The Horrible People In Lord Of The Flies

The Defects in Society are the Defects of Human Nature in Lord of the Flies

In Lord Of The Flies by William Golding, Golding claims that no matter how civilized or innocent all human beings are, the surrounding environment can change how people interact with each other and turn them from civilized beings into savages. He uses Jack to show that when human nature does not have any restraints, it will slowly evolve into savagery. Jack at first is a respectful, civilized person that is willing to communicate and cooperate with Ralph, but when confronting with the act of killing a pig makes him lose all sense of shame and conscience, he starts acting evil and wanting to hunt Ralph. By the end of the novel, Golding ultimately shows that everyone is capable of being evil and it is only society’s rules that keep most individuals from acting out evil.

The struggle between humanity and savagery portrayed through the events of William Golding’s Lord of the Flies demonstrates how simple it is for one to succumb to the mannerisms of depravity. This is impossible with the implementation of structure and order, as such concepts provide boundaries and keep man sane and behaved. Once the boys arrive on the island, isolated and expelled from society, they look to a shell to relieve them of this hardship, and to institute a form of government that will keep them from acting out. Despite the trust they put in the shell, it fails to hold them from corruption, only adding to the growing tension between all of the boys inhabiting the mysterious island. Through the escalating tension surrounding the

Men, without rules, can be led towards destruction. Lord of the Flies depicts at first a group of boys trying to maintain order, and a later descent into savagery. One of the most direct, apparent examples of this is through Roger. Through the contrast of the self-restraint Roger has at the beginning of the novel and the murder he absentmindedly commits at the end, Golding illustrates how man’s desire for savagery is restrained only by the enforced civilization of society.

Humans are by nature pathological liars. They lie about big things, little things, white lies, and elephant in the room lies. Yet one of the biggest lies people tell themselves is, if there were no rules and nobody to stop them what would they do? Would our morals hold up to the euphoria, the bliss of doing what we want, when we want to or would we listen to the devil on our shoulder and let loose? This situation was presented to a group of boarding school boys in the book Lord of the Flies by William Golding. This novel shows first hand the breakdown of civilization when people are given too much freedom. When reading this story villains come out of the cracks left and right and yet the true villain is not a person but an idea. This villain

Throughout history, philosophers have wondered what essentially drives people to do certain actions. It is not clear whether these actions occur because humans are intrinsically good or bad. Nevertheless, the novel Lord of the Flies and several historical examples provide some insight into why human beings may be fundamentally bad.

This begins to explain one of the main themes throughout the novel Lord of the Flies. For one to be uncivilized is to be barbaric and inhuman, without having a sense of culture and social development. When innocence or civilization is lost, levels of economic, social, technological, political, and cultural evolution differentiates from that of the normal, because ideas, values, institutions, and achievements of a particular society is changed. The boys in Lord of the Flies find themselves in a situation where their only option was to learn to grow up and learn to do it fast on their own. They have to learn how to survive and fend for themselves without the presence of any adult figures, and create a prosperous society for their own. They

In the Roman Empire, England, France, and the Middle East, ever since people have been around, there has always been conflict and fighting. A common theme in war is inhumanity. For example, in World War I mustard gas would produce terrible blisters on soldiers who were exposed to it. Empathy for those suffering young men was not present in those causing the pain. While war is still ongoing in the world, Europe is much more peaceful today then it was a hundred years ago and people in general are being taught to resolve conflict in a humane way. Since William Golding wrote Lord of the Flies there have been many improvements in society over the last 70 years. While William he was alive, teenagers were often mean and inhumane like those portrayed

Civilization was created to contain social structure. However, in utmost circumstances, it is possible for instinct to triumph over civility. Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, is a plane evacuating a group of British schoolboys that crashes over a tropical deserted island. Once they crash on the island, they pick Ralph, the protagonist of the novel, to be their leader, and Ralph chooses Jack, the antagonist of the novel, to be the leader of the hunters, establishing somewhat of a civilization. Then when Jack comes upon a mother boar and kills it, that’s when their makeshift civilization slowly diminishes and the boys become savages. In addition, loss of social structure within a society can lead to the absolute destruction of the civilization. The author of Lord of the Flies, William Golding, uses man vs man and man vs nature conflicts to develop the theme of loss of social structure leads to savagery. Golding reveals this theme by exploring the conflicts of

There is no excuse for murdering someone, no matter the age of the killer or their reasoning. A group of boys became stranded on an island after their plane crashed, Jack Merridew along with almost all of the boys, besides Ralph, Piggy, and Simon, turned savage in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies. Early in the novel, barbaric actions from Jack and Roger would occasionally be revealed, foreshadowing later behaviors. For instance, Roger tortured the pig before he slaughtered her. Once the savagery had fully taken over and all innocence was lost, the boys committed first degree murder against the innocent boy Simon. The savages felt no sympathy for their actions nor did they believe that their actions were wrong. Jack and the other savages are fully responsible for Simon’s death.

The Inner Evil of Mankind A man named Eric Burdon once said that “There is the seed of both good and evil” The Lord of the Flies, a novel written by William Golding symbolizing the inner evil that is in all of us. The novel starts off with a group of british boys crashing and landing on a deserted island and trying to create a lawful society just like the one back at home. Throughout the novel some of the kids start to become savage like and lose any ties they had to civilization. This shows that without laws and civilization humans are naturally evil, and are not fit for good.

“It is a man’s own mind, not his enemy or foe, that lures him to evil ways” - Buddha. This quote illustrates the idea that the degree to which a being is evil is solely based on their own mind and how susceptible they are too evil influences. Within the Lord of the Rings, a novel by J.R.R. Tolkien, this idea is seen as evil pressures the characters Frodo and Gandalf. The successes of evil seen in these characters are differing because of the varying levels of experience and wisdom they have as well as the particular ways their minds lure them towards or away from evil means.

The theme of The Lord of the Flies is that evil is with in all but there are different triggers for everyone to let it out. In the text it states “All around him the long scar smashed into the jungle with a bath of heat”(Golding 7). “ The undergrowth at the side of the scar was shaken”(7) . “ In the middle of the scar he stood on his head”(8).Using the word scar repeatedly show that it is important. It shows that the island must have been pure befor the boys got there

The question of “good and evil” and it’s relevance pertaining to society today is paramount to maintaining a structured, and functioning society. How does one define such a subjective issue. Unfortunately we can only speculate as to what we believe to be right or wrong, and Golding sprinkles his opinion in amidst the story quite ambiguously. I believe that Golding wrote his novel with the view of Thomas Hobbes in mind. He took the innocence of children and allowed his fictional characters to slip into chaos and violence, despite the positive influence that Ralph and Piggy bring to the table. In William Golding’s novel ‘Lord of the Flies’, there are suggestive themes that not only support the inherent ‘evil’ human nature theory, by utilizing

Humans can be compassionate beings who care for others while at the same time be horrible creatures who seem to lack humanity. Throughout the last 400 years our world has gone through so many changes bringing both progress and destruction. From art movements to war, there have been people and events that forever changed the course of history. People like Copernicus made important discoveries that lead to a scientific revolution and changed the understanding of the universe. On the other hand, World War I left behind chaos, despair, and disillusionment. Every time period has had its own different set of cultural and social norms as well as people expressing their opinions against them causing change.