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Lord of the Flies by William Golding and A Separate Peace by John Knowles

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When placed in the right situations and circumstances, all human beings are capable of revealing a darker side of them-a side that almost everyone is afraid to show. No one will admit to having a dark side in them, until nature forces them to face it. Lord of the Flies by William Golding and A Separate Peace by John Knowles are two books that emphasize man’s savagery through their characters, themes, and plots. At first, all men have hidden savagery, then something triggers the savagery within them, and they complete the transformation.
The human race holds a dark side lurking within them. In most cases, humans are unaware of its existence because of the high standard expected in civilization.“Where’s the man with the megaphone?” The fair …show more content…

Jack’s obsession triggers something within him that strives for power and control. “He tried to convey the compulsion to track down and kill that was swallowing him up”(Golding, Page 51). Jack's transformation from civilized bully to savage killer has begun. Rounding up the other boys, Jack pulls them into the addictive chase of killing the pigs. Even Ralph and Piggy, the two that wanted to keep order alive the most, get caught up in the hunt, proving that everyone can be provoked and only a few can resist the urge to give in to wickedness. Hunting has possessed Jack, and he will stop at nothing to kill the pigs and the beast at the expense of all else, even rescue. In A Separate Peace, Gene is triggered by his jealousy towards Finny. His jealousy seems harmless at first but continues to grow. “He had never been jealous of me for a second. Now I knew that there never was and never could have been any rivalry between us. I was not of the same quality as he. I couldn’t stand this” (Knowles, Page 59). The novel’s plot is the problem of Gene's increasing envy of Finny. Incapable of the spiritual purity of Phineas, Gene finds himself jealous of Finny's ability to ignore Devon rules in his attempt to enjoy an "unregulated friendliness" with the adult world. “Gene has come to see that this enemy never comes from without, but always from within” (Ellis, Para 4). After being pulled into their own desires, the characters in Lord of the

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