Over the course of history, humans have struggled to determine wether they are inherently evil or inherently good. Events in history, famous philosophers, and writers all seek to answer the question of humanity’s nature. It is through the literary works of Golding and Dickens, the wisdom of Xun Kuang and Augustine, and incidents such as Bleeding Kansas that reveal humanity to be inherently evil. The blood-thirst within the people that grows without the rules of a civilization, reveals that human nature is inherently evil. Throughout A tale of Two Cities and The Lord of the Flies an inner bloodlust turns into a massacre. In the Lord of the Flies what starts out as a way to get food turns into a source of adrenaline. “At last the immediacy of the kill subsided. The boys drew back and Jack stood up, holding out his hands. ‘Look’ He giggled and flicked them while the boys laughed at his reeking palms,” (Golding 149).In this passage, the boys kill a pig and then laugh about it. Without society to reprimand them them, the boys turn the killing of a sow into the …show more content…
Xunzi was a Chinese philosopher that contributed to the Hundred Schools of Thought. Xunzi stance towards humanity, remarking that from birth there is envy and hatred; that human goodness is deceitful (Stalnaker), brings to light the inherent evil in people. By stating that from birth humanity has hatred, Xunzi stresses that the rules of society are the only thing hiding the malevolent ways of man kind. His characterization of humanity shines a light on the nature of people. Another Chinese philosopher, Augustine, also explores the inner wiring of man.“Post-Fall human beings are unable to do what is good, he says either because they are ignorant of what the good is in a given cause or because although they see the good and want to have a will that wills it, they find doing it too difficult,”
Would you be able to resist savagery from being away from society? Could you resist the urging power to kill? How about being able to find food without killing or not to go full savage on other people, could you still do it? A normal person could say no to all of these. In the novel, “Lord of The Flies”, William Golding shows that without civilization, a person can turn into a savage by showing progressively how they went through the seven steps of savagery.
It is the contention of this paper that humans are born neutral, and if we are raised to be good, we will mature into good human beings. Once the element of evil is introduced into our minds, through socialization and the media, we then have the potential to do bad things. As a person grows up, they are ideally taught to be good and to do good things, but it is possible that the concept of evil can be presented to us. When this happens, we subconsciously choose whether or not to accept this evil. This is where the theories of Thomas Hobbes and John Locke become interesting as both men differed in the way they believed human nature to be.
The problem of evil has been categorized variously, but the major categorizations of evil entail the physical evil on the one hand, and the moral evil, on the other hand. Physical evil has been defined as the occurrence of a physical suffering and destruction that is caused by the operation of natural laws, with no involvement of the human intention in the occurrence of such events (Kremer and Latzer, 89). On the other hand, moral evil has been defined as the occurrence of events that violates the natural laws, for which humans are responsible (Kremer and Latzer, 89). In this respect, while in the physical evil there is no participation of humans, the moral evil is contributed by the involvement of the personal will and intellect in doing what naturally should not be done, or what is simply considered morally wrong.
The cause of how people have chosen evil has been a conceptual issue for thousands of years on many different perspectives. People from a religious point of view believe that the underlining cause of evil is sin and temptation. Half of the time humans can choose good over evil in situations based off the legal system and the moral standards of society. "The interest of work in the common would not hold it together, instinctual ...
Good and Evil in Human Nature in Lord of the Flies and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Inwardly examining his own nature, man would prefer to see himself as a virtuously courageous being designed in the image of a divine supernatural force. Not to say that the true nature of man is a complete beast, he does posses, like many other creatures admirable traits. As author Matt Ridley examines the nature of man in his work The Origins of Virtue, both the selfish and altruistic sides of man are explored. Upon making an honest and accurate assessment of his character, it seems evident that man is not such a creature divinely set apart from the trappings of selfishness and immorality. Rather than put man at either extreme it seems more accurate to describe man as a creature whose tendency is to look out for himself first, as a means of survival.
Whether or not humans are instinctively good or evil has been a much talked about debate for many years and is known as an unanswerable question. Determinists, such as Thomas Hobbs, have come to the conclusion that humans are naturally evil and it is within our basic instincts to be greedy, selfish and otherwise drawn to chaos. Hobbs states that “our true nature arises in times of strife and it is within us, when threatened, to self preserve.” I on the other hand disagree with this famous philosophers take on human nature. In this short essay, I will argue that human beings are born with the instinct to be good and to love one another, as well as to be loved.
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.
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.
In humanity's constant search for understanding, one of the core issues concerns our very nature. Knowledge of our true nature would provide an insight into many of the questions that go unanswered in our world. Whether deep down inside we are good or evil decides what situation we are in, and has implications about what we can do about it. Two famous figures in Christian history have taken opposing views on this subject. Augustine believed that humans have been corrupted at the core ever since the fall of man back in Genesis, while Pelagius believed that humans have complete freedom to choose good or evil, and human depravity is only a direct result of choosing evil.
Confucius, the founding philosopher of Confucianism, never explicitly details what he believes to be the inherent nature of humans. However, through his teachings and writings, his opinion can be understood to be that humans reach good nature, through self-cultivation and self-improvement. He believes that humans are improvable and teachable, but lack virtue. “Confucius
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.
Foster’s book, How To Read Literature Like a Professor is chapter 11, “...More Than It’s Gonna Hurt You: Concerning Violence.” In Lord of the Flies, the literary device of violence can be discovered in small traces throughout the course of the plot, but only when the story finally reaches its climax, does it vividly showcase its vicious form. Authors, in some cases, will include this in order to develop the plot or the theme of a literary work, so that they can leave a lasting impression on the reader. For instance, consider the violent actions displayed by Jack, the antagonist of the novel, and his savage hunters near the end of the story. One night, when he and his hunters have persuaded some of the boys to join his “tribe,” their delirious dance and savage fever awaken a wave of violence that takes the life of the shy and sensitive Simon, a character who is mistaken as a “beast” the boys are unbearably afraid of. In fact, Golding describes his death as barbaric as the boys “surged after [him], leapt on to the beast, screamed, struck, bit, tore,” which all in all, advances the plot and develops the theme that over time, the order in one’s heart may become corrupted and that corruption may provoke the cruel nature in one’s heart (chapter 9, “A View to a Death” page 153). Another example is the relentless hunt for Ralph near the very end of the story. Although there is no clear explanation as to why Ralph
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.