Different Views from William Golding and Jean-Jacques Rousseau in Lord of the Flies

Jean- Jacques Rousseau was born on June 28, 1712, in Switzerland. The European philosopher wrote a book called A Discourse on the Arts and Sciences. His belief is that society is corrupted by evil and that man is good in his “state of nature” (Notes). He believed that man are naturally good and if we let them act on their own instinct, that they will act their true nature. He claims that politics are evil and corrupt the society with their systems.

William Golding and Jean Jacques Rousseau had very different points of view on society. Golding thought what all humans are born evil and that is what makes society horrible. Rousseau things the complete difference he thinks that all humans are born pure, nice, and innocent and that society is what corrupts humans. I agree with Rousseau because I don’t believe that all humans are born evil. This topic about these different views on society is what the book Lord of the Flies is about. The book written by Golding shows a bit of Rousseau’s view and a lot of his view on society.

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.

At its core, is mankind essentially good, or does it use law and order to mask its evil? Through his book The Lord of the Flies, William Golding causes questions concerning the ethicality of humanity to rise to the surface of the mind. The stripping away of distractions and structure he depicts in his all-too-real novel reveals society’s true nature. As a reader studies the settings, characters and plots of Lord of the Flies and how they relate to significant events in recent times, Golding’s message of the evil nature of humanity becomes increasingly clear and impactful.

One of the most important writers of the Enlightenment was the philosopher and novelist Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778). The work of Rousseau has influenced a generation and beyond and it is argued that the main ideals of the French and American revolutions arose from his works, for example The Discourse on Equality. The main concept of Rousseau's thought is that of 'liberty', and his belief that modern society forced humans to give up their independence, making everyday life corrupt and unfree. One of the central problems Rousseau confronted is best summed up in the first line of arguably his most important work, The Social Contract.

Rousseau’s assumptions and beliefs of his era are society and the growth of social interdependence. He was from 1700, (1712-78) it was very different compared to our beliefs.

Jean Jacques Rousseau had a great deal to do with the movement of Western Europe. He supported individual freedom, but disliked the abolishment of the church and the state. On top of that, Jean Jacques Rousseau influenced romanticism in literature and philosophy in the early 19th century. Jean Jacques Rousseau dies in 1778 (Hampshire 152).

He states that humans have become vain, and greedy as time has progressed and that the advances in technology only aided in this decline. Rousseau believes that all humans once derived from a “state of nature”. Which believes to be a time of peace and tranquility but as time moved forward and the population of humans grew and jobs were born and technology advanced is when problems truly began to arise within the community. Another of Rousseau’s ideas is that all men are created as equals and that men should not be able to govern over men, so therefore the only type of authority that Rousseau finds acceptable is the authority that is generated out of agreements and the cooperation of a community. He believes in personal rights and having your own will but in order to have an succesful authority or community you may have to conform to others will for the good of the community.

William Golding, the author of “The Lord of the Flies” believes that everyone is born in which way they are able to do evil, as opposed to Jean-Jacques Rousseau, philosopher, writer, and composer of the 18th century, who believes that people are influenced by their environment shapes us to be good or evil. I believe that Rousseau is correct, humans are influenced by their surroundings and are shaped to be good or evil depending on who they are and what is around them. “Rousseau believed that all citizens should participate in government or the contract - and should be committed to the general good - even if it means acting against their private or personal interests.” People can be put in bad situations and want to do one thing that may not

His first major philosophical work was, A Discourse on the Sciences and Arts. In this work, Rousseau argues that the progression of the sciences and arts has caused the corruption of virtue and morality (James). This later lead to Rousseau writing, The Discourse on the Origin of Inequality. The central claim of the work is that human beings are basically good by nature, but were corrupted by the complex historical events that resulted in present day civil society (James). He said that “Man is born free, yet everywhere he is in chains” (Wilberson).

In contrast, Rousseau had a generally positive view on human nature though a rather negative view on modern society. He proposed that humans had once been solitary beings and had learned to be political. He believed that human nature was not fixed and was subject to changed. Likewise, he believed that man was good when in a state of nature, but was corrupted by society as shown in his quotation, "Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains.” Also differentiating himself from other humanists, Rousseau taught that the sciences and the arts were not beneficial to man. Rousseau believed the general will must always be right and to obey the general will is to be free.

Jean Jacques Rousseau is a French philosopher, writer and a composer from the enlightenments era about the science and the new learning; during the 1717 through 1778. He made music, as a theorist and as a composer. Also, he has influenced the French Revolution and the development of liberal, conservative and socialist theory. Jean Jacques Rousseau as a philosopher had some works, fames and recognitions. Some of those works includes an autobiography and a novel Julie, ou la nouvelle Heloise. – Which was one of the best selling works during that era of time. Jean Jacques Rousseau has made a philosophical work as well. He did a work called A Discourse on the sciences and Arts, which was the winning response to an essay contest conducted by the

Rousseau expressed his opinion about freedom in many of his pieces about Political Philosophy. He explains how men in the state of nature are blessed with an enviable and total freedom. He believed that the modern man’s enslavement was to his own needs and was responsible for all sorts of social ills, from exploitation and domination of others to poor self-esteem and depression. “Men are

Jean-Jacques Rousseau believed strongly in the belief that Humans are born good and their society is corrupt so they become corrupt; however in an essay contest he participated in, in 1742, sponsored by the Academie de Dijon, Rousseau also wrote about how modern-day arts and sciences can also corrupt someone. This question this essay contest was based around was, “Do Arts and Sciences have a positive effect

Jean Jacques Rousseau was born in Geneva in 1712, although his works were written in French and he was deemed a French freethinker and philosopher heavily intellectually tied to the French Revolution. In 1762 he wrote ‘The Social Contract’ a ‘thought experiment’ concerning political philosophy. It opens with one of his most famous quotes: “Man is born free, but he is everywhere in chains” (Rousseau, 1968, p.49); this short essay is an attempt to interpret this epigram paying