Evil is an inescapable consequence of human nature, and in the correct setting, this intrinsic evil of humanity will emerge. In Lord of the Flies, the island acts as a microcosm presenting the real world, yet it is left uncharted to creating a bare environment away from the destructive nature of humanity. The novel explores the notion in which man destroys every beautiful environment they settle in, and that when in a bare setting, free of social construct, the evil and primal urges would surface. When the boys first arrive on the island, Golding paints it to be beautiful and not yet spoiled by man, highlighted in the use of personification in ‘the palm-fronds would whisper, so that spots of blurred sunlight slid over their bodies’ which creates …show more content…
In Lord of the Flies, Jack is a symbol for the desire for power, in which plans to use it to treat the other boys as objects for his own amusement and gratify his own desires. Jack’s thirst for power is highlighted in his characterisation, particularly through dialogue, like in the beginning of the novel when voting for chief, Jack simply states “I ought to be chief”, emphasizing his arrogance and plain desire for dominance. This is further demonstrated when the boys are discussing about the beast in one of the meetings, and Jack, although he doesn't believe in the beast, is willing to use its possible existence as a source of power over the littluns, proven though Jack’s use of dialogue in “-not only the littluns, but my hunters sometimes-talk of a thing, a dark thing, a beast, some sort of animal”. The dialogue illustrates the way that Jack allowed himself to exploit others’ weaknesses and commit evil acts in the attempt to attain dominance, proving that intrinsic evil is brought out by one’s desire for power. Thus, in the presence thirst for power, evil is an inescapable consequence of human
At this point in the book Ralph called everyone together to redefine how their temporary society would work until they were rescued. A few lines above this quote ralph says how things were going great but then people started to get frightened. This quote uses personification when it says fear can’t hurt you it is implying how fear can’t physically hurt you but it can even bring you closer together when interpreted correctly and constructively but when there is no one to help you through it, it can cause things to unravel because it makes people start to panic and start thinking impulsively.
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
In Lord of the Flies, Golding extensively uses of analogy and symbolism like the dead parachutist in Beast from Air to convey the theme of intrinsic human evil through the decay of the character’s innocence and the island itself. In this essay, I will view and explain Golding’s use of specific symbolism to explain the novel’s main themes.
In Lord of the Flies, Golding uses a mysterious setting to get a mixed emotion reaction from the audience. By using personification in his story, Golding makes the audience feel anticipated to know what’s actually happening or has happened. For example, “...the corpulent figure would blow forward, sighing and the flies settle once more,” (Golding, 153),the word “sighing” makes the story still unfathomable and it gives the flies a calm and peaceful sense. It seems so that Golding is trying to indirectly symbolize certain parts of the passage, by stating certain colors that symbolizes something meaningful. For example, the two colors that were used which was blue means peaceful and white which means purity. Imagery is even used in a peculiar
Looking at Lord of the Flies by William Golding, readers may notice both good and evil in each character. Golding wrote this novel to demonstrate that humans are evil and requires the constraints of society to maintain social order but Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s philosophy states that a person is naturally good but is corrupted by society. Taking place during World War II, Golding’s novel is centered around a group of British boys between the ages of six and twelve whose plane was shot down and were left to survive on an island. While on this island – away from the laws of England and the rules of the school – the boys had the freedom to act however their hearts desired but most of the boys became savage and violent proving Golding’s belief, that the evil of a person is kept in order by the restrictions of society, to be true. Rousseau’s belief is defined by the term the state of nature, which in this case, is hypothetical.
Part of Golding’s intent was to demonstrate that the evil is not recognised in specific populations or situations. On the island the beast is manifest in the deadly tribal dances, war paint and manhunt: in the outside world the same lust for power and control plays out as a nuclear war. Throughout ‘The Lord of the Flies’ Golding has managed to show that evil is present in everyone.
When the boys in the Lord of the Flies come to find themselves alone with the no adult supervision they are left with the fact that they need to create some sort of order and stability for the group. Jack wants to be in control but towards the end of the novel jack comes to represent savagery and beastilaty, meanwhile Ralph comes to represent order and civilization. Since Jack does not get elected to be chief he goes on his own way to obtain power and he does by using many acts of cruelty. With Jacks acts of cruelty, it leads the other boys to come to light to their inner savagery. An example of this was when Jack and the boys set out to hunt, they came across a sow in which they torture and cruelly kill. This represented the boys gone past the point of no return, in which they go from being innocent children to bloodthirsty savages.
To begin, power is abused everyday by people ranging from children picking teams to Kim Jong-Il. While most people control the want to use their power for their specific needs, some do not and they simply abuse their power. In Lord of the Flies, that abuse of power is obvious and the most prominent with Jack. For instance, he takes advantage of his status of leader of the hunters, who were formerly the choirboys, by demanding Samneric to hunt pig with him while they were supposed to be tending the signal fire (65). In that instance, hunting rather than tending the fire causes a passing ship to think the island is uninhabited (68).
Walter Raleigh once said, “All men are evil and will declare themselves to be so when occasion is offered.” Raleigh’s ideas of a man’s human nature to be villainous goes hand in hand with William Golding’s fictional novel, Lord Of The Flies. His book follows the disturbing events of a group British school boys, during the height of World War II. The boys endure a horrible plane crash, which leaves them deserted on an uninhabited island without any adults. Golding uses his writing to convey to reads that when man is not confined by the rules and regulations of society they revert to dangerous behaviour and fully immerse themselves into the evil that lives within.
Everyone, at one time or another, has dreamed of running away to a deserted island to get away from the life of the real world, but in William Golding's Lord of the Flies this perceived dream of a deserted island is brought to reality. When the dream did come true for some English boys things don't actually turn out as glorious as imagined. Human nature went into effect and let evil run wild. The Island paradise they once saw turned into a bloody nightmare. A message that ran rampant throughout the novel was that evil is inherited in everyone. By looking at three very important scenes, one can see how the effects of evil are permanently etched into everyone's personality. Understanding those events are vital to understanding the overall theme of the book.
William Golding’s Lord of the Flies exemplifies man’s capacity to unveil his innate primal nature when there is a breakdown of social order and a thirst for power. The characters of his novel portray the monstrosity of evil which dwells within human beings. For instance, Kunwar’s analytical essay about Golding’s novel states, “Though the young kids are in a place which is far from corruption, a place with no outside infl...
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.
“There is a savage beast in every man, and when you hand him a sword and put him in a war situation, then the savage beast inside the man becomes visible.” In the allegorical novel Lord of the Flies, a group of preteen boys are stranded on an isolated island, where they are faced with the task of survival. Golding uses pristine island in which the boys portray their inner selves. As the novel progresses, William Golding explores the causes, effects, and the long discussed subject of savagery versus civilization. The group of boys are obliged to find a way to survive until they are rescued, in which they are faced with the challenge of making realistic decision. As the novel advances, the characters begin to show their various personalities,
The symbolical allegory “Lord of the Flies” written by William Golding, symbolizes through different characters of how humankind are evil from the core. The story of a group of schoolboys trapped on a deserted island takes more of a symbolizing story than it might seem. Each detail takes a position in the story to show the core of humanity. A group of young boys together without adult supervision causes the boys to slowly reveal their savage core. Being a part of the English society has taught them to make rules and follow them, but slowly as they realize that there are no grownups are there to stop them, the revealing of their nature begins. William Golding states in his interview concerning the theme of the book, “The theme is an attempt to trace the defects of society back to the defects of human nature.” (Golding 204). The human race has been evil ever since Adam and Eve sinned, but through the Bible, we try our best to cover the core of our hearts with rules and morality.
Throughout Lord of the Flies, Golding shows that all of mankind has a potential for evil although a select few can overcome this with reason and sensibility. Golding expresses this through the biblical parallels of the similarities between Simon and Jesus and the comparison of the island to the Garden of Eden and the story of original sin.