How Does Golding Present The Evil In Lord Of The Flies

What do your neighbors, your coworkers, your family all have in common? A powerful evil that lays deep within all humans, only to be released under the most heinous circumstances. This fact is clearly articulated in the works of world renowned authors Shakespeare and William Golding in their novels Macbeth and Lord of the Flies. Shakespeare's Lady Macbeth and Golding's Jack share many similar qualities in their path to success proving that if good people who begin with positive intentions become provoked by the lust for power, then ambition can get in the way of their moral compass and capability for making good decisions because of the evil which lays inside all mankind.

The Lord of the Flies by William Golding is a novel about a group of boys stranded on an island with no adults and no rules. Golding believes that humans all have a capability to do wrong, and through The Lord of the flies portrays how certain situations make a human’s capacity for evil more prominent. Golding shows how the boys’ civilization deteriorates from being good British kids to murderous savage people. The novel can easily be connected to the Stanford Prison Experiment, and how what happened to the boys on the island can happen outside the realm of fiction. Golding shows the reader what the Lord of the Flies is in the book and how the namesake of the book is found in all of us.

Golding is displaying in The Lord of the Flies that the nature of mankind and society can be both inherently good and evil through the personalities and characteristics the characters have.

Have you ever wondered how certain people would act in a survival setting? Well in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies that was exactly it. During wartimes a group of boys were stranded on a deserted island and left to attempt civilization. After their civilization fails, they start to turn away from society. Then, later divide into two groups with different leaders, one being the original leader, Ralph, the other to be Jack.

Power is proven to be a huge aspect in this novel. The main drive of many of the characters is, in fact, is power. Whether it’s getting out of another boy’s grasp of power or trying to gain power over somebody else, they all want something to do with it. For instance, Roger is most definitely a prime example of a power thirsty character; he constantly tries to push himself into the role of the leader of the group of boys. William Golding makes it clear that he believes power works in a way of fighting for control, likewise to how people involved in real life occurrences have a hunger for power and control, as well.

The character Roger shows that human nature is wicked because he had killed people, tormented them and was just overall cruel. Golding states “Roger, with a sense pf delirious abandonment, leaned all his weight on the lever” (Page 180). By Golding stating this he’s showing that by Roger leaning on the

Golding treats the idea of evil as the self-fulfilling prophecy of humanity. He thinks that evil is prevalent in humans and also an important key to survival. Golding utilizes the idea of Darwinism by showing that those who survive must commit evil acts in order to do so. Characters like Simon, Piggy, and the boy with the mulberry birthmark who die in his story are not only physically or mentally predisposed to suffer by natural selection but also incapable of joining in on the evil plaguing their group. The first death that occurs in the novel is that of the boy with the mulberry birthmark.

Lord of the Flies was written by Golding's consideration of humans being evil, a difficult topic that involves an analysis of human nature, the causes, effects, and indicators of evil. The Lord of the Flies explores the savagery that lies underneath even the most civilized human beings. Golding addresses these topics through the complicated parable of his novel. I found Lord of the Flies to be a very interesting book I felt that it had both good and bad qualities about it. I thought that the book was great in the beginning, but as the boys became more and more uncivilized and vicious, the book began to deteriorate due to their savagery.

The World Health Organization(2014) defines violence as "the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community”A website called Psychology Today(2013) says “There were visible alterations in MRI brain scans after only one week of playing a violent video game.” meaning just one week of video games can seriously affect how you think about life.Psychology Today(2013) also states”In particular, there was a significant decrease in the activation of the frontal portions of the brain and a greater activation of the processing part of the brain(scientifically known as the amygdala)” Meaning the brain is thinking more about violence than it is supposed to be thinking about.

Throughout many works of literature, a prominent theme has been “Good vs. Evil';. Many authors base the plot of their novels around “good guys'; fighting the “villain';.Robert Louis Stevenson contrasts good and evil through many of the characters thathe creates.

In the dictionary, the definition of evil is morally wrong or bad; malicious. Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, exemplifies how everyone in society is more evil than good and how it can get the best of all. The book actively traces the problems of society back to human nature and savagery that lies within the human race. Golding shows how the lacking parental control & no rules, is the downfall of their humanity in as much as they lose the characteristics society and civilization gives them. Golding’s argument is that human nature can be very brutal, and he depicts it with his novel, showing the savage behaviors of children, killing each other for their own benefits in the end out of selfishness. Olsen states in her article, “Savages are not immoral but amoral; they are not bad merely because they do not know what it is to be good; for it is neither the development of understanding, nor the restraint of law that hinders them from doing ill; but the peacefulness of their passions, and their ignorance of vice.’” (Olsen 29)

Is there a link between violent video games and violent actions. Teens should have good role playing video games that prevent violent actions. A role playing video game can create a good distraction. The causes should have good effects for the teen. The main is, it’s a good

Despite being from in two different time periods, Lord of the Flies by Golding and Othello by Shakespeare , Shakespeare and Golding both share a common theme of good versus evil; the characters Simon and Desdemona share the interest of purity and represent a God/Goddess while being challenged by the unholy or the evil. Jack, dark and evil character and Lago, dark and masterminded character share the characteristic of being evil or unholy. Unfortunately in both instances, evil takes over and cannot be a pure individual. The evil inside them takes over there heart but does not really control them, even in their most brutal murders, they still maintain to be themselves and not get absorbed by evil and turn insane.

First, when Ralph fears being rejected by others, he goes into denial because he does not want to admit that he is being excluded. For example, when Ralph was with the hunting group he is scared to speak, or to give ideas in fear of being rejected. Ralph starts to fear of being rejected by the entire choir group “[as he] watche[s] them, envious and resentful” when they are hunting the pig, and he avoids trying to talk. He only starts talking after they “flagged and the[ir] chat died away did he speak”. He then fears he is losing control over his people, so “[he] call[s] an assembly” to solidify his dominance (page number). This quote shows that Josh fears being rejected by others and the choir group then he takes action while he is in denial and calls and assembly. First Golding uses the term “resentful”, which means to express bitterness or indignation at having been treated unfairly. The fact that Ralph watches the choir group with resent, shows that he has been treated with little to no respect. Then the author uses the word “envious”, which signifies to feel envy and to feel covetous toward someone. Ralph watched the choir group with envy because he had the fear of rejection and was feeling jealous. Then Golding uses the phrase, “chant died away”, of personification to give human aspects to something inanimate. This was the point when Ralph decided to start speaking, didn’t speak before because he had the fear of interrupting something more important. Last, Ralph decides

What constitutes evil? For millennia, humans have tried to answer that question. Humans have been trying to formulate a code of laws in order to combat evil and protect people. What they haven't considered is the possibility that evil isn't something that is after us but is within us. William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies is an allegory showing that while civilization suppresses the evil that resides in every individual, failure to acknowledge one’s own faults will result in chaos. Golding depicts his ideas through several characters with different personalities: the savage (Roger and Maurice), the prideful (Jack), the intelligent (Piggy), the civilized (Ralph) and the kindhearted (Simon).