology and philosophy. Although an explicit discussion of this connection does not arise in the play, Macbeth’s tragic flaw does provide insight into how one can avoid departing this world a “dead butcher” (5:8:70), one who has lost his emotions and thus his humanity.
Macbeth’s story highlights the inherent goodness found in all of us, but also the evil that lurks within us, unnourished. Although there is no redemption for Macbeth’s evil sins, he finally comes to acknowledge his crimes and thus can provoke pity in the eyes of the audience. Macbeth’s psychological journey from a courageous general to a “ dead butcher” (5.9.41) is one that truly merits to be called a tragedy.
Shakespeare, William. Tragedy of Macbeth . Ed. Barbara Mowat and Paul Warstine. New York: Washington Press, 1992.
This specific action consequently resulted in Macbeth’s level of morality to continually decline as he is acutely aware of his own tyranny. Therefore Macbeth attempts to forget the horrific deed he has committed and be the figure that orders and disorders. Our perception of Macbeth being a wise and loyal soldier is now eroded, as we start to view Macbeth constantly questioning his own actions, and is also impelled to perpetrate further atrocities with the intention of covering up his previous wrong-doings.
Shakespeare, William. “Macbeth.” The Complete Works of Shakespeare. Ed. David Bevington. New York: Longman, 1997
Shakespeare, William. Tragedy of Macbeth . Ed. Barbara Mowat and Paul Warstine. New York: Washington Press, 2008.