No Hope For Mankind In Lord Of The Flies By William Golding

There are many ideas on how the world will end. Some say with the rapture, or a zombie apocalypse, or a super-virus. William Golding, author of Lord of the flies, believed that the world was doomed. He expresses this idea through his book when he shows that hope ultimately fails us, when he gives the boys pure things and they tarnish them, and when he has evil triumph good.

It is often suggested that Golding has a pessimistic view of human nature with the idea that though humans are capable of both evil and good, evil will always trump good. While there any many points which support this such as the boys descent into savagery and jack’s resentment and subsequent rebellion against Ralph. However there are some lighter spots in the story such as Sam and Eric's refusal to betray Ralph which may counteract this view on the story.

Within Lord of the Flies, we see firsthand the tendency toward violence and destruction that lies within humanity, and boys in particular. Without society, they fell apart. They committed atrocities that go against every rule, every social expectation, we see in humanity. Although Lord of the Flies shows important ideas about boys’ place in society, it also allows the reader to form unrealistic views on ideas such as death, violence, and conflict.

He even goes on to imply that killing is more important than being rescued when he says: “all the same, I’d like to catch a pig first,” while Ralph notices “a mad look… [in] his eyes.” Jack and his followers fall so deep into the darkness that they murder an innocent boy: Simon. As the boys chant, “Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood,’ Jack leads them on to kill “the beast” which is actually Simon. The next day Jack goes on to beat another child and shows no remorse for anything that he has done. That is when it is apparent to readers that he has officially lost all humanity and is completely savage. Golding is showing that anyone, even a young child, if pushed far enough, can give in to that evil inside them. Everyone has a choice, but some seem to give in a little easier than others.

Imagine the many dangers of being stranded on a desolate island. There is a chance of starvation, severe sunburn or sicknesses, and strange animals. The idea of being a danger to yourself does not usually cross a person's mind when thinking about this unimaginable situation. Being in such horrible conditions would make anyone start to go a little crazy, especially if they were young and immature. The little boys in Lord of The Flies show the true nature in humanity when times become desperate and cut throat. The main topic of this essay is to focus on similarities and differences of how two groups of boys, Piggy & Ralph and Jack & Roger, behave when they become stranded on an island and how they act to survive.

In the novel Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, a group of English boys in their adolescence are stranded on an island. They crash-land while being evacuated because of an atomic war, so the boys must learn to cooperate with each other in order to survive. The boys are civil at first, but the bonds of civilization unfold as the rapacity for power and immediate desires become more important than civility and rescue. The conflict between Ralph, the protagonist, and Jack, the antagonist, represents the conflict between the impulse to civilization and the impulse to savagery, respectively. In Lord of the Flies, Golding uses Ralph and Jack’s struggle for power to show that greed and lust for power can corrupt the best

Despite the obvious age gap of the main characters in both novels, authors Golding and Remarque alike manipulate the text into conveying the theme of the loss of humanity that derives from violence. In Lord of the Flies, it is apparent early on that primal instincts will emerge from the innocence of the boys, such as, "He began to dance and his laughter became a bloodthirsty snarl," (Golding Chapter 4). The split second snarl that escapes is a crystal-clear indicator for the future event depicting the death of a boy, Simon. "Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!" (Golding Chapter 9). Albeit the dancing boys do not know it is a fellow child and not a savage beast, they do not halt the actions taken to harm Simon, which ultimately leads to his death.

There is a quote by Edmund Burke, “man is the cruelest animal”, that perfectly describes the truth about human nature; that humanity, at its core, is an evil species. William Golding acknowledges this fact in his 1954 novel, Lord of the Flies. Throughout the novel, Golding highlights the cruelty of children, the carelessness of their actions, and the evilness present in the very fabric of society.

William Golding believed that man was inherently evil. He was alive during one of the most gruesome wars of history, WWII. His experiences in the war significantly impacted his life and thus negatively influenced his views on human nature. Whilst in service, he came to the firm conclusion that humans are much more savage than he once thought. Man kills his brother so easily, and does not seem emotionally affected by it.

Because they have been away from organized society for such a long time, the boys of the island have become Golding's view of mankind, vile, destructive beasts. Although Golding shows that the longer one is away from society the closer to his view one becomes, the institution of civilization does not escape his criticism. Golding shows through many examples that those who are "civilized" are just as prone to violence and war as those who are isolated. The first example presented in the novel occurs when the boys attempt to emulate the British democratic government. The boys prize the adults that run the government as the best decision makers. It is these "civilized" adults, however, who started the war which has forced the boys onto the island. Also, in their mimicking of adult society, one of the first things that the boys do is establish the choir as an army or a group of hunters. Another of the criticisms of orderly society comes when Ralph asks for a sign from the adult world. Ralph does receive his sign in the form of a dead parachute shot down in an air battle above the island. This can be interpreted as saying that the savagery existent in man is even shown in the so called "civilized" world through acts of war. Golding clearly sees war as an action of destruction caused by man because

Humans kill, whether it be animals, insects or people. The justice system is used to try and fix what others have done and in this way they are punished. They are punished in a functioning society with rules and laws, but when all that is stripped away, we are left with mass destruction and humans that kill. The novel Lord of the Flies, published in 1954 and written by Nobel Prize winning author, William Golding, portrays the violence and eradication of a functioning society through young boys stranded on an island. Golding uses the symbol fire and forgetfulness of the need for it to develop the theme of the loss of society and creation of uncivilized destruction.

When humans are pushed to survive, they are willing to do anything to do so. In the novel “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding, a group of boys are stranded on an island and have to survive, however as the story progresses the boys become more barbaric and savage like. Even though there are good people in this world, there will always be evil. Why does evil exist? Golding’s belief of human nature is that humans are naturally evil and savage. However, law and civility keep humans from turning into this natural state of evil and Golding uses the development of Jack to show how savagery is created.

It is commonly said that the Cold War was a war fought by fear, which is essentially what Golding was trying to warn the world against. Through Lord of the Flies, Golding taught that people are generally uncomfortable with their fear, and therefore eventually choose to channel it into more deadly things, like, say, making hundreds of nuclear weapons. Within the context of Lord of the Flies, the boys reverence of the beast stems from their inadequate ability to deal with their fear. This is a turning point, when the boys truly make the transition from humans to savages. By giving fear such a prevalent role in the boys’ descent into chaos, Golding is building off of the lesson taught by FDR 20 years earlier: that the real thing we should be afraid of is our own fear, and what it might compel us to

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

Civilization plays a major role in shaping lives. It controls an individual’s behavior, manners, and way of living. It plays an especially important role in the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding, which is about a group of British boys who are stranded on a deserted island without any adult supervision. Immediately after landing on the island, the boys develop basic rules to keep order and elect one amongst themselves, Ralph, as chief.. The boys are then faced with challenges, inciting a deep fear of a beast inhabiting the island. This contributes to the breakdown of their society. Slowly, the youths lose their roots of a civilized society and by the end of the novel, most of the boys do not recognize themselves. Throughout the story, many boys develop negative changes, demonstrating the profound effects a lack of society can have on a people.