Comparing Lord Of The Flies And Rousseau Essay

In the novel The Lord of the Flies, William Golding displays many views that compare to those of Thomas Hobbes theory of man being born evil and selfish. Additionally, Hobbes had concluded that people could not be trusted to govern themselves and an absolute monarchy needed to demand obedience to maintain order. In the novel, Golding writes about a group of young boys stranded on an Island struggling to maintain order with no adults around. Thus being said, Jack’s rebellious, the murder of Piggy, and the failure of a civilized society on the island display Hobbes theory. Golding demonstrates and supports Hobbes theory through his writing of his novels characters and situations.

Jean Jacques Rousseau was a French philosopher in 1712-1778. He believed that all humans are born innocent and what corrupt them and makes evil is society. He believes that if there was no society it would not make human beings feel so judged, shy or depended on others. Without society people would feel more equal they would not want to compare themselves Humans would feel freer. Rousseau thought that society weakens humans that if someone were to grow up in a natural place and place far from society they would be stronger. Compared o the people that grow up in a society they weaken.

William Golding and Jean-Jacques Rousseau both have very different beliefs about a man’s naturalistic ability towards others including the society. Rousseau’s view is that a male being is pure, but later ruined by society and its entire entity. Golding’s belief is that a male always has an evil source and/or opening within them and the problem continues to get worse as time evolves. Golding also believes that without a strict series of rules a male being is mentally and naturalistically unstable. Golding displays his belief in his book “Lord of the Flies” as Rousseau displays his belief in various books of his own liking.

Symbolism is prominent throughout the book, Lord of the Flies. William Golding’s stated purpose is “the shape of a society must depend on the ethical nature of the individual and not on any political system” (238). In the book, Golding demonstrates that when put into an environment without civilization, many will turn to evil. The nature within the individual, whether evil or otherwise, determines the nature of the society in which he lives. Light and dark is the most significant symbol that Golding uses to develop his purpose. He uses light and dark to represent good and evil, and civilization and savagery, and shows the stages of the descent from civilization into savagery.

Lord of the Flies by William Golding was influenced strongly by his experiences as a naval officer during World War II. Golding’s wartime service gave him a darker and more realistic look on life, and contributed to the novel’s imagery. As Golding described, World War II woke him up from his falsified beliefs about human nature by showing him the true human condition (“Lord of the Flies,” Novels 175). Lord of the Flies, as Golding explained, is “an attempt to trace the defects of society back to the defects of human nature” (qtd. in “Lord of the Flies,” Novels 189). William Golding based much of Lord of the Flies on his World War II experiences, which provided for a more realistic and accurate

Throughout Lord of the Flies, Golding shows his views of the inherent evil of humans. He shows how humans can be in such a savage state, practically mimicking the way of life of their prehistoric ancestors. He exemplifies this with acts of carnage carried on by the young stranded children. It all started with a slight urge to hunt down a pig and then continued on to murdering another human being. Golding shows his views best at the end of the book with the boys being rescued by a Navy crew, which would go on to war it self.

William Golding utilizes Lord of the Flies to prove that the inherent nature of man is truly savage and cannot be contained by any form of civil government. Characters, setting, atmosphere, and other elements are all used by Golding in the novel as metaphors and symbols to ultimately reveal the natural intention of man. In Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan, John Locke’s Concerning Civil Government , and Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s The Social Contract, they share their own personal interpretations on man’s inherent nature, with the closest to Golding being Hobbes. Although both Golding and Hobbes state that man’s true nature is evil and selfish, Hobbes advocates for an absolutist government as capable of controlling man through fear of punishment, as opposed to Golding’s belief that no form of government is sufficient to control man. Conversely, Rousseau argues that men are born with morality and inalienable freedom, and John Locke believes that man is free but is neither inherently reputable nor immoral but a blank slate. Both want the people to be in control to prevent corruption from changing man, although Rousseau insists that a direct democracy to completely give power to the people would be more effective rather than only a representative democracy where the people would have individuals represent them which Locke suggests.

Thomas Hobbes believes that humans are naturally unkind. In the module, it portrays his views of man as, "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short". He argues that without a monarchy, social-conflict and disorder will surely ensue. Hobbes’ genuinely thinks that the role of government is to save man from their natural ways of war and conflict with one another.

Two philosophers of different eras tackle the same topic, human nature, and a great argument breaks out. Is man inherently evil, like William Golding believes? Or is man good at heart but inevitably becomes corrupted by the society he lives in, as said by Jean Jacques Rousseau? Both philosophers have very strong opinions and well reasoning for what they believe. Golding’s views are displayed well throughout his novel, Lord of the Flies; a tale about strong minded, young boys stranded on an island who must find a way to survive on their own. After reading this novel, I found myself agreeing much with Rousseau’s views on human nature.

In the Lord of the Flies by William Golding, he uses the idea of good and evil throughout

Thomas Hobbes was a divisive figure in his day and remains so up to today. Hobbes’s masterpiece, Leviathan, offended his contemporary thinkers with the implications of his view of human nature and his theology. From this pessimistic view of the natural state of man, Hobbes derives a social contract in order to avoid civil war and violence among men. Hobbes views his work as laying out the moral framework for a stable state. In reality, Hobbes was misconstruing a social contract that greatly benefited the state based on a misunderstanding of civil society and the nature and morality of man.

Rousseau and Golding are both philosophers and are both known for different similar topics. Rousseau is known for his first book, A Discourse on the Sciences and Arts, about his philosophies saying that man is good. Golding is known for his bestselling novel he ever wrote, Lord of The Flies, also expressing his philosophies saying that man is evil. Rousseau and Golding have many contrasts that fight against each other’s philosophies but was never spoken to each other because they lived in different time periods. My view on the spirit of a human without order is that humans are all good even though some don’t show it.

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

‘Lord of the Flies’ is based almost entirely on Golding’s view that evil is an inherent force in every man, “man produces evil as a bee produces honey”. Golding acquired this belief while he was a soldier in the Second World War. From that point on, he became extremely pessimistic about human nature, calling it “the disease of being human”. This belief is shown very clearly, as he puts ‘innocent’ children on a deserted island, free of all corruption; free of an external threat, therefore with no need of an army; abundant in food and supplies, therefore with no need to steal. Therefore, what evil was left could only come from the

Rousseau is the philosopher whose vision of the man’s natural state is more relevant to the novel. Rousseau states that humans are born good and strive to be good but can be corrupted by outside forces. There is proof that the children were not born bad. They had shown different levels of morality throughout the novel. Rousseau believes that morality is important in all government decisions. Since there was no government the children decided to create their own. Rousseau also stated that all people need to have the opportunity to run their own government. The children had tried to create an equilibrium by asking all the children to vote for whom they thought should be the “leader” and all besides one, had chosen Jack. I think the outside force