Simon and Jack from Lord of the Flies by William Golding

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Simon and Jack from the novel of Lord of the Flies are great representations of the theories of Natural Man written by Aristotle and Thomas Hobbes. The character with the best purpose of representing Aristotle’s theory is Simon due to his morals and spiritual goodness. Leaving Jack as the best representation of Hobbes’s theory due to his violent state and the desire for power. The two theories clash due to the fact that they are polar opposite of one another. Aristotle sates that Natural Man is morally sound and just in their actions, whereas Hobbes states that Natural Man is corrupt and a wicked thing of existence. Therefore the two characters cannot coexist on the island. One or the other will have to come out on top, which Golding gives us a foreshadowed by placeing Jack’s camp on the top of the mountain.
Even though he doesn’t fall into either one of the theories, Ralph is considered “common ground” between the two philosophical arguments. By being the “command ground” for the coexistence of the two theories is rather difficult on Ralph, due to the fact he has to do what’s best for the group and not what’s best for him.
The Natural Man is the state in which a man is born without any teaching from life or from any other man. The theories of two philosophers are at war over this. For one states that a man is naturally just, and has the desire to build a stable society. That man will be filled with all intentions of helping the group prospers. As for the other philosopher, he states that a man is naturally wicked, and will go about any means to prosper himself. Even if that means that causing inflictions upon another man. For that man can gather his wants.
Simon stands on an entirely different level of understand from all the...

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... into being a way to see all three properties of these theories of Natural Man and then the combination of the two theories found within his novel. Even though man will never be just a morally sound man, nor will he be totally wicked and cruel, men can be both. Therefore the basis for all men can be the natural combination of both good and cruel within human beings. Golding gives us the solution to the thoughts of the ability for how the combinations of these theories can exist; and that is Ralph.
Ralph is not a representation of either one of the theories, but a representation of a man. He is the figure head of most men in the society of our life today. Most men have both theories in them, so they have to be taught the rights and wrongs though out life. By lessions learned for them self or form they men they grew up around. Men will be what they are taught to be.

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