Human Nature in William Golding's "Lord of the Flies"

520 Words2 Pages

“The theme is an attempt to trace the defects of society back to the defects of human nature. The moral is that the shape of a society must depend on the ethical nature of the individual and not on any political system however apparently logical or respectable.” With this quote, William Golding simply justifies the theme and moral presented in his novel, Lord of the Flies. The characters portray a modern society and depict the cruelty of human disposition. The political system in the U.S., as a whole, is a prime example of the ignorance towards ethical nature and is definitely blameworthy of the ruthlessness of mankind as individuals. Change is needed! Not only do the roles of the characters compel a reader, they also illustrate the struggles the general public live with daily. They assume the duties of both moral and immoral people in a somewhat contemporary civilization. The attributes of the characters persuade readers into viewing the government as flawed. The flaws make people leave; they make life unlivable. “I’m going off by myself.” (page 127) Jack leaves the society becau...

Show More
Related

  • Analysis of Lord of the Flies by William Golding

    1468 Words  | 3 Pages

    William Golding’s Lord of the Flies is a sordid tale about a group of kids who are stranded on a deserted island after their plane crashes. The story is set during the Atomic War and plenty of references are made to the fact. However, the real key to the story lies in the role of Beelzebub, Lord of the Flies. Beelzebub has a central role in the story as he represents the Beast, or evil, that dwells within all humans. The Beast cannot be hunted and since it dwells within all humans, humans are all guilty because mankind is sick. The destruction of mankind is a point that Golding makes apparent often in this novel. He establishes early on that Beelzebub is a force within all humans that drives them to destroy and maim. In the story the central emblem of the story lies in the dead airman. The boys mistake him for Beelzebub and basically begin to worship him.

    Read More

  • A Malevolent Society in Lord of the Flies by William Golding

    1402 Words  | 3 Pages

    Humans, by nature, are genuinely good people who show compassion and concern for others, right? Well true, if we all lived in a utopian land. Unfortunately, humans are, in fact, evil and easily corrupted by others. In William Golding’s 1954 published Lord of the Flies, the boy’s on the island learn that a peaceful civilization is easily destroyed without cooperation or agreement. The frustration manifested itself, making a transformation of the boys into meat hungry, hunters, who even try to hunt the other boys who don’t follow the pack. Golding analyzes the flaws of human society, directly related to human nature.

    Read More

  • Civility And Savagery In William Golding's Lord Of The Flies

    1286 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout the novel several different characters are introduced to the reader, such as Ralph, Jack, Simon and Piggy. With all these characters presented to the reader, one can get to see into their minds-eye, which allows the reader to analyze their character. In this case one could examine their basic morals and distinguish between the person’s natural instinct to rely on civilization or savagery to solve their problems. The author of the novel, William Golding, had a “first-hand experience of battle line action during World War II” which caused him to realize, “[that] The war alone was not what appalled him, but what he had learnt of the natural - and original- sinfulness of mankind did. It was the evil seen daily as commonplace and repeated by events it was possible to read in any newspaper which, he asserted, were the matter of Lord of the Flies” (Foster, 7-10). This being said by Golding leads one to the central problem in the novel the Lord of the Flies, which can be regarded as the distinction between civility and savagery. This can be seen through the characters that are presented in the novel, and how these boys go from a disciplined lifestyle, to now having to adapt to an unstructured and barbaric one in the jungle.

    Read More

  • Savagery And Civilazation In William Golding's Lord Of Flies

    809 Words  | 2 Pages

    Lord of flies is about a group of schoolboys, who got stuck on uninhabited island after a plane crash. On island they struggle with savagery and civilazation while they are waiting to be rescued. William Golding gives the examples of elements what makes society ‘civilized’ which contains rules, laws and morality. He shows the consequences of what happens if we don’t follow the rules which he lead to savagery in his book. This civilazation in book also can be a metaphor for a government, its creation.

    Read More

  • Savagery in Humans in The Lord of the Flies by William Golding

    559 Words  | 2 Pages

    The dark heart of savagery is within all human beings. Savagery of humans is one of the most important theme in the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding. However some people would say that humans can be pure while others would say deep inside all humans are evil. It is probably true that most human have savagery inside them. In Lord of the Files, Golding proves human’s brutality by showing the destruction in humanity for a pack of innocent young British boys. This thesis is proven when the Lord of the Flies when Simon states that the beast is just the violence in their hearts.

    Read More

  • Microcosm In Lord Of The Flies

    640 Words  | 2 Pages

    William Golding wrote the novel, Lord of the Flies, to express the concept that a society is a representation of the individuals within the society. A society does not cause the members to become corrupted instead, it is corrupted because of the unethical nature of the citizens. Golding portrayed this in Lord of the Flies by making a microcosm in which many boys were stranded without help from any adults. This caused the kids to take control of the government and make their own rules. Golding represents the corruption of society by having the boy’s leave a huge impact on the island. Before the kids crash landed on the island, it is shown being very peaceful, but by the time the boys leave the island, it is trashed, “but the island was scorched

    Read More

  • The Little Evils In Society In William Golding's Lord Of The Flies

    1373 Words  | 3 Pages

    Most people understand that there is a class system even if it is unspoken. William Golding believed that all humans were savage and evil deep down. This idea was the one mostly portrayed in the novel Lord of the Flies, but also shown in the novel is a deep allegorical comparison between boys on the island and classes they would fall into in everyday society. Little’uns, big’uns and Jack and his hunters all represent different classes of people.

    Read More

  • William Golding's Lord Of The Flies

    975 Words  | 2 Pages

    The author, William Golding uses the main characters of Ralph, Jack, and Simon in The Lord of the Flies to portray how their desire for leadership, combined with lack of compromise leads to the fall of their society. This desire for leadership and compromise led to the fall of their society just like multiple countries during times of wars.

    Read More

  • Immorality of Human Nature Depicted in Golding's Lord of the Flies

    922 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Lord of the Flies, William Golding expresses the idea that humans are naturally immoral, and that people are moral only because of the pressures of civilization. He does this by writing about a group of boys, and their story of survival on an island. The civilized society they form quickly deteriorates into a savage tribe, showing that away from civilization and adults, the boys quickly deteriorate into the state man was millions of years ago. This tendency is shown most in Jack, who has an animalistic love of power, and Roger, who loves to kill for pleasure. Even the most civilized boys, Ralph and Piggy, show that they have a savage side too as they watch Simon get murdered without trying to save him. Simon, the only one who seems to have a truly good spirit, is killed, symbolizing how rare truly good people are, and how quickly those personalities become corrupted.

    Read More

  • Lord of the Flies: Is There Hope for Man?

    843 Words  | 2 Pages

    One of the main themes in William Golding's 1954 novel Lord of the Flies is that without civilization, there is no law and order. The expression of Golding's unorthodox and complex views are embodied in the many varied characters in the novel. One of Golding's unorthodox views is that only one aspect of the modern world keeps people from reverting back to savagery and that is society. Golding shows the extreme situations of what could possibly happen in a society composed of people taken from a structured society then put into a structureless society in the blink of an eye. First there is a need for order until the people on the island realize that there are no rules to dictate their lives and take Daveers into their own hands. Golding is also a master of contrasting characterization. This can be seen in the conflicts between the characters of Jack, the savage; Simon, the savior; and Piggy, the one with all the ideas.

    Read More

  • Civilization Versus Savagery in Golding's Lord of the Flies

    809 Words  | 2 Pages

    The novel “Lord of the Flies” was written by William Golding to demonstrate the problems of society and the sinful nature of man.

    Read More

  • Human Identity In Lord Of The Flies By William Golding

    1106 Words  | 3 Pages

    William Shakespeare states, in one of his famous plays, Hamlet, that “We know what we are, but not what we maybe,” (4.5. ). The author suggests the idea of the human’s true self, hiding behind one’s mask, which further leads to the question of human identity. The question “Who am I?” becomes one of the most complex topics in literature and philosophy because no one yet finds the answer. This subject inspires different writers such as Phillip K. Dicks, Aldous Huxley, and William Golding to pursue people seek for the unknown. One of the dystopian novels, called Lord of the Flies by William Golding, tells the story of a group of children, on an uninhabited island in the Pacific Ocean during the atomic bomb war. By choosing the character between

    Read More

  • Social vs. Natural Intellect in William Golding's Lord Of The Flies

    964 Words  | 2 Pages

    In life, I have observed and experienced both social and natural intellect. First off, there are direct examples of both kinds of people in everyday life. My friends that have good intellect, but not social skills often do well. However, when put in a group, which occurs often in life, they struggle. For example, last year I was in a group for a project. In my group was one person that was extremely smart. He was known as the smartest kid in my class. However, in our group, he was the least productive. He was not able to work with the rest of the group. On the other hand, my friends that have great social intellect seem to always be happy. They still do well in school, while being able to work with others at the same time. These people can help lead and motivate a group. This quality goes a lot further in life than just being smart. The most important aspect a socially intelligent person achieves is working well both in, and leading a group. This person has the great ability to motivate others. This will earn socially intelligent people better jobs. Most jobs, like a lawyer or a doctor, require social intelligence. A doctor has to work with other people every day. Without social intelligence and the ability to talk to his patients, he will not succeed. A very smart person without these qualities will have trouble being successful at the job. Next, I have seen examples of socially intelligent people doing better than naturally smart people on TV. For example, on the show Apprentice, there was a competition between “book smart” and “street smart” people. They were competing for a job to work for Donald Trump. As the show progressed, the street smart people continued to do better. This is directly related to their ability to work together and motivate each other. Specifically, the street smart people worked much better together. Together, they were able to come up with great ideas. On the other hand, the book smart people did not come up with as many good ideas because they did not work well together. The Apprentice show is just another example of socially intelligent people doing better than naturally smart people in every day life. Finally, I think there is one quality, more than any other, which makes socially smart people more successful and happy than the just intelligent people.

    Read More

  • Civil or Savage

    546 Words  | 2 Pages

    Humans are diverse and strange, mysteries to even themselves. We have a functioning civilization, but yet savagery still remains hidden beneath the glamor of society. William Golding, renowned author of the intuitive novel Lord of the Flies, recognized it and put it into a book for the world to understand and interpret. He ventured into his views and opinions of human nature, good and evil, and human civilization and made a book that served almost as a mirror to society, yet most still refuse to see people the way they truly are.

    Read More

  • Human Beings are Evil: Golding's Lord of the Flies

    1110 Words  | 3 Pages

    Although humankind attempts its best at preventing evil actions, eventually evil rises above all else. While humans are living ordinary lives and living in ignorance, evil is always scheming and waiting to slide up behind the turned backs of society as depicted in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies. One could argue that this is not the case and that good deeds always overshadow evil and that evil is just an occasional blip. However, what one’s opinion of society does not outshine the cold hard facts of humankind’s natural tendencies; specifically, how things are never as they seem, how easily humans can betray their emotions and how humans choose to ignore difficult situations in the search for an easy answer. Despite one’s best efforts, evilness will always prevail over goodness when it comes to humankind.

    Read More

More about Human Nature in William Golding's "Lord of the Flies"

Open Document