The Second Coming, Among School Children, Leda And The SwanBy William Butler Yeats

In All Quiet on the Western Front, one of the themes associated with the war was the inhumanity of mankind. The motif of animal instincts between characters showcased this abandonment of humanity. In addition, the strong theme of nationalism throughout this time period encouraged the loss of individuality. Lastly, men in positions of authority in the novel dehumanized soldiers by abusing their position of power. Overall, the events of the war promoted the development of the inhumanity of mankind through recurring animal instincts, nationalism, and power-abusive men.

Hidden inside every human being is the urge to obide by law and authority and to act civilised, but hidden much deeper is the temptation to resist acting lawfully and resort to savagery. Sometimes, these two impulses conflict with one another and people are confused as to which desire to follow through with. William Golding’s Lord of the Flies and John Polson’s Hide and Seek are two prime examples that demonstrate the conflict between civilised behaviour and savagery through their characters’ cultured manners, savage impulses and struggles as they decide who they really are as people.

At its core, is mankind essentially good, or does it use law and order to mask its evil? Through his book The Lord of the Flies, William Golding causes questions concerning the ethicality of humanity to rise to the surface of the mind. The stripping away of distractions and structure he depicts in his all-too-real novel reveals society’s true nature. As a reader studies the settings, characters and plots of Lord of the Flies and how they relate to significant events in recent times, Golding’s message of the evil nature of humanity becomes increasingly clear and impactful.

Everyone likes to think of themselves as a “good” person. We believe by putting our change in the tip jar or letting someone cross the street, we have a decent sense of morals. But in reality, humans take pleasure in succumbing to their id, the primitive sense of desire and aggression in all of us. We satisfy our id by yelling at a sibling for trivial reasons or lusting for someone because of their attractive appearance. By tracking the condition of the boy's’ hair in William Golding’s allegory “Lord of the Flies,” Golding’s criticism of the civilized and savage manner is revealed.

One of the central themes in both William Golding’s ‘Lord of the Flies’ and Dennis Kelly’s ‘DNA’ is good and evil; both texts collectively offering a plethora of theories and ideas about the morals of humans and how they influence their actions. In ‘Lord of the Flies’ a group of British schoolboys are stranded on an island. Far away from the influence of adults, Golding creates a pseudo-civilisation in which he examines the actions of human beings and conveys his ideas of good and evil to the reader. Conversely, ‘DNA’ focuses on a group of twenty- first century teens, (still among a society) where

This book was situated in World War I, where numerous nations were put in an undesirable position, the European nations all felt that it would be a short war and numerous individuals enlisted, yet ended up being one of the bloodiest wars ever. Serbia and Austria-Hungary began the war, they did not get included in the war, and they let their Allies battle for them. The Allied forces: Great Britain, France, and the U.S. crushed Germany. They made a bargain: The Treaty of Versailles, which greatly reprimanded Germany. The bargain left Germany with scorn in their souls, which prompted World War II. In All Quiet on the Western Front, Remarque

The Great War is much like the great irony. Nationalistic ideals has consumed the humanity of individuals and blinded them from the truth. Governments used propagandas, and more to persuade young and naïve soldiers to enlist in the war. In All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Remarque, illustrates the life of a soldier, Paul. He and his fellow comrades have to face the horrors of the war. For the soldiers that survive, they are not only physically destroyed but mentally as well. War World One is not justifiable because of the damages, and losses of lives it has created. The war ended approximately 90 years ago. Yet, still in today’s society, people are still going to war. The Great War has killed numerous lives, and put many at stake.

Mankind is taught evil by society. Throughout society, you see acts of evil that a child could not even fathom. In this essay, I will compare mankind and Lord of the flies in terms of violence,lack of trust and authority.

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

The narrative examines a vast variety of topics that address the human condition. Nonetheless, the aspects of war, destiny, and humanity are the nucleus of the message transmitted. Foremost, the book in itself is an exploration of the tragedy that comes with war. The prospect of a “fairy tale” ending violently eradicated as warfare increases exponentially around the characters during the finalizing chapters. After being captured by the Allied army, Werner deliriously wonders

Long before the likes of Raymond Carver, George Saunders and Lydia Davis, Flannery O’Connor was writing biting, grotesque gothic tales, scattered with strong religious and moral overtones. Her symbolic stories contrasted characters in existential extremes in simmering situations. In O’Connor’s precise and charged worlds, where something is always about to happen, she writes like she’s sucking oxygen from a room. Ultimately her work is deeply psychological, but she was the first to say that was not her interest and on more than one occasion was concerned about her work’s misreading.2 The Lame Shall Enter First 3 is a fine example of her deeply conflicted morals and beliefs, seeing human nature and society as innately corrupted, with redemption as the only way to alleviate suffering. Using psychological theory to explore the themes, this analysis mirrors Flannery O’Conner’s own conflicted short literary life. She died of lupus aged 39 having written two novels, 32 short stories and the occasional review and essay.

The novel, Lord of the Flies by William Golding and the poem, “I Stood Upon A High Place”, by Stephen Crane, both show a similar view of humanity. These two readings show that righteousness and civilization can be turned into sin and savagery.

Humans crave validation and community yet rue the commonality of shared experiences with the masses. As civilizations rise and fall, repetition permeates each rendition not only in their creation but in their demise. In The Second Coming, William Butler Yeats, through allusions to biblical stories, ancient cultures, doctrinal clairvoyance, and spiritual life conveys an understanding that mankind holds much more power over its own story than the conscious mind believes.

William Butler Yeats wrote “The Second Coming” after World War 1 ended, in a time when the image of society was catastrophic. Yeats was deeply affected by these horrors caused by the war. Yeats predicts this image of a catastrophic society due to war will reappear in the near future. In “The Second Coming”, William B. Yeats uses a variety of literary devices to portray his idea of what the downfall of society will look like.

William Butler Yeats was a great Irish poet of the twentieth century. During his lifespan World War I occurred, along with its resulting political upheaval. He also lived in the century before the change of the millennium, a theme touched upon in his poems. He, like many other authors, incorporated the events that occurred during his life into his work. This important factor of the time period is clearly reflected in his work, “The Second Coming.” The critical consensus regarding the poem “The Second Coming” by W.B. Yeats is that the new post World War I society in Europe, along with the quickly approaching millennium, culminated in the poem prophesying a new age of evil opening with the ascension of a beast.