Are Men Born Evil In William Golding's Lord Of The Flies

“All human beings are commingled out of good & evil” was a quote once said by notable Scottish novelist Robert Louis Stevenson. This quotation discusses and supports William Golding’s, the author of Lord of the Flies, belief that all humans have a distinct character flaw that, when left unchecked by morals and laws of society, will eventually corrupt the individual. In Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies, it’s shown how due to their environment and lack of supervision, the young boys slowly progress and evolve into barbaric, bloodthirsty individuals.

Humans have been around for about six million years. Humans have had their ups and their down. We have gained faith in humanity, yet we have lost faith in humanity. Which brings up the question, are humans inherently good or evil. The book Lord Of The Flies and documentary Promises clearly show how humans are inherently good. Humans are inherently good until they are changed because of the environment they are born in and how they are treated.

One’s behaviour can have an substantial impact on a society's outcome. There is a common notion that humans are nurtured to be peaceful and civil. However this belief is contradicted by the action of the boys, in William Golding’s, “Lord of the Flies”. A group of schoolboys are abruptly thrown out of their controlled and civil circumstances into an inhabited tropical island in the middle of the Pacific. The novel is Golding’s attempt to trace the defects of society back to the defects of human nature, by using symbolism to delineate this theme. Golding’s extensive use of symbolism, such as the conch, the signal fire and the painted faces helps demonstrates the defects of society. These symbols are used by Golding to illuminate the subsequent effects on the boys’ behaviour, which undoubtedly illustrates the defects of human nature on society.

Are we inherently good or evil? William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies suggests that we as humans have the potential to become good or evil. William Golding’s novel suggest that society shapes the way us as humans act, and when the children were taken away from humanity, the actions of the boys reflect how us as humans would act if we were taken away from society. Throughout the novel there are many times where the boys become savage and allow the beast that is inside of them to take over, for example in chapter nine the boys are having a gathering on the beach and then they get taken away by the excitement and mistake Simon as being the beast, this leads the boys to clawing him into pieces and eventually killing him. At this point the

“Human nature is evil and goodness is caused by intentional activity” - Xunzi. Humans by nature have natural tendencies to evil however not everyone acts on those emotions.

While humans try their best to stop evil intentions, evil eventually overcomes. Although humans are ignorant and live their lives normally, evil finds a way to pounce on society. In order to suppress evil dominion is needed in the world. This is demonstrated in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies. In this novel, when a horrific plane crashes on an island, a handful of boarding school boys find themselves stranded on a tropical island at a time during World War II. On the island, they govern themselves, hunt, and figure things out while waiting to be rescued. As time passes, there is conflict between two main characters, Jack and Ralph, who take on leadership roles. Another main character named Simon, is a mystical boy who spends time by himself

In the novel Lord of the Flies, William Golding depicts the sinful nature of man, “maybe there is a beast… maybe it’s only us.” The book begins with a plane crash, which leaves a group of young boys stranded on an uninhabited island. Throughout the book, readers witness the boys losing their innocence while giving into savagery. By the end, most of the boys act upon their evil thoughts without a moment of hesitation. Although most people would think young boys couldn’t hurt anyone, Golding explains that even the most innocent people are inherently

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

In the novel Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, a group of young British boys crash on a deserted island. Throughout the story, there are three significant situations that demonstrate the theme stating that civilization can mitigate but never wipe out the innate evil that exists within all human beings. The three situations are the first pig hunt, the torture of Robert, and the attempted murder of Ralph.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the Earth. After having created everything on Earth, He made man. “The Lord God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.’”(NIV Genesis 2:15). Thus, He made Eve from the rib of Adam. God told Adam and Eve not to eat from the tree of knowledge but the evil serpent, who was craftier than them, tricked Eve into eating the fruit. Eve later convinced Adam after having argued with him and he gave in. Both were punished by God for having gone against His word and would suffer the consequences of it. “So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. After He drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden a cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life” (Genesis 3:23-24).

Siddhārtha Gautama, a man who founded the basis for a religion with 500 million faithful followers, postulated that “‘It is a man's own mind, not his enemy or foe, that lures him to evil ways.’” Gautama describes that one’s flawed decisions are not influenced by his enemies, and one’s final decision is his to make alone, not to be affected by others. This is illustrated by the actions of the main figures in Lord of the Flies. The characters in the novel are British schoolboys under the age of twelve, yet on multiple accounts it is demonstrated how violent the youngsters can be. The narrative is an ongoing struggle between the juveniles and their own thoughts, which they refer to as the Beast. They refuse to accept that the Beast is in their minds, so they portray it as a monster which lurks during nighttime. The boys whose minds develop negatively create a civilization where brutality is emboldened, while the few that resist the temptation to become hateful are loathed and killed by the others. In Lord of the Flies by William Golding the literary element characterization depicts how loneliness can adversely affect the sanity and mind of an individual.

However, something begins to dwell within Jack as he did not become a leader; instead, Ralph did because of the conch. The conch represents rules and government of society which the boys had been taught by their whole lives, but now on the island, there were no constrictions from society because of this Jack quickly loses interest in the conch and

William Golding once said, “Man produces evil as a bee produces honey.” Simply put, man will -no matter what- naturally produce evil as long as they live. Evil can and will comes in many forms. It may be a ravenous fire or weapon of mass destruction, devouring miles of previously unscathed nature. However, there is perhaps no greater place where evil festers more than the human soul.

Evil has been in existence ever since the beginning of time. Evil was present in the heart of mankind starting with when Adam and Eve were first placed here on earth. The evil of the world began with the snake enticing Eve to eat the forbidden fruit of God. Regardless of the person, evil is lurking somewhere within their hearts. There is no human who wishes to be classified as a savage, but when placed in the situation of being stranded on a deserted island, all sense of civilization is easily abandoned. In Lord of The Flies, William Golding successfully uses characterization and symbolism to powerfully reveal the tragic state of society is the result of inherent defects in human nature.

Many years ago, Charles Darwin introduced a theory that we humans are a species which evolved from animals that have inhabited the Earth for many years, and he believed that we were civilized, intelligent, and logical life forms for these very reasons. In the novel, Lord of the Flies by William Golding there is a prominent theme of good versus evil which reveals that maybe humans are not the civilized human beings that they were said to be. William Golding carefully netted this theme with his utilization of literary device such as his symbolism. Golding uses this simple story of English boys stranded on an inhabited island to illustrate how destructive humans can be when implanted in a impoverished environment where they