Theme Of Human Nature In Lord Of The Flies

Simon has a heightened perception, even more so than Piggy. Simon is unique because he can actually hear the voice of the beast. He realizes that the beast is not something one can kill because it 's inside the boys. Simon is seen as a Christ figure. He gives up his own life in an attempt to tell the rest of the boys about the beast. Jack wants to take control over the whole society. Jack is the leading support of anarchy on the island. Jack is the leader of the savage tribe which hunts the pigs. Opposed to Ralph and Piggy on almost all matters, Jack represents the identification of one 's personality— he supports the notion that one 's desires are most important and should be followed, regardless of reason or morals. Jack is the kind of person that is believed everyone would eventually become if left alone to set one 's own standards and live the way one naturally wanted. In this novel it is believed that the natural state of humans is disordered and that man is inherently evil. When reason is abandoned, only the strong survive. Jack personifies this idea perfectly.

     When a group of children become stranded on a deserted island, the rules of society no longer apply to them. Without the supervision of their parents or of the law, the primitive nature of the boys surfaces. Consequently, the boys live without luxury that could have been obtained had they maintained a society on the island. Instead, these young boys take advantage of their freedom, and life as they knew it deteriorates. Lord of the Flies is influenced by the author's life and experiences. Golding's outlook on life changes, due to his heavy involvement in W.W.II, to his current philosophy that "The shape of society must depend on the ethical nature of the individual, and not on any political system

Throughout Lord of the Flies, Golding shows his views of the inherent evil of humans. He shows how humans can be in such a savage state, practically mimicking the way of life of their prehistoric ancestors. He exemplifies this with acts of carnage carried on by the young stranded children. It all started with a slight urge to hunt down a pig and then continued on to murdering another human being. Golding shows his views best at the end of the book with the boys being rescued by a Navy crew, which would go on to war it self.

One of the most basic human instincts, prevalent in everyone, is the act of self-preservation, which can lead to the dismissal of their morals in times of distress. In Lord of the Flies, the boys’ subconscious takes over, allowing a much more ‘savage’ side of them to hinder their decision making. This is exhibited when the boys accidentally become too rough with what they think is the beast attacking them, but actually happens to be Simon. The second their minds went into survival mode, they battered him until his death, not noticing it was their friend all along until the next morning. Their judgement was so clouded with the idea of protecting themselves, that they did not come to their senses while brutally attacking the poor boy, who was only trying to help. This act of violence is a direct example of doing something at their own self-convenience, regardless of the costs. Because

Ralph and Jack themselves are used as symbols of leadership. “Before the party had started a great log had been dragged into the center of the lawn and Jack, painted and garlanded, sat there like an idol." (149). The symbolism used in this quote shows how Jack is now seen as a leader figure, whereas Ralph is the actual leader. It also shows irony as well with Jack symbolically described as the leader of his civilization, while Ralph is really the leader of all of the group. In Chapter Nine, Simon resembles the beast. Simon was crawling in blood in an a effort to tell the others that the beast is harmless, and he is killed by Jack and his tribe, which is symbolized in their song and dance. Jack and his savages sang, "Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood! Do him in!" (152) The fear and confusion brought upon the boys led them to kill Simon, showing the act of savagery as a direct reaction to the negativity in their environment. This fear and confusion brought to the island, caused heinous acts to be done by the once civilized - all caused by the spread of

Jack and his tribe are very persistent with killing the beast and they get their wish when “Jack leapt on to the sand. ‘Do our dance! Come on! Dance!’… a circling movement developed… The circle became a horseshoe… The beast stumbled into the horseshoe ‘Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!’… Simon was crying out something about a dead man on a hill. ” (Golding 151-152). Jack and his tribe have begun their frenzied dance they see a figure stumbling out from the forest. However, instead of stopping to see what it was the boys immediately think it is the beast, so they let it into the circle and rip it apart with their teeth and “Claws”. One thing they do not know was that was Simon trying to notify them that the beast was a corpse near the top of the mountain. All Simon was trying to announce to everyone that no one has to be afraid as a way to help everyone on the island. Nevertheless, Jack helps the other boys tear Simon apart and does nothing else about it. Jack does not even care that he just killed a boy. In fact, he never talks about Simon for the rest of the

There were no words, and no movements but the tearing of teeth and claws.”(CHECK PG.) Jack leaded this group to do this act as before Simon came dredging out of the woods they chanted ““Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood! Do him in!”(CHECK PG.) These quotes show the readers the darkness that Jack released and used to control his followers.

When Simon comes to tell the other boys what he had seen (the dead parachutist on the mountain top) the boys formed a “new tribe” under Jack’s leadership saying “Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!” When they were done with their “dance” Simon was dead. That’s when you realize how much the group of boys has changed and that they are really going crazy and they can’t help it.

“Life is scientific, that’s what it is. In a year of two when the war’s over they’ll be traveling to Mars and back. I know there isn’t no beast, not with claws and all that, I mean but I know there isn’t no fear, either. Unless we get frightened of people.” (84). Lord of the Flies is a novel where civilization is involved and it was found surrounded by a group of little boys under-aged teenagers who try to govern themselves on an island. The boys were found in a plane crash on a island and they try to create a society based on their own rules and laws.The boys: Ralph, Jack, Piggy, and the rest of the boys try to work out their differences and make a civilized little group in order to survive. Everyone on the island wants to survive and hope to be rescued to come home to their families. As the book went on, you see changes in the characters as they are influenced from others or in society. The characters develop as the book goes on and they experiment new beginnings when they are put in difficult situations. William Golding, in the novel of Lord of the Flies, uses the characters, Jack and Ralph, to reveal that human nature is naturally corrupted.

In the novel, Lord of the Flies, William Golding is able to use his outstanding writing abilities utilizing metaphors, symbolism, and other literary devices to establish a hidden message throughout the novel. The hidden message that Golding builds on is that there is a natural evil inside every human being, which is suppressed in an organized society through laws, rules, and punishment. The young boys in the novel are on an island all by themselves. There is no punishment for their actions, therefore allowing that evil to come out of most of the boys. All humans have an innate evil within them and that evil is brought out when there is a lack of civilization and consequence as seen in Simon’s murder,

As the boys who left Ralph to join Jack began to turn savage also began to feel the need for blood. This bloodthirst lead to the death of Simon. “Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Do him in!”

Personally, I enjoyed reading “Lord of the Flies”. The author, William Golding did an excellent job of demonstrating how each character would act when put on a deserted island with little hope. It was interesting how some characters, such as Piggy and Ralph stayed true to their morals, while others like Roger and Jack, abandoned intelligence and based their decisions on greed and power. Jack displayed this greed by convincing the twins to leave the signal fire for extra assistance in catching the pig (Ch 4, p 67.). I think that the characters are realistic, as there is diversity in the group, and many younger children avoided work, which is very common among children. Overall, I think the characters are believable except for the speed in which characters developed. I think that in real life it would take a lot longer for the characters to turn into savages. Jack accelerated from not being able to kill a pig as he was merciful in chapter 1 to having prisoners in his fortress in chapter 10, but I do understand that the author had to do this to advance the plot. For the most part, I believe

Human nature is the “general psychological characteristics, feelings, and behavioral traits of humankind”. Between the Book, Lord of the flies and The Crucible, human nature is strongly portrayed through similar characters such as Simon and Mary Warren, Satan/Devil and the Beast, and Jack and Abigail. Simon and Mary Warren both share their wise and kind traits and being bringers of truth, while Satan/Devil and the Beast share the characteristic of exotic and the unknown, both are also able to bring out each person’s human nature like Jack and Abigail’s, which is consisted of being selfish liars. Lastly, Jack and Abigail, who both portray betrayal and the same characteristics of being evil, lying , and selfishness.

James Madison once said, “If men were angels, no government would be necessary”. But men are not angels and there is a need for government, because men are not inherently good. Throughout the novel, Lord Of The Flies, William Golding successfully portrays his view of human nature as inherently evil by the actions and thoughts of the boys who are stranded on an island. The catholic church’s standpoint that human nature is inherently good is overpowered by William Golding’s view. William’s view is expressed throughout the Lord Of The Flies through the savagery in the book, the desire to kill/ hunt, and the loss of their innocence.

One of the themes of Lord of the Flies is that order is needed for humanity, and the absence of it results in the absence of what makes humans human. William Golding conveys this theme with the conch shell being order and eventually shattered, and the Beast being savagery and eventually growing in the hearts of every boy, except Simon. The conch shell opens as the attractor of the boys and the symbol of power that facilitates discussion and logic in the group, but, without it and it’s power the boys will “be like animals” (71); and animals they do become. As the Beast in the boys grow they soon deviate from humanity until “there were no words, and no movements but the tearing of teeth and claws”(118) on Simon’s corpse as he tries to be civil