Are humans naturally good, or are they downright evil? In William Golding’s, “Lord of the Flies,” boys have been stranded on an island & must survive until they are rescued. This essay will determine that human nature is downright bad; this is evident in the characters Simon, Roger, and Ralph. One way Golding proves that human nature is good is through the character Simon. Simon is a kind, and naturally good person. He is not influenced by civilization but rather good because it is in his nature. For example, when Simon “wiped his mouth and shoved his piece of meat over the rocks to Piggy,” (74) he did it because it was the right thing to do. While the rest of the boys bully Piggy, Simon goes out of his way and gives up his portion of meat …show more content…
Ralph is the boy’s elected leader, and one of the most affected by civilization’s unwritten and written rules. Ralph, throughout the story, is focused solely on the boys’ rescue from the island. This comes to a climax when Ralph calls Jack out for not keeping the signal fire lit, saying, “Hasn’t anyone got any sense? We’ve got to relight that fire. You never thought of that, Jack, did you? Or don’t any of you want to be rescued?” (102). Although Ralph is affected by the civilization’s laws the most, he can also succumb to the natural element of fear. One example is when Ralph helps murder Simon, joining the rushing mob out of fear and ignorance. “At once, the crowd surged after it, poured down the rock, leapt onto the beast, screamed, struck, bit, tore.” (153). When Simon arrives on the beach after his conversation with the Lord of the Flies, and is mistaken for the Beast, the boys attack him. Ralph helps them kill the “beast” and thus help end the symbol of innocence and kindness. Although Ralph tries his hardest to remain civil, even he is a slave to his natural instincts. This is how Golding demonstrates that all of the boys, even the one’s who are the most civil of them, are actually evil deep
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
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.
The nature of humans can be described in many different ways. Throughout Golding’s novel Lord of The Flies, multiple examples of human nature are portrayed by the boys. As shown through the progression of the novel, Golding thinks that human nature cannot account for itself, even with good accompanying it. William Golding stresses these topics in his recent article: “Why Boys Become Vicious”. He explains his allusions to the real world, and how corruption is present.
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.
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.
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.
Ralph's actions as a character in the novel assist in reinforcing Golding's point that the prevalent force within man is evil. While Ralph struggles, albeit unsuccessfully, to maintain a civilized society on the island, he repeatedly tries to resist the temptation of evil inside him. As the island descends into chaos under Jack's tyrannical regime, the rest of the boys on the island let their hair become longer, at the same time becoming increasingly vicious. Ralph tries to ignore the temptation of having long hair, trying to push it back to maintain the good he has inside him. Ralph wants to “have a pair of scissors” to cut his hair, but the hair is coaxing him to let evil dominate (109). ...
He blows the conch and summons the deserted children together” (Li & Wu 1). While all the boys are interested mainly in playing and setting out to satisfy their own needs, Ralph is focused on building shelter and keeping a fire going to facilitate their rescue. As one can see, Ralph is “the representative of civilization and democracy, lives by rules, acts peacefully, and follows moral commands and values the good of the group, who dramatically reveals the condition of civilization and democracy in Golding’s time” (Li & Wu
Why is it that Golding had these three boys be good when he felt as though every human being was naturally evil? Jack used their fear for the beast to control them. He did this by not believing that the beast was real. It was because Jack had no fear for the beast that Roger and the others felt safe around him.The reasoning behind the beast having so much control over them is because the safety and security that they needed was one of the top priorities on Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs. It was because of their fear for the beast that they turned towards the dark. “What I mean is...maybe it’s only us.” (89). Simone and later on Ralph and Piggy knew that the only beast on the island was themselves, resulting in them not believing that there was a physical monster that could harm them. It was because of Simone’s logic that led the three boys towards the light, away from Jack’s iron fist of fear.
The Lord of the Flies by William Golding is tale of a group of young boys who become stranded on a deserted island after their plane crashes. Intertwined in this classic novel are many themes, most that relate to the inherent evil that exists in all human beings and the malicious nature of mankind. In The Lord of the Flies, Golding shows the boys' gradual transformation from being civilized, well-mannered people to savage, ritualistic beasts.
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.
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.
Is evil is more powerful than good or are humans basically violent and savage?. Evil is not more powerful than good because a lot of good things happen as well. Everything is done for a reason and, it is because of a good reason. Some people do evil stuff but still everything happens for a reason. Humans are basically violent and savage, which makes civic order impossible to sustain.
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.
In William Golding's novel, Lord of the Flies Ralph though not the stronger person, demonstrates a better understanding of people than Jack which gives him better leadership qualities. Ralph displays these useful human qualities as a leader by working towards the betterment of the boys' society. He knows the boys need stability and order if they are to survive on the island. He creates rules and a simple form of government to achieve this order. Jack does not treat the boys with dignity as Ralph does. Ralph understands that the boys, particularly Piggy, have to be given respect and must be treated as equals. This makes Ralph a better leader as he is able to acknowledge that he was not superior to any of the other boys. Ralph's wisdom and ability to look to the future also make him a superior leader. Ralph has the sense to keep his focus on getting off the island. He insists on keeping the fire burning as a distress signal. Ralph's leadership provides peace and order to the island while Jack's leadership makes chaos.