Human Nature In William Golding's Lord Of The Flies

A recurring theme among leaders in many societies today is that “absolute power corrupts absolutely” (John Acton, a 1700’s English Catholic historian, politician, and writer). In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, this idea of leadership, power, and corruption is put in the spotlight. Jack, one of the boys on the island, forces his way into the leadership position without actually earning it. It is clear that Jack has become corrupt as he turns into a person who is intimidating, egotistical, and selfish. Ralph, on the other hand, is a quality leader under most conditions as he appeals to the boys’ sophisticated side and has a

wrote this after publishing Lord of the Flies. It is our world, in the form of a story. The two leaders in the story are Ralph and Jack. Ralph starts off a comfortable leader of the boys, but by the end of the book, Ralph and his companion Piggy are alone facing Jack and the rest of the boys. As the novel progresses and the society on the island starts to change, so does Ralph. He begins thinking he has all the answers, but comes to realize that without Piggy he would have never gotten this far. By the end of the book, Ralph and Jack are complete opposites. Jack is about savagery and fun while Ralph is holding on to society, rules, and civilization. Appearing to be a weak leader due to defection of his followers, Ralph is actually dedicated and insightful, only loosing his followers because he could not compete with one category that attracts nearly everyone in the world: fun.

Francis B. Sayre once stated, “Unless man has the wit and the grit to build his civilization on something better than material power, it is surely idle to talk of plans for a stable peace.” People control society because people set the rules and inform others what is right and what is wrong in which the rest follow through their actions. On the other hand, one may believe society controls the people because they view society as the one who is in charge and supposes that society advises people what to do and how to do it. People assemble the choices of what is justifiable in society, therefore controlling how society is perceived., In Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies, a society is controlled by a select few: allowing the boys to develop their own society through their rules and decisions, and entitling their society to transform into savagery

In William Golding's Lord of the Flies a group of English school boys crash land onto an uninhabited island somewhere in the Mid Atlantic ocean. Ralph, the protagonist and also the elected leader, tries to maintain peace and avoid any calamity on the island. However, Jack is neither willing to contribute nor listen because he is jealous of Ralph and has a sickening obsession with killing boars. Ralph has some good traits that help him maintain peace and balance for a period of time. He is charismatic and has natural leader attributes. Gradually though some of the other characters are killed due to the irresponsibility and savagery of Jack's actions. In this novel, the author conveys a messege through Freud's theroy of Id, Ego, and

One’s behaviour can have an substantial impact on a society's outcome. There is a common notion that humans are nurtured to be peaceful and civil. However this belief is contradicted by the action of the boys, in William Golding’s, “Lord of the Flies”. A group of schoolboys are abruptly thrown out of their controlled and civil circumstances into an inhabited tropical island in the middle of the Pacific. The novel is Golding’s attempt to trace the defects of society back to the defects of human nature, by using symbolism to delineate this theme. Golding’s extensive use of symbolism, such as the conch, the signal fire and the painted faces helps demonstrates the defects of society. These symbols are used by Golding to illuminate the subsequent effects on the boys’ behaviour, which undoubtedly illustrates the defects of human nature on society.

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.

“Human nature is evil and goodness is caused by intentional activity” - Xunzi. Humans by nature have natural tendencies to evil however not everyone acts on those emotions.

Two philosophers of different eras tackle the same topic, human nature, and a great argument breaks out. Is man inherently evil, like William Golding believes? Or is man good at heart but inevitably becomes corrupted by the society he lives in, as said by Jean Jacques Rousseau? Both philosophers have very strong opinions and well reasoning for what they believe. Golding’s views are displayed well throughout his novel, Lord of the Flies; a tale about strong minded, young boys stranded on an island who must find a way to survive on their own. After reading this novel, I found myself agreeing much with Rousseau’s views on human nature.

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 disconnected from society, people can be drawn away from sensibility and toward barbarism, as displayed through their self-interest. During a war, a plane carrying a group of schoolboys is shot down. After the plane crash, two passengers, Ralph and Piggy, encounter one another and together they come to the conclusion that they are on an island unoccupied by adults. When Ralph discovers there is no adult supervision, “the delight of a realized ambition [overcomes] him. In the middle of the scar he [stands] on his head and grin[s].” Then, he excitedly shouts, “‘No grownups!’” (Golding 8). When Ralph realizes there are no adults to govern his behavior, he is filled with contentment and imagines the amusing initiatives he will take while on the

Throughout history, the way humans think has fascinated philosophers. One of the many recurring themes in human thinking is in regards to power: how we govern ourselves. Ideas of where this power should be placed vary from concepts such as Democracy to Republicanism to Socialism. However, the ‘where’ and ‘how’ of government has many opinions surrounding it, and these varying opinions often cause discontent and conflict. When humans are crossed with a conflict over the source of power in society, it is not out of the ordinary for a war or split to occur. The Lord of the Flies is not an exception to this rule of thumb. Written by William Golding, the book explores what occurs when a group of boys is left unsupervised to create

“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 respectable.” With this quote, William Golding simply justifies the theme and moral presented in his novel, Lord of the Flies. The characters portray a modern society and depict the cruelty of human disposition. The political system in the U.S., as a whole, is a prime example of the ignorance towards ethical nature and is definitely blameworthy of the ruthlessness of mankind as individuals. Change is needed!

Parents and society develop the concepts of the ego and superego; therefore, it makes sense to think that a lack of both advanced society and parental authority would produce a lack of ego and an increase in id (Rosenfield). The children on the island gradually regress to a primitive state, causing many problems, especially for the characters Ralph and Piggy. Catherine Reef, award-winning young adult author, refers to Freud’s concepts and says, “… civilization would be impossible if the id governed all human behavior.” Reef’s quote sums up a key idea in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies. It is plausible to wonder why allowing the deepest desires of every man’s heart to surface and be acted upon is a bad thing; however, the conceivable things that are able to happen because of the lack of rules is astounding.

In William Golding novel Lord of the Flies it gives prime examples of Sigmund Freuds personality theory by showing a group of civil school boys who turn savage and show their true colors of id, ego and superego. These categories can also be described as the conscious, preconscious and the unconscious. In the novel, Lord of the Flies, Piggy would perform traits of the superego, ralph would greatly demonstrate qualities of the ego and jack would undeniably represent the id. William golding shows how three different segments of the human brain act differently by counteracting each other along with aiding in each others movement with making decisions.

By Sigmund Freud's words, every human's psyche is made up of 3 components. Two of these such components are the id and the ego. While the id is the instinctual part of the human psyche, the ego is the more realistic and civilized part. At times, these traits overpower the other component, which is seen in William Golding’s novels. In William Golding's Lord of the Flies, we see how the island plays a role in expressing these traits by letting the id consume the ego.