The Condition Of Man In William Golding's Lord Of The Flies

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.

It may have taken millions of years for humans to evolve enough to create the sprawling civilizations known today, but it only takes a few months for a group of civil, educated boys to regress back into savagery. In his novel Lord of the Flies, author William Golding depicts a group of young British boys getting stranded on a deserted island sans adults. The boys must look out for themselves, forming a basic governing system and trying to survive. But the challenge soon proves too much to handle, and order deteriorates. William Golding conveys the universal theme of civilization vs. savagery in his novel Lord of the Flies using the literary elements of plot, setting, and characterization.

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.

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.

The Lord of the Flies tells the story of a group of English schoolboys marooned on a tropical island after their plane is shot down during a war. Though the novel is fictional, its exploration of the idea of human evil is at least partly based on Golding’s experience with the real-life violence and brutality of World War II. Free from the rules and structures of civilization and society, the boys on the island in Lord of the Flies descend into savagery. Golding’s experience in World War II had a profound effect on his view of humanity and the evils of which it was capable. Although Golding’s story is confined to the microcosm of a group of boys, it resounds with implications far beyond the bounds of the small island and explores problems

Lord of the Flies by William Golding highlights humans’ descent from civilization into savagery. Although savagery overcomes some of the boys so easily, it is not as easy for others to escape their conditioning from society and go completely savage. In the beginning, the majority of the boys try to bring order to the island while others show signs of savagery very early on. Eventually when hardship and tensions increases, there are still a few boys who keep resisting savagery. Also, even when the savagery and evil start to become prevalent in the boys’ actions, they continue to resist the rejection of social rules and guidelines. It is hard for the boys to abandon the only thing they know.

Throughout one’s childhood, a parent serves to their kids as role models, and they lead by good example. When a child start to become older, a person is mainly influenced by friends, more than their family, especially in the adolescence period. This is called a society. However, what happens when a person is disconnected from their society? Will they keep their core values within them, or will they let their inner evil emerge? Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, writes a tale of a group of boys isolated on an island, left to survive on their own. This book perfectly exhibits in an interesting way, what can truly happen when one is left disconnected from his own society. In the novel, William Golding’s view of humanity

The setting of the novel takes place on a peaceful, life giving island. However, once the boys came to the island, the island slowly became consumed in darkness as the boys became more savage like. Towards the beginning of the novel, Golding emphasizes the light hearted mood by describing the brightness and beauty of the island,” The palms that stood made a green roof, covered on the underside with a quivering tangle of the reflection from the lagoon.”(pg 12). Just like the island, the boys start out as peaceful boys when they first arrive on the island. However, as the boys became more corrupted by savagery, so does the island and Golding effectively uses this in the scene where the boys lose control of themselves and in their bloodlust, kill Simon,”The clouds opened and let down the rain like a waterfall…” (pg 153). Golding’s use of the setting shows the evil in humans by giving the reader a mental illustration of the progression of the island turning from paradise to despair, much like how Jack starts out as a normal boy, but progresses into savagery.

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

In William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies the faults of society are followed back to the faults of human nature. He uses children to depict human behavior at its most pure and innocent form. The story begins when a plane filled with English schoolboys crashes into a deserted island and the boys are left to fend for themselves. Golding uses the lack of adult authority figures to make the boys set up their own form of order and civilization. Throught the frightening unveiling of the boys’ ingrained savagery and the hidden perversion of the human mind, Golding included the inescapable demise of order and civility.

The first chapter of the novel, The Lord of the Flies, by William Golding is effective in establishing the characters, concerns and language for the remainder of the book, as well as introducing the main themes of the novel; that the problems in society are related to the sinful nature of man and good verses evil. In Golding’s first chapter, the main characters are introduced, we see many ominous signs of what’s to come through the authors choice of language and the beginning of rivalries, issues and concerns are portrayed which are to continue throughout the rest of the book. The microcosm on the Island is presented from an early stage, as well as themes that emerge and remain important throughout

Lord of the Flies, A novel written by William Golding, teaches many themes of human nature some true and some faulty. When a group of young british boys crash land into the ocean, they find themselves stranded on an undiscovered island. No one could anticipate what these civilised boys would turn into as time went on. From proper, clean-cut, disciplined schoolboys they slowly morph into the opposite of their initial characters. Throughout the story the boys turn to their primitive sides and begin to show an unknown evil inside of them, while killing each other and forming clans. As the audience sits back and observes, it is almost impossible to not compare the boys to the rest of mankind. After all they are Golding’s little human nature experiment.

“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!