Have you ever looked around in our world today and noticed all of the cruel people and things there are in the world? Or did you only take the time to notice the good in our society? Sometimes theres more to life than meets the eye and you have to dig deeper. In Lord of the Flies ,by William Golding , there is lots of instances where you can find good vs. evil such as man vs. land and nature, Jack vs. Piggy,Simon vs. the boys, and Ralph vs. Jack.
A good example of Good vs. Evil is Man vs. Land and nature."I saw the other part of the plane, there were flames coming out of it", "He looked up and down at the scar" "And this is what the cabin done" (Golding 8). This example of this is in the beginning where the boys plane made a scar on the land. Another example is when the boys started the fire. Ralph asks Jack could he start the fire and jack just seems like he doesn't want to do it, so he asks for matches. "Will you start the fire? Now the absurd situation was open, Jack blushed too. He began to mutter vaguely. “You rub two sticks. You rub– ”He glanced at Ralph, who blurted out the last confession of incompetence.“Has anyone got any matches?” (Golding 41). Smoke was rising here and there among the creepers that festooned the dead or dying trees."As they watched, a flash of fire appeared at the root of one wisp, and then the smoke thickened. Small flames stirred at the trunk of a tree and crawled away through leaves and brushwood, dividing and increasing. One patch touched a tree trunk and scrambled up like a bright squirrel. The smoke increased, sifted, rolled outwards. The squirrel leapt on the wings of the wind and clung to another standing tree, eating downwards. Beneath the dark canopy of leaves and smokethe fire laid hold...
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...snake too-” (Golding36). The third example is when Ralph wants Jack and the hunters to keep a fire (smoke-signal) so they can get rescued for all the people but Jack is evil and lets the fire go out and says they are ok if they have light. This is proven because when Jack says “As long as there’s light we’re brave enough. But then? And now that thing squats by the fire as though it didn’t want us to be rescued-” (Golding125).
In Lord of the Flies ,by William Golding , there is lots of instances where you can find good vs. evil such as man vs. land and nature, Jack vs. Piggy,Simon vs. the boys, and Ralph vs. Jack. There is both good and evil all around us in the world. Good and evil both make the world go around. Without good there is no evil and without evil there is no good.
Works Cited
Golding, William. Lord of the flies. New York: Coward-McCann, 1962. Print.
The idea of good versus evil is illustrated in several ways in John Steinbeck's East of Eden. This is seen through the external conflicts in the novel, the internal conflicts of the characters, and a universal understanding of the battle between good and evil.
In the novels Night and To Kill A Mockingbird there is a similar theme of the struggle between good and evil. This is shown through the persecution of innocent people because of their race. In To Kill A Mockingbird, Tom Robinson was killed after being convicted of a terrible crime that he did not commit. Bob Ewell accused Tom Robinson of raping his daughter to bring him to court, however Bob Ewell simply wanted another black man that he hated to die. The jury unanimously and easily decided for Tom to be put to death, not because they believed the Ewell’s, but because Tom was a man of colour which to them meant he was less than human and deserved to die. Atticus explained the jury to his children by stating, “ In our courts, when it's a white
In the novel, Lord of the Flies by William Golding, the concept of good fighting evil is clearly shown to be a big picture. In many cases, Jesus Christ represents good and bliss in the universe, while the devil represents evil. In this novel the reader sees the when good fights evil, the evil is a good turned evil. For example, before the devil became evil, he was an angel. He was good turned evil and is now fighting good. Simon represents the good and bliss, he is the Christ figure on the island while evil and savagery is shown in the other boys on the island. Both Simon and Christ share common qualities, actions, and deaths. Simon shows this throughout the novel, from the beginning until the time of his death.
Humans are inherently evil in nature and without law will unknowingly let this vile aspect of their own person be revealed. The depravity of actions in humans is expressed in William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies, by a group of English boys that are stranded on an island, and disconnected from society. The fear from violation of laws that holds people to their morals and rationality in their society vanishes, and a growth of savagery is present in all the boys. Savagery, an element innate to humanity, can only be repressed by the laws of society; the lack of regulation removes all inhibition, and therefore, exposes the beast representing evil from within.
“Everybody has good and evil within them. All we're trying to say is that people are not all good or all bad. People are more complicated than you think, and one has to be more knowledgeable about the complexities.” This quotation from Stephen Schwartz establishes that even the best of people can be bitter by their own nature. In the novel, Lord of the Flies, William Golding removes the restraints of society to prove that it is human nature to live primitively and that evil lies within all of us. The sanctions of society begin to deteriorate due to the loss of communication, Jack’s obsession with hunting, and the inhumane nature of Jack and his “tribe”.
In the novel “Lord of the Flies” the author William Golding sets out to demonstrate what can happen when good clashes with evil, or in this case the Civilized versus the Savage. He selected two individuals to represent each group. Jack represented the savage and Ralph represented the civilized. As the novel progressed their priorities became clearer. Ralph wanted to be rescued and Jack wanted to kill. Due to their personality clashes, later in the novel series of unfortunate events occur at the end of the novel. It can be learnt that the rules and laws that guide us are there for a reason. To teach us the difference right and wrong and keep us behaved.
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.
The first occurrence we have with the struggle of good vs. evil is the altercation with he trolls. During their journey they notice a faint light up ahead and send Bilbo to investigate it since he was considered the burglar. As Bilbo approaches he notices a group of trolls sitting around a fire. Bilbo tries to steal one of their money bags but in doing so alerts the attention of the trolls, and they capture Bilbo. As the trolls hold Bilbo hostage the dwarves start to come look for Bilbo who has not come back and the trolls hatch a plan to hide in the trees and capture each of the dwarves. In the process of the trolls figuring out what to do with their hostages, Gandalf appears and imitates one of the trolls and starts an argument between them, distracting them of the upcoming morning sun and therefore turning the trolls into stone. In this sequence good triumphed evil, the dwarves were doing nothing wrong just trying to find food, in doing so the evil trolls attacked them for nothing and were about to eat them.
It’s represented through characters such as Adam himself, a representation of good. It’s shown within Charles, Cyrus, and worst: Cathy, who is compared to satan, monsters, and is stated to be the actual embodiment of evil. One demonstration of this is shown upon her introduction, “I believe that there are monsters born in the world to human parents.” The major battle of good vs. evil is shown within nature as “brooding” shadows seemed to encompass and cocoon the once, “light gay mountains full of sun and loveliness.” These battles are represented physically, but readers begin to understand that it’s also represented mentally within the quote above. Evil faces creativity, a vulnerable good, against the developing world which is the force of darkness, threatening to destroy the free will of the
The clash between good and evil has been a prominent theme in literature. The Bible presents the conflict between good and evil in the story of Adam and Eve. Many authors use the scene in the Bible in which the snake taunts and tempts Adam and Eve to take a bite of the apple of knowledge to demonstrate the frailty of humankind. John Gardner provides these same biblical allusions of good and evil in his novel, Grendel.
Since the beginning of time, fairy tales, stories and legends have shared a common theme where good and evil are played against each other. In the story of “Beowulf”, translated by, “Burton Raffel”, there is a hero who plays as a good character, and there is also a demon who rules the dark side. The hero Beowulf, agrees to take a journey to conquer the evil monster Grendel. But when Beowulf is trying to defeat the beast, Grendel fights back, causing integrity and generosity to vanish. The common theme in various tales like in Beowulf is, good vs. evil.
The battle of good versus evil is present in all aspects of life. Actions taken by people can determine how others view them. Some choose to do what is right and good, while others choose what is wrong and evil. Many characters are forced to choose between the two, and some do not foresee the consequences of their actions. In the book Peace Like a River by Leif Enger, actions committed by the Davy, Jeremiah, and Jeremiah’s friends, both good and evil, always have consequences.
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.
When viewing the atrocities of today's world on television, the starving children, the wars, the injustices, one cannot help but think that evil is rampant in this day and age. However, people in society must be aware that evil is not an external force embodied in a society but resides within each person. Man has both good qualities and faults. He must come to control these faults in order to be a good person. In the novel Lord of the Flies, William Golding deals with this same evil which exists in all of his characters. With his mastery of such literary tools as structure, syntax, diction and imagery, The author creates a cheerless, sardonic tone to convey his own views of the nature of man and man’s role within society.
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.