Good And Evil In Lord Of The Flies

“All human beings are commingled out of good & evil” was a quote once said by notable Scottish novelist Robert Louis Stevenson. This quotation discusses and supports William Golding’s, the author of Lord of the Flies, belief that all humans have a distinct character flaw that, when left unchecked by morals and laws of society, will eventually corrupt the individual. In Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies, it’s shown how due to their environment and lack of supervision, the young boys slowly progress and evolve into barbaric, bloodthirsty individuals.

Evil: A noun meaning profound immorality, wickedness, and depravity. Everyone has a little bit of evil in them, but it’s up to that person if they want to show it or not. In Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, a group of boys show the evil within themselves while being stranded on an island. Because of the situation that has been thrust upon them, they soon discover the true evil they are capable of. In the book, the boys show evil through their lust for power, the behavior that the boys express, and their murderous actions.

Jack and his chosen group of hunters all follow Jack and fail to follow Ralph’s command to keep civilization under control. Simon and his natural behaviors contrast with Jack as he sees the positive interests and goodness in civilization. Simon’s actions reveal his shy, yet kind, and non confrontational attitude which makes the importance of his character hard to notice. Simon is the mediator on the island, as he will never decline a request from the little children for food, an order from Ralph to help build shelters, and tries to keep the peace between the hunters and the civilized boys. Simon can be seen as the most compassionate character on the island as displayed in this quote: “Simon sitting between the twins and Piggy, wiped his mouth and shoved his piece of meat over the rocks to Piggy, who grabbed it. The twins giggled and Simon lowered his face in shame” (Golding 74). Jack, on the other hand, is most malicious towards Piggy as he eventually becomes consumed by evil and and will attempt to destroy all points of civilization and innocence left on the island. Innocence is bestowed upon nearly all the boys trying to keep civilization alive on the island and is despised by Jack and his highly influenced choir boys turned hunters.

Human nature is complex. It may take over an individual’s mind in many desperate and threatening situations. In Golding’s compelling novel, Lord of the Flies, it is implied that the evil, or bad side of humanity will overshadow the good. However, there are certain situations present in the novel that portray the opposite. The depiction of human nature in this novel creates a nice balance between the positive and negative aspects of humanity. Although Golding’s novel is portrayed as pessimistic, Ralph’s words and actions when dealing with various situations, Sam and Eric’s loyalty to Ralph, and the boys’ rescue at the end of the novel contradict this idea, creating a commendable balance of pessimistic and optimistic situations.

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.

According to Lord of the Flies by William Golding, man is fundamentally evil at their core and war is inevitable. The boys on the island, much like men within war, suffer the fight within themselves between good and evil. Some of the children on the island, such as Piggy and Ralph, notice their loss of innocence but characters such as Jack and his hunters do not see this change because they are blinded by their own evil misdoings. From the plane crash to the inevitable rescue by the British naval officer, Golding uses irony to prove that war shows mankind’s hidden evil.

Authors can display their views of humanity through use of literary devices. In William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies, the use of diction, point of view, and figurative language help to develop a theme of how humanity is innately evil. Golding’s diction is a good indicator of how he views humanity. The boys always speak in colloquial language with a lot of slang words mixed in.

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.

The controversy of human nature being good or evil will essentially always be around. Opinions and views are argued, but the truth is yet to be proven. Following his novel “Lord of the Flies”, WIlliam Golding was labeled as one who believes that human nature is evil. Although this pessimistic view in the book can be seen, the optimistic belief is also evident throughout it. Golding’s hopeful view of good human nature is evident through events in the story like Ralph’s rescue, Sam’s and Eric’s loyalty, and Ralph’s refusal to join the tribe.

In William Golding's novel Lord of The Flies he shows how evil exists inside of everyone, it is the situation a person finds themselves in allows evil to grow or be controlled. The three boys are an example of this. Jack who only thinks about himself he wants everything immediately which makes his evil grow. Ralph, however, thinks about others but at times can be selfish which can make his evil grow, but Ralph tries to keep his evil at bay. Simon on the other hand only thinks about others, he does not think about himself which stops his evil from arising. Therefore, control of the situation is control of evil self.

Evil is everywhere there is no hiding or escape. Evil can consume a person, a group, a country, or even the entire world. In The Lord Of The Flies the world is at war, and the children are free of corruption of the outside world. Although there is no influence from the war happening around them the boys on the island create their own war with themselves over leadership. The children have nothing but each other on the island.

Buddha once said, “It is a man’s own mind, not his enemy or foe, that lures him to evil ways”. This quote exemplifies William Golding's novel Lord of Flies where he betokens his feelings that humans in their natural state are inherently evil as he shows the battle people have between democracy and dictatorship. He describes how a group of young British schoolboys stranded on an island, attempt to govern themselves. Unfortunately, they soon revert back to the evil desires that manifests themselves inside their hearts which were tamed due to society's standards of how to live. Throughout the novel the reader is subjected to various uses of literary devices used by the author to convey clarity and likeness to the text.

Lord of the Flies by William Golding is an explanation of the tendencies of human nature. Likewise, Khalil Gibran’s poem GOOD and EVIL puts forth a very similar message, of the power struggle between GOOD and EVIL within ourselves. Evil, naturally, is the easy way out and the more tempting of the 2 powers. But, the human race has evolved over thousands of years to become tenacious, to fight for survival, to be a metaphorical light in a dark, unpropitious situation. Both works ask: what are the limits of the human spirit and how do we fight EVIL within?

In the words of the philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, “Our greatest evils flow from ourselves.” In other words, humans harbor an ever present looming evil nature within themselves. Evil is the force in nature that governs and gives rise to wickedness and sin, or the wicked or immoral part of someone. This concept of inner evil rising to the surface permeates William Golding’s dystopian novel Lord of the Flies, that evil exists in every human, proven through the characterization of the marooned boys. There is foreshadowing of the dangers of the boys’ inner immorality from one of the boys, Simon. As the novel progresses, evil starts asserts itself as the boys cast off their innocence and humanity, and turning against each other. Even the

In English we read the book, “Lord of the Flies.” It was a book who’s author, William Golding, had written to show his view on man’s inherent true self. After going through WWII and seeing horrors that man would do to other man he became convinced man is inherently evil. The beast, a symbolic figure in the book, is the manifestation of the evil in every mans heart. This nonexistent beast tormented and manipulated the boys that were stranded on the island, eventually ruining the fragile civil society they built. William’s main point to bring across was even small boy, who’s ages range from five to twelve, can fall victim to the evil in