Inate Evil to Kill a Mocking Bird and Lord of the Flies Essay

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.

Lord of the Flies has many meanings to it that are represented through the characters and their feelings. When comparing the characters in the Lord of The Flies, you can see the obvious change in most of them from the beginning of the book to the end. The two main characters are Ralph, the protagonist and Jack, the antagonist. Ralph and Jack both have different qualities and beliefs that define each of them completely and at times make them both alike in many ways. They both represent what we are and what they were, Civilized and Savage.

Ralph's character comes back stronger than ever before in the final chapters of the novel. At this point, like Simon had before him, Ralph becomes aware of the savagery existing within all the boys—including himself. "That was Simon," he admits to Piggy, recalling the barbaric act he took part in. Even upon Piggy's death, Ralph still manages not to let the savagery overwhelm him, only momentarily considering joining Jacks tribe for safety. His firsthand knowledge of his aptitude for sin builds his motivation to throw down the Lord of the Flies near the end of the novel. By the time he finally realizes the evil on the island is within the boys themselves, it is too late for Ralph to fight for anyone but himself.

One major conflict in The Lord of the Flies is man vs. society. Ralph is good for the island society because he concluded there need to be rules and order so that the boys stay balanced and are concentrated on getting recaptured. “ The rules! ‘Shouted Ralph’ You’re breaking the rules!” pg. 130 Ralph is fighting for civilization, he is trying to make everything is coordinated, all he wants is for all of them to get rescued. Society need rules in order to be civil, because if everyone was not civil, the world would be turbulent. Ralph is the leader of the “tribe”. When Jack separated from the group and made his own tribe it all became crazy. Jack’s group was chaotic; however, they did know how to hunt and they had the ability to start a fire because of Piggy’s specs. One boy states, “We did everything adults would do, what went wrong” (Golding). When boys from Ralph's tribe decided to leave and start their own clan then everything started becoming chaotic. If they all would have stayed together they would have had trouble getting along but at least it wouldn't be hectic. Ralph did the best he could trying to keep everyone from going insane. Ralph represents humanity, and jack represents savagery.

Adversity is presented in many forms during ‘Lord of the Flies’ for the main character Ralph. It comes not only in the form of other people but a corruption of what society the boys on the island have managed to hold onto.

Ralph the courageous leader from Lord of the Flies who is the primary representative of civilization tries his best to keep the boys in an appropriate manner. Ralph is a natural leader, and all the boys at the start of the book elect Ralph as the chief since they see him to be the most responsible person among them all. All the boys on the island face several problems throughout the novel, one of the problems was that one of the little kids thought there was a beast on the island. At that moment everyone thinks that it was just the boys imagination, and so they continue on to do their regular jobs. Ralph who believed in civilization, he too became in contact with savagery when he goes out to look for the beast with Jack, and his hunters, and they all spot a pig. during the hunt for the pig Ralphs becomes so enthusiastic in the hunt that he is eager to kill the pig, at that moment ralph doesn't realize that he was a savage. When they all reach the spot where the beast was, they all runaway since they think the beast is real, even though the beast was really just a dead parachuter. At this moment in the book the kids have been divided into two groups one was Jacks, and the other

In William Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Julius Caesar,William Golding’s Lord of the Flies , and C. S. Lewis’s Out of the Silent Planet all depict how mankind is born innocent and turned to evil. The stories show that this conversion to evil is caused by the influence of society or characters acting in the place of a society. The corruptibility of mankind is illuminated in these texts. The treachery, dishonesty, and murder as shown in the stories are not acts of innocence. In their books, the authors point out that mankind is not innately evil but instead born innocent and converted to evil by society.

Although humankind attempts its best at preventing evil actions, eventually evil rises above all else. While humans are living ordinary lives and living in ignorance, evil is always scheming and waiting to slide up behind the turned backs of society as depicted in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies. One could argue that this is not the case and that good deeds always overshadow evil and that evil is just an occasional blip. However, what one’s opinion of society does not outshine the cold hard facts of humankind’s natural tendencies; specifically, how things are never as they seem, how easily humans can betray their emotions and how humans choose to ignore difficult situations in the search for an easy

Throughout the novel Lord of the Flies, Ralph tries his best to create a society based on survival. As time progresses, it is clear that Jack's feelings are towards living life and having fun. Jack's society eventually leads to corruption, killing innocent people, while Ralph's prevails as the boys are rescued. Ralph uses a repetition of hope towards being saved while Jack's technique with no thought clearly flounders creating savages out of the once civilized boys.

The Coexistence of Good and Evil Eric Burdon once said, “Inside each of us there is the seed of both good and evil. It’s a constant struggle as to which one will win. And, one cannot exist without the other.” In other words, in everything one might experience, there will always be the duality of good and evil. Often in works of literature, this coexistence of good and bad is explored in a character’s values and in events that unfold throughout the story.

Growing up happens during the magical times of freedom given to children in their early years. Wise parents discern when freedom is necessary for their children, are very clear about their expectations, and determine fitting consequences for actions out of line. Harper Lee personifies this role of a wise and caring parent in the father figure of her novel To Kill a Mockingbird. Atticus Finch, a character made to mirror the author’s own father, is a lawyer and a well-respected citizen of his Southern Alabama town. Through Atticus, Harper Lee establishes a standard of good and evil, developing the theme of morality during his interactions. Atticus establishes right from wrong in most every relationship, especially with his children, his

Even Ralph who represents civilization and Piggy who represents science and intelligence committed to doing evil when it came to the tribal dance that ended Simon’s life as they both “[were] on the outside” (157) of the circle. The innate capacity for humans to do evil is a part of the real world as humans have evolved from animals themselves and have the natural capacity to become a

Jack’s dictatorship lead them to violence, death and war. As a moral allegory in the Lord of the Flies, the characters have very different ways of approaching problems and are guided by different moral ways of thinking. Ralph is lead by common sense and judges morality on what makes the most sense for the group. Ralph's morals are established in the first few chapters and are basically the morals that we are taught as children. Our parents teach us to respect others and put others before ourselves.

He is always helping the Littluns when they are struggling and many other boys that are vulnerable such as Piggy. "Simon sitting between the twins and Piggy, wiped his mouth and shoved his piece of meat over the rocks to piggy, who grabbed it" (Golding 74). This quote interprets an example of Simon showing his whole heartedness by giving Piggy food when Jack did not want to feed him because he did not hunt. "The vast majority of people reside prominently in civilized society, and they dismiss their instinct for aggression and dominance" (Wood, Bryan). This quote shows that people like Simon are always more civilized than those who begin to change into savages, Simon is the last piece of civilization on the island. "What I mean is...maybe it's only us" (Golding 89). Simon, himself, proposes to the rest of the boys that perhaps the beast is not only an external force, but an internal force within themselves. Simon is the only character to reveal Golding's point that innate human evil exists.

Lord of the Flies depicts the disintegration of the order and the collapse of the harmony mainly embedded in the conflict between Ralph and Jack, the two competing leaders in the novel. The story is set in the middle of the raging war, when a plane evacuating a group of schoolboys from Britain is shot down on a deserted island. Two of the boys, Ralph and Piggy, discover a conch and make use of it to assemble other boys. Piggy, who is the