For centuries, psychologists and psychoanalysts have studied humans in hopes of discovering a common link, a pattern per say, in what provokes their certain thoughts and actions. Many question certain values, morals, religion, even their brain chemistry, but nobody knows for certain. Sigmund Freud’s theory suggests that human actions/personalities derive from three parts of the human psyche; the id, ego and superego. William Golding analyzes this further in his novel, Lord of the Flies, which is about a large group of boys that crash-land on a deserted Island after fleeing a dangerous England in the times of WWII. These young boys are used to entertain the idea of savagery vs. civilization and how evil lies deep within us all. After reading Lord of the Flies, it is possible that the evil within the boys is driven by fear, power, and the loss of innocence.
To begin, fear is portrayed in one of the “Bigguns” Jack Merridew, the power-thirsting leader of the choir boys turned hunters. Contrary to popular opinion, Jack is not truly evil, as he did not show savage behaviour in the beginning of the novel. "We've got to have rules and obey them. After all, we're not savages” (42) said Jack near the beginning of the novel. In addition, Jack shows his fear for blood in his failure to kill the pig on his first hunt on the Island. Jack’s ego doesn’t allow him to fear or fail at anything, so he becomes obsessed with having the ability to hunt and kill. This hunger for hunting and killing then sparks his evolution to savagery. Although the following characters aren’t truly “evil” when compared to Jack or Roger, Sam and Eric simulate acts of evil near the end of the novel. The twin boys stay loyal to Ralph throughout most of the novel, tending ...
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...oo young to acknowledge their changed behaviors.
To conclude, the formation of evil within the group of boys originates from fear, power, and the loss of innocence. William Golding uses fear to ignite evil and evil doings in characters like Jack, Sam, and Eric. To prove this theory, he uses characters like Simon and the lord of the flies to clarify fear’s true intentions. Power, possessed by both Jack and Roger, is used to instigate their cruel ways as well as their conversion to savagery. Alongside the two initiates is the loss of innocence, a phase that has taken place far too early and quite erratically in these boys. Altogether, these three attributes have led to destruction, killing, and inhumane behavior; characterized as savagery, but also known as evil.
Works Cited
Golding, William . Lord of the Flies. San Francisco : Faber and Faber, 1958. Print.
Epstein, E. L. Afterword. Lord of the Flies. By William Golding. New York: Berkley, 1954.
Golding, William, The Lord of the Flies, New York: The Berkley Publishing Group, 1954. Print.
The impact of Jack’s savagery on the island leads to the boys forgetting the real truth about about themselves. The boys on the island are able to explain that human are evil from the beginning and that they aren’t impacted by society. The boys see the island as a place where they are free from the adult world and without any rules. The boys don’t realize that a world without rules causes the chaos on the island and the savagery within the boys. Jack’s authoritative power forces him to push the rest of the boys out of their comfort zone by making them evil being that was not there true identity before. Upon realizing that the savagery they had obtained was only destroying themselves they “wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man's heart”(202). The power that was developed by Jack impacts everyone and destroys all of the lives that rejected him. Piggy who was the most knowledgeable character and also the weakest character was often disrespected by Jack because he opposed Jack’s power and recognizes that his power not voted for. As as result, Piggy is killed by Jack’s own boys because they too have been impacted by brute force. They killed piggy just like how they hunted pigs. Next, Simon's death reflects the rejections of religion and the idea that the
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.
Humans have an instinctual response, emotionally and physically, on fear towards danger or any unpleasant situation. When one is not in their right, conventional state, they become too concentrated towards the danger in front of them, thus leading to vicious outcomes. These may affect the person himself or to the one he is in opposition to. Fear stimulates the lost of individualism and encourages a group mentality to one another. The book “Lord of the Flies”, written by William Golding, manifests fear all throughout the book which directly triggers the savage acts the boys commit themselves . When one is scared, they are prone to create groups to disperse the fear and accompany it, or in the case of Simon’s death, the loss of individualism, a creation of a group mentality, is an and
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
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.
For there is the power in losing innocent, there is the power causing the violence. Jack and Ralph are sided on the strong part of the power, and in the beginning, Ralph started with the civilized, innocent boy, but later, the boys become savage and harm each other., being violent. Golding put all the characters as the symbol of turning to savage, but Jack was the main one who Golding put as the symbol of violence. “The painted group moved round Samneric nervously and unhandily....‘Tie them up!’...Now the group... felt the power in their hands...Jack was inspired…‘See? They do what I want (178-179).’” Jack is using the power to cause the violence. He hunted pig and he needed fire to cook it. Since he had no source to light the fire, he sneaks
Golding, William, and Edmund L. Epstein. Lord of the Flies: A Novel. New York: Perigee, 1954. Print.
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.
In William Golding's Lord of the Flies, the boys who are stranded on the island come in contact with many unique elements that symbolize ideas or concepts. Through the use of symbols such as the beast, the pig's head, and even Piggy's specs, Golding demonstrates that humans, when liberated from society's rules and taboos, allow their natural capacity for evil to dominate their existence.
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.
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.
In the book Lord of the Flies by William Golding, a group of young boys from England are evacuated out of their country due to a war. The plane is then shot down and results into a plane crash on a deserted island. The boys are left all alone with no adults, no supplies, and no one to come and rescue them. They are all on their own and have to establish a new “society”. The boys have to choose someone to govern them and that person ends up being Ralph, who had an internal struggle between what is right and wrong closer to the end of the novel. The boys turn into savages, killing each other, and showing their evil inside each of them. According to, William Golding man is inherently evil, evil is in all of us, but it is oppressed by society, and comes out when there is not anything to hold us back, civilization is what holds back evil from coming out, or it is what triggers evil inside of man.
Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. Great Britain: Cox & Wyman Ltd, Reading, Berkshire, 1954. Text.