Evil In Lord Of The Flies Research Paper

Everyone would like to believe that man is not naturally evil, but that is not the case; Natural evil is real, and it can be evident everywhere. Not only are there many studies supporting the fact, but even the Bible acknowledges man’s natural evil. And if these evil are left unchecked, they leave to treacherous situations, as presented in William Golding’s, Lord of The Flies. The novel takes place on an island run by kids, and only held together by flimsy society lead by Ralph, the original chief. Only when Jack, Ralph’s former partner, challenges his authority that is when it starts to fall. Jack’s temptations to undo Ralph’s doing and to revert to primal savagery takes over him and eventually leads him to do actions that could only describe as an anarchist criminal. The only

During the meeting where the boys are questioning the reality of the beast, Simon says this,”What I mean is...maybe it’s only us”(Golding 89). While everyone else is debating on whether or not the beast is real, Simon is trying to propose that the actual beast is the boys themselves in the form of their savage impulses. Simon is the first character in the novel to see the beast as the evil nature of humans instead of a physical being. The Lord of the Flies confirms Simon’s thought, saying,”Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill!...You knew, didn’t you? I’m part of you? Close, close, close!”(Golding 143). This establishes that the only thing to fear on the island is the evil human instinct inside of

In Lord Of The Flies, William Golding uses a fictional being in the young boys minds to introduce the idea of savagery within human beings. For example in chapter 5 Simon states his opinion on the beast that everyone on the island fears, Simon says, “ maybe there is a beast...maybe it’s only us.” Through this statement Golding displays the idea that evil resonates within them all. Thus showing the reader that the fear that was among the boys all along was soli created by their evil acts and intentions. This fear can be seen, when the idea of a “beast” was first introduced to the novel in chapter 5, Ralph “remembering the beast, the snake…the talk of fear.” brings up the beast but the idea is quickly counter attacked by Jack saying, “...as

Before simon’s death there was a conversation between simon and the lord of the flies,which was the pig head that the boys gave as a offering to the beast and something that my caught my eye was when the lord of the flies said that he was in everyone and the quote he said it was “Fancy thinking that the beast was something you could hunt and kill!” said the head. for a moment or two forest and all the other olimy appreciated echoed with the parody of laughter “ you knew didn’t you?Im part of you. close,close,close ! i'm the reason why this is a no go. why things

Simon understands that the giving to the beast, itself, is the beast, the sacrifice of the sow’s head, being the Lord of the Flies. Simon’s nature differs him from the other boys who never fully understand the

In the novel Lord of the Flies, William Golding uses biblical allusions to demonstrate that people have an innate evil that is kept in check only by the morals presented in society, and will be drawn out eventually.

Simon became inarticulate in his effort to express mankind’s essential illness”(89). In this excerpt Simon introduces to the reader how the children might be the beast. It maybe is all made up and the children are looking for an excuse for the devilish deeds they are thinking of. If the children can rationalize their horrible thoughts for one another they can and will eventually act them out. When Simon talks to The Lord of the Flies they converse about how the beast is inside of them,”For a moment or two the forest and all the other dimly appreciated places echoed with a parody of laughter.

Through all the fear and savagery, one boy saw through it all, and began to speculate as to what the beast really was, this boy being Simon. As the idea of a beast arises, the tribe becomes chaotic. Simon however, a persona of neither savagery nor civilisation, questions the existence of a beast. “Maybe there is a beast...maybe it’s only us” as quoted by Simon, shows that he believes that there is a beast, but not the same beast everyone else has in mind. Instead, Simon, unaffected by the fear, believes that the beast is within each boy. Later on in the book, Simon’s speculations are proven true, as in a vision, he sees the Lord of the Flies who confirms that "You knew, didn 't you? I 'm part of you? Close, close, close! I 'm the reason why it 's no go? Why things are what they are?"(Page 143). Simon also discovers the supposed beast is just a human being. Certain of this, Simon runs towards the tribe in order to tell them the truth. Fearful however, the boys see him as the beast and kill him and their only way of destroying the beast. From this, it is evident that the boys could not destroy the “beast” as they had killed the only boy who knew the truth.

The darkness inside the children corrupt them, leading to disastrous things happening. After the conversation with the pig’s head Simon comes out of the forest and heads towards the group of wild boys (Golding 152). However, as Simon approaches the darkness that each boy holds inside their heart clouds their vision. This leads them to believe that Simon is the beast.

In the novel Lord of the Flies, William Golding uses religious allegory. By doing so he illustrates the theme that mankind often struggles to find a balance between good and evil. The beast spoken about in the book comes from the inability of the boys to maintain this balance. Eventually, the beast on the island becomes something that is harder to fight than any physical beast: the evil nature of mankind.

Simon knows there is no beast, it never existed. He makes a connection which no one would have been able to have made, which is connecting the beast to actually being what’s inside of them and that is

Every human being is savage at heart, no matter how hard they try to oppress it. Evil is an instinct, a part of human kind, but what exactly is evil and what defines it? Mr. Golding believes that evil is intrinsic to human beings; he shows some examples of evil in the Lord of the Flies, in a form called bullying. Bullying increases the bully’s self-confidence, while it lowers the victim’s, in this case Jack harass Piggy to increase his self-assurance. Humans have two desires that conflict with each other: to live by civilization and to live by savagery. The civilized impulse we have is to live peacefully, morally, and by rules and laws. The savage characteristic we have is to act violently, using force to gain authority and power over

Some speculate that the people who commit extremely appalling acts as adults were raised to commit these ghastly crimes, while others believe that everyone is born with an evil already inside of them. In William Golding’s psychological fiction Lord of the Flies, the idea of being born innately evil is recurrently alluded to. The novel is about a group of young British boys who crash land on a remote island. They are left with no laws to tell them what they can or cannot do, and are extremely frightened of a so called “Beast” that they expect lives on the island. In the Lord of the Flies, “The Beast” symbolizes the evil and devilish proclivity inside of all humans. Through the use of “The Beast”, William Golding illustrates how the novel is

Simon, from a biblical aspect is Jesus like and is one of the only boys on the island who realized that the beast was nothing but a child’s imagination. During one of the frequently called assemblies the boys discuss the beast, Simon steps into the conversation and says, “what I mean is… maybe it’s only us” (Golding, Lord 77). Simon is trying to explain to the boys that maybe the belief in the beast is in their imaginations and the thing to fear on the island is themselves. Piggy interrupts Simon’s theory by declaring it nuts, but as Simon tried to continue he became “inarticulate in his effort to express mankind’s essential illness” (Golding, Lord 77). The boys found it difficult and almost impossible to wrap their heads around what simon was saying, which was, all humans have the potential to become evil. Nobody has the motive to become evil, all somebody really needs is a situation in which allows the evil to

In the novel, Golding portrays the abstract idea that evil exists within all humans through the symbol of the beast. First and foremost, when the topic of the beast came up at a meeting, Ralph and Piggy didn’t believe that it existed, some of the other boys were frightened but Simon came to realization that the beast exists within them. He said «What i mean is…. maybe it’s only us» (Golding 89). By interpreting Simon’s words in a more figurative and symbolic way, it becomes evident that he is trying to say that the beast is present inside of them instead of out there.