Evil In Lord Of The Flies Research Paper

Mankind is, by nature, an evil, vile, and savage species. This is nowhere more apparent than in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, a novel detailing the adventures of a group of shipwrecked British schoolboys, who must survive on an uncharted Pacific island, while seeking rescue and order. Golding’s exploration of Man’s inherent wickedness is no more apparent in Chapter Nine, “A View to a Death”, in which the group of boys, in a riotous ceremony, brutally murder one of their own. The many events of the book lead to one conclusion: In Lord of the Flies, William Golding propagates the idea that Mankind is inherently inclined towards savagery and evil, which is conveyed via symbolism, juxtaposition, and foreshadowing.

In the book by William Golding, a group of boys is trapped on a deserted island and later on, there is talk of a “beast”. This beast created lots of tension in the group and brought lots of fear to all of the boys. Due to their anxiousness surrounding this creature, the boys turned into more of savages opposed to human beings. In one particular scene, the boys almost kill one of their own just trying to recreate their hunt. Hunting and killing have also fed their actions as savages, but this killing and hunting

Near the end of the book, the boys realized that they were not actually the beast, resulting in questioning and confusion. Later, Ralph proclaims,- “If there was no beast- and almost certainly there was no beast- in case, well and good…”(Golding 120). Ralph’s declaration revealed how humans could start to become very scary if uncontrolled because they can result in joining sinful actions because of temptations. The diction supports the claim of Golding about human nature because it represents hallucination, temptation, and confusion which leads to releasing humans’ natural violence. Understanding that humans are like that is important because people need to see that humans are naturally violent and hostile, but the civilization and higher authorities account for discipline and laws to keep citizens sane and safe from harm. The beast caused the boys some significant confusion which resulted in growing violence and bloody, grotesque and horrid

In the final analysis of the Lord of the Flies it is really the children who demonstrate who the beast is. They first to on the presence of overwhelming fear, which eventually becomes that of war and lastly the savage nation of mankind. Because these boys were left alone with no one to “ dispel the terrors of the unknown” it eventually lead to the true understanding of the

The setting of the novel takes place on a peaceful, life giving island. However, once the boys came to the island, the island slowly became consumed in darkness as the boys became more savage like. Towards the beginning of the novel, Golding emphasizes the light hearted mood by describing the brightness and beauty of the island,” The palms that stood made a green roof, covered on the underside with a quivering tangle of the reflection from the lagoon.”(pg 12). Just like the island, the boys start out as peaceful boys when they first arrive on the island. However, as the boys became more corrupted by savagery, so does the island and Golding effectively uses this in the scene where the boys lose control of themselves and in their bloodlust, kill Simon,”The clouds opened and let down the rain like a waterfall…” (pg 153). Golding’s use of the setting shows the evil in humans by giving the reader a mental illustration of the progression of the island turning from paradise to despair, much like how Jack starts out as a normal boy, but progresses into savagery.

Throughout the novel Lord Of The Flies, the boys on the island are continuously faced with numerous fears. Subsequently there is nothing on the island which they fear more than the beast. The beast is not a tangible object that can be killed or destroyed by conventional means, but an idea symbolizing the primal savage instincts within all people. Its Golding’s intention to illustrate the innate evil inside man through his view of human nature, the actions of the Jack and his tribe, and the relationship between the beast and the school boys.

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

Golding furthers his perspective on humanity by using the beast in the story as a metaphor for evil. In chapter 8, Golding suggests that this evil, the beast, is inside all of us when the beast asks Simon “You knew, [Simon,] didn’t you? I’m

This story shows that the evil around us can sometimes deceive us into wrongdoing if we do not trust our moral instincts or trust those in higher positions than us. William Golding, the author of Lord of the Flies, used his work to show the public that fear can lead people to destruction and evil ways if we do not attempt to control the beast within us. The way that Golding showed his audience this, was by carefully and thoughtfully placing symbolism throughout the novel and in each and every character.

“Maybe ... maybe there is a beast… maybe it’s only us”(William Golding). In the novel Lord of The Flies, William Golding exhibits the symbolism and representation of the beast. The beast represents the norm of society and how most citizens are conceived to evil. As the novel progresses, the reader's perspective of the beast transforms from a possibly harmful animal into to a representation of human civilization and how humans are ignorant and oblivious when it becomes survival of the fittest. The concept of the beast changes significantly during the novel from first the beast on land, then to the beast in the air and finally to the beast within the kids themselves.

Not only is “The Beast” implanted in the children’s heads, but it is also something that they can never truly get rid of. Golding introduces this idea during a conversation between Simon and The Lord of the Flies: “‘Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill!’ said the head” (Golding 143). By claiming that “The Beast” is not something that the children can hunt and kill, Golding portrays his belief that the evil inside of all human beings cannot be exterminated. By portraying this belief, Golding once again relates to the concept of “The Beast” being the id. Being that the id is a part of a human’s subconscious mind, it would be impossible to completely get rid of it. However, throughout the text, Golding alludes to the fact that man’s evil is covered up by the rules and laws of society. This, in turn, causes the id to be covered up. One would never walk amongst others acting completely on emotion. This would progenerate a completely rampageous environment. Golding is suggesting that society’s rules eliminate any chance of this sort of environment. However, by stripping away society’s rules on the island, Golding is

William Goldning’s Lord of the Flies is an allegorical novel where literary techniques are utilized to convey the main ideas and themes of the novel. Two important central themes of the novel includes loss of civilization and innocense which tie into the concept of innate human evil. Loss of civilization is simply the transition from civilization to savagery; order to chaos. The concept of loss of innocense is a key concept to innate human evil because childhood innocense is disrupted as the group hunted animals and even their own. Through the use of literary techniques these ideas are seen in the passage where Simon confronts the “Lord of the Flies.”

In William Golding’s The Lord of the Flies, the author expresses that all humans are evil inside through their savagery, but he uses the beast to illustrate his point. The idea of the beast is conjured by the younger children thinking that they saw a beast-like creature on the island. When Simon finally encounters the beast (the lord of the flies, the sow’s head that Roger, Jack, and the rest of the hunters murder inhumanly), it demonstrates to Simon, what the real beast is and where it lurks. Although the beast is in the children's minds, they have imagined it because of their innocence and fear, but the real beast lives inside of them, it is the corruption of temptation that drives them to savagery. This eventually, leads to the savagery and the murdering of two other boys.

The Lord of the Flies by William Golding is tale of a group of young boys who become stranded on a deserted island after their plane crashes. Intertwined in this classic novel are many themes, most that relate to the inherent evil that exists in all human beings and the malicious nature of mankind. In The Lord of the Flies, Golding shows the boys' gradual transformation from being civilized, well-mannered people to savage, ritualistic beasts.

    Despite the progression of civilization and society's attempts to suppress man's darker side, moral depravity proves both indestructible and inescapable; contrary to culturally embraced views of humanistic tendencies towards goodness, each individual is susceptible to his base, innate instincts. In William Golding's Lord of the Flies, seemingly innocent schoolboys evolve into bloodthirsty savages as the latent evil within them emerges. Their regression into savagery is ironically paralleled by an intensifying fear of evil, and it culminates in several brutal slays as well as a frenzied manhunt. The graphic consequence of the boys' unrestrained barbarity, emphasized by the