Ethical Nature In Lord Of The Flies

The Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, is an allegory that connects the boys’ behavior in the novel to the basic behavior of human nature. In the novel, the boys fear a wild beast that has the potential to kill them off. However, Simon, a quiet boy, finds that the beast is not an animal that everyone should fear, but is a part of each boy himself.

“Telling us to obey instinct is like telling us to obey ‘people.’ People say different things: so do instincts. Our instincts are at war...Each instinct, if you listen to it, will claim to be gratified at the expense of the rest” (C.S. Lewis). C.S. Lewis, a world-renowned author, believed that human instincts battle against each other in order to influence one’s decisions. Similarly, in the novel, Lord of the Flies, William Golding describes a scenario in which animalistic instincts prevail over societal intuition when a group of boys are stranded on a deserted island without any adults. At first, the boys are generally civilized, working together to maintain a signal fire and holding assemblies. However, as time

It is a very arguable subject on whether or not people are born with good intentions, and therefore taught by others the ‘evil’ side of their personality. Whether it is the absence of ethical conduct in human nature, or just the way one perceives a situation, evil seems to be prominent in our everyday lives. Humans seem to have a moral code that follows them with every decision they make, yet despite the laws of morality and society, people of this world still seem to behave inhumanely because of the act of self-preservation, human interest, and who exactly the authority figure is at the time.

The story “lord of the flies’’ by William Golding, the novel correlates to the philosophical views of John Locke and Thomas Hobbes. John Locke was an English philosopher that surmised man's natural moral compass would point towards good, Locke's philosophical writings stated “ that individuals in a state of nature would have stronger moral limits on their actions. Essentially, Locke thought that our human nature was characterized by reason and tolerance. People, Locke believed, were basically good’’ ( Locke and Hobbes Overview 2). John Locke thought if people were given no rules they would make a paradise, flourishing in law, order, and structure, Thomas Hobbes believed people were naturally cruel and chaotic, with a need of a strong ruler to make decisions. Hobbes stated, “Who felt that mankind was inherently evil and required a strong central authority to ward off this inclination toward an immoral behavior, Locke believed that human nature allowed men to be selfish’’( Locke and Hobbes Overview 2 ). Thomas Hobbes believed a strong iron-fisted ruler was needed for the safety and well being of a society. The ideals of man in a natural state, follow Thomas Hobbes philosophical view represented through Jack's brutish and monarch like attitude which lead to them living in a dystopian society.

In our society we have our system for power set up making the understanding of who is in charge easy; However, when the boys are stranded on an island they are forced to come up with their own system, causing rivalries and corrupting rights and values. Before being stranded on an island Jack was an innocent, well-behaved child, however, when thrown into a foreign place with no society and no system of power it is very easy to destroy all of your innocence when obtaining most power. Jack was a hunter and was in charge of all the hunter, he eventually made his own tribe and almost everyone followed him, giving him a mass amount of control. Golding shows that Jack uses his power in ways only beneficial to him, easily seen when the remainder of Ralphs tribe approach Jacks and see him, “ painted up and wearing garland around his neck” (54). Jack uses his power to idolize himself and make the other

“It was a recognition that the teen-age years were very tumultuous and that, although they are full-grown and can do damage, … they can't really be held responsible” a man named Dr. Kraemer explains (Sachs). There are times in which children can take others’ lives, which happens for a variety of reasons. The children do not actually understand what has happened, so responsibility cannot be thrust upon them. The same occurs in The Lord of the Flies by William Golding. A multitude of young boys survive a plane crash and end up stranded on an island with no adults, nothing salvageable, and no societal ties. They create a fragile society of their own on the island, but order is falling as the boys are left there longer and longer. Inevitably, arguments

“Life is scientific, that’s what it is. In a year of two when the war’s over they’ll be traveling to Mars and back. I know there isn’t no beast, not with claws and all that, I mean but I know there isn’t no fear, either. Unless we get frightened of people.” (84). Lord of the Flies is a novel where civilization is involved and it was found surrounded by a group of little boys under-aged teenagers who try to govern themselves on an island. The boys were found in a plane crash on a island and they try to create a society based on their own rules and laws.The boys: Ralph, Jack, Piggy, and the rest of the boys try to work out their differences and make a civilized little group in order to survive. Everyone on the island wants to survive and hope to be rescued to come home to their families. As the book went on, you see changes in the characters as they are influenced from others or in society. The characters develop as the book goes on and they experiment new beginnings when they are put in difficult situations. William Golding, in the novel of Lord of the Flies, uses the characters, Jack and Ralph, to reveal that human nature is naturally corrupted.

“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 any political system however apparently logical or respectable.” This quote from the author, William Golding, summarizes the themes and morals presented in his novel Lord of the Flies. Despite society’s progression towards civilization and acceptance of the idea that human tendencies towards goodness, each individual is susceptible to their natural darker instincts. In the novel, Lord of the Flies, William Golding's characters begin as seemingly innocent school boys who deteriorate into savages. The author uses the characters of Piggy, Ralph and Jack

Imagine if one was asked to compile a list of every flaw of human nature that was demonstrated by the boys in the novel Lord of the Flies. Among the words used would probably be naive, uncivilized, and unfocused. While these words certainly do describe the boys and their poorly constructed society, they also hold the same meaning and truth when they are applied to our own people in our own society. People in both our society and the one described in the novel exhibit a profuse amount of faults and flaws, but this extensive list of faults can be narrowed down to the three most common ones. The three most prominent flaws of human nature are being selfish, desiring power, and not following through with plans.

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

When left to themselves without laws or consequences for their actions, humans reveal an ugly and chaotic side of themselves. This horrid side of humans is ultimately lead by Sigmund Freud’s concept of the human ID, which describes the evil and twisted side of the human mind. This concept of inevitable anarchy due to a lack of laws is exhibited in William Golding’s novel, Lord of The Flies. Through notable characters such as Jack, Roger, Ralph, and Piggy, Golding elucidates how even once civilized, people can immediately change based on their environment. The lack of a strong government and strict laws leads these boys into an ultimate anarchic war which threatens their survival and their chances of getting rescued from the island. Multiple characters such as Piggy, get killed due to this lack and inability of the boys to follow 18th century philosopher, Cesare Beccaria’s, belief of a strong judicial system to hold people accountable for their actions. The boys responsible for Piggy’s death (Roger and other hunters) are simply let go without any punishments or consequences. Eventually, this barbarous and savage war almost leads to the island being devastated by a fire created by Jack’s tribe to capture Ralph for simply trying to bring back law to the island. Fortunately, the boys are saved by a naval officer who was able to spot the large bonfire. Although the boys try their best to implement Cesare Beccaria’s idea of a strong judicial system to have effective consequences

The book demonstrates how Jack is evil. He liked to be mean to people and say mean things to them. Jack does not care, because they do not have an adult around, he also wanted to be the chief. “Serves you right if something did get you, you useless lot of cry babies.”(83). This is how he thinks about everyone on the island, he was not a nice boy. He also was mean with knowing that no beast lives on the island and telling the boy’s that there is a beast. “You, listen. The beast is sitting up there, whatever it is--”(126). This is just how he tells the boys about the beast, one of the many times. Golding does a great job about demonstrating us Jack’s rude and mean personality.

The novel, The Lord of the Flies, by Golding illustrates that evil exists in human nature. Society’s rule is what prevents humans from acting on that evil. In the book, the boys and Jack’s behavior dramatically changes and evil comes out in them due to the absence of adults and punishments. Moreover, they continue to lose their civilized identity by acting cruel and ruthless towards weak individuals. The vision Simon experiences clearly demonstrates that the boys identity have become a beast.

Thomas Hobbes believes that every human is a savage when stripped away from law or morality, and good men only exist because of society. On the other hand Jean Rousseau’s theory states that humans are naturally born savages. These two diverse ideas these philosophers have about morality raises several different opinions. In Lord of the Flies many characters such as Jack and Roger present these ideas about how morality can be played with. I believe adolescence played a huge role in this movie and greatly affected morality. During childhood kids catch themselves trapped between making logical decisions and impulsively giving into temptations which is also peer pressure. As an example when Ralph is elected leader he believes that he must lead responsibly for the group, however he can’t make decisions off the bat because he has never done anything like it before. Thomas Hobbes stated that in a natural human state, moral principles do not exist and that humans progressively desire to obtain as much power they can because there are no laws preventing them from harming or killing others to attain what they desire. However this theory can be refuted by Piggy’s character because unlike every other boy isolated on the island he understands the lack of adults and reasonable authority. Piggy described the group as a crowd of immature kids and since the start he hooks onto the idea of the conch and the set of rules and regulations it represents. However Piggy and the conch suffer a brutal ending which causes chaos among the society. Finally I think that moral behavior is a natural expression of human individuality instead of something that civilization forces upon the individual as Golding

James Madison once said, “If men were angels, no government would be necessary”. But men are not angels and there is a need for government, because men are not inherently good. Throughout the novel, Lord Of The Flies, William Golding successfully portrays his view of human nature as inherently evil by the actions and thoughts of the boys who are stranded on an island. The catholic church’s standpoint that human nature is inherently good is overpowered by William Golding’s view. William’s view is expressed throughout the Lord Of The Flies through the savagery in the book, the desire to kill/ hunt, and the loss of their innocence.