Human Nature in Lord of the Flies by William Golding

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Lord of the Flies is an extraordinarily well-written novel that teaches one how to live life. When asked about the philosophy of the book, the author, William Golding, replied, "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 respectful." This completely exemplifies the theme of the novel. Lord of the Flies truly shows that it is not the government that determines survival, it is the sheer human nature in all of us that proves whether a society can function. A person's personality will always trump another person's because of difference in strength and passion. All of the main characters' personalities determined the outcome in the novel, due to their evils and to some extent their goodness. Lord of the Flies is a magnificently written novel that truly proves the notion that a society relies on ethics and human nature rather than as one united, equal body.

First of all, it is strongly agreed upon in that the theme is an attempt to trace the defects of society back to the defects of human nature. This is the complete and utter truth in the novel. There are most certainly defects in the boys? society, which is showcased in the fact that they kill (however much of an accident), and turn into complete savages. The defects in their society, however, cannot be placed on the society as a whole. Specific characters made the society fall apart. It was not due to the structure of the society, rather, it has to do with the characters and their roots. In plainer terms, it has to do with the people that the boys were before they cam...

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...r he had his glasses stolen from him, he was a useless character. Roger had to pull the lever to let the rock come tumbling down because otherwise he wouldn?t have had a place in the book, and wouldn?t have been able to have been used to demonstrate the transition from good into evil. The novel had to end this way to leave the message of the story in tact and truly teach a lesson.

Hence, William Golding?s philosophy had to lead to this end to the story. His entire philosophy centered on the theme of the story, and how a person?s ethics and forms of evil determine how a society works. This novel was staggering in its relation to our world today, and taught an incredible life lesson that a person of any age can benefit from. The incredible novel, Lord of the Flies, could not have ended in any other way according to Golding?s philosophy on the theme of the book.

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