William Golding 's Lord Of The Flies

Similar to most literary classics, William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies contains allusions to the Christian Bible and character archetypes that convey universal ideas. Golding’s story focuses on a group of British schoolboys who are stranded on an island and ultimately succumb to their innate savage tendencies. Literary analysts often compare components of Lord of the Flies to various aspects in the Christian Bible. For instance, the setting in Lord of the Flies is often linked to the Garden of Eden, and some characters are thought to have religious-inspired names. Critics believe Simon’s name originates from Jesus Christ’s disciple, Peter, whose name was originally Simon. Biblical allusions exist throughout the novel associated with

Throughout the history of humanity, humans have different behaviors that change depending on what situations they are in. Psychologist Philip Zimbardo spent many years exploring human nature and has developed many theories about human behavior. One of Zimbardo’s ideas is about situational factors that states “one’s behavior is assumed to be dependent upon their current circumstances, situation or the environment that they are in.” He concluded the concept of situational factors after his Stanford Prison Experiment, in which he gave authority to regular people and observed any changes. The experiment proved that people’s behavior will change when they are in different situations. Zimbardo also believes that evilness is the exercise of power to harm people in anyway possible, so a five year old who teases others to Adolf Hitler would be classified as perpetrators of evil.

Mankind is, by nature, an evil, vile, and savage species. This is nowhere more apparent than in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, a novel detailing the adventures of a group of shipwrecked British schoolboys, who must survive on an uncharted Pacific island, while seeking rescue and order. Golding’s exploration of Man’s inherent wickedness is no more apparent in Chapter Nine, “A View to a Death”, in which the group of boys, in a riotous ceremony, brutally murder one of their own. The many events of the book lead to one conclusion: In Lord of the Flies, William Golding propagates the idea that Mankind is inherently inclined towards savagery and evil, which is conveyed via symbolism, juxtaposition, and foreshadowing.

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.

Literary devices are techniques often used by authors to portray in-depth analyses of major characters, storylines, and central themes, which take place in a story. These analyses help readers understand a message the author is trying to convey. In the novel Lord of the Flies, William Golding uses different literary devices in order to demonstrate the boys’ struggle against the lack of society and law on the island, as well as the consequences that have transpired due to this loss. This conflict is evident through the different instances of irony, foreshadowing, and symbolism that occurs throughout the novel.

Many philosophers believe that a correct government can make a strong society. However, these philosophers do not agree on what form of government is the most “correct”. English philosopher John Locke believed that Man is inherently moral and that the purpose for government is to grant the fundamental rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness to its people. Another philosopher, Thomas Hobbes, however, held the belief that mankind is naturally evil and that society needs an absolute central authority to contain this evilness and grant its people with the common protection. Hobbes believes that in a state of nature, when there are no rules and everyone is granted equal power, the inherent evil impulses of Man are exposed. One

In William Golding’s, Lord of the Flies, a few dozen boys are stranded on an island after a plane crash. The six to twelve year old kids turn to savages under the lead of the older males, and ultimately cause their own deaths. However, the smaller boys, such as Piggy and Sam and Eric, are the hope and reason of the group. Golding’s purpose of writing the book was to show that the defects in society originate at the defects in human nature. Golding allows the little ones to have no identities or personalities. This is symbolically showing that in society, the ignorant and innocent children are the only hope to a humane society. Innocence is purity, and the innocent children, in which are not corrupted by the bad people and things in the

English novelist and politician Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton, once said, “The pen is mightier than the sword.”. We,as humans, have always had the feeling of fear. No matter how many people say they don’t have that feeling, they have it somewhere within them. This fear has always thrived us to think in a radical way and has pushed us to make some good and bad choices in life. Because of this fear human beings have felt the need to protect themselves as much as possible and they believe that by having the most sizable, vigorous, and lavish weapons, they will be safe and protected from all harm and will keep order within society stable. But what Lytton wants us to realize in his quote is that you really don’t

Leadership is a huge aspect in Lord of the Flies by William Golding. Jack may not have been voted in as the leader, but he obviously possessed the best leadership traits. The article “10 Unique Perspectives on What Makes a Great leader” by Brent Gleeson provides ten detailed descriptions of the way a leader should be, and Jack seems to fit most of them. One view that the author had on a leader, was that they focused on helping others. Gleeson states “[being a leader is] about making sure your team stays focused on their goals” (Gleeson).

“Civilization begins with order, grows with liberty, and dies with chaos.” -Will Durant. This is demonstrated when a new war begins, and a group of boys are left to fend for themselves on an abandoned island due to a plane crash. They must learn to live without adults, rules, or structure, however, as time goes on and conflict grows, this becomes increasingly difficult. William Golding 's Lord of The Flies explains how without order, unity, and rules a society will resort to chaos/savagery and becomes useless, as shown through the character archetypes of Learner, Ralph, and Shadow, Jack.

An emotion experienced by every human being is fear. Angst changes a person’s behavior, mind state, and actions. In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, the boys are guided by fear. They do not unite together to overcome fearful situations and let their own worst impulses dominate.

This sense of evil is inescapable among the boys on the island, and it cannot be avoided as shown by Simon's encounter with the Lord of the Flies. Simon displays very little evil in comparison to other boys on the island. What Simon does not understand is that evil cannot be escaped by exposing only good and positive emotion. Simon is having a hallucination in front of the pig head the boys staked on the ground. This is also referred to as the “lord of the flies” (143). The pig's voice speaks to Simon stating “you know perfectly well you’ll only meet me down there” (143). What this suggests is that Simon has a good understanding of what he is facing along with the boys. The author is using the Pig’s head as a symbol of evil and a figure of savagery. It is expressing that this image of evil the boys portray is really inherent within them. The lord of the flies voice continues to Simon by saying “don’t try and escape!”(143). The lord of the flies is stating that trying to free from this evil is a waste of effort for it is inescapable. Simon does not understand this because he feels that by displaying only good and positive emotion it will go away. But this level of savagery that is inherent in everyone cannot be altered by the level in which one exposes it. The “Lord of the Flies” is addressing this but Simon only wishes to display positivity for he believes it will free him from his hate.

Alexander Hamilton once stated, “The sacred rights of mankind are not to be rummaged for among old parchments or musty records. They are written, as with a sunbeam, in the whole volume of human nature, by the hand of the divinity itself; and can never be erased”. In 1954 William Golding Published the novel Lord of the Flies in order to get a deeper look into the flaws of society that are related to the flaws of human nature. During WWII a group of British school boy were being transported by plane but the plane was shot down killing the pilot and leaving a group of boys on an island where there is no adult supervision. Today our topic will be focusing on the pessimistic views of human nature that are presented

Lord of the Flies is a novel written in 1954 by Nobel Prize winner William Golding. The novel is set in the midst of a nuclear war and it portrays the experience of a group of schoolboys stranded on an uninhabited island after a plane crash. While on the island, the boys' society quickly falls into disarray and the true violent and evil nature of mankind is exposed. William Golding views the nature of mankind as innately evil and portrays the constant internal struggle of right versus wrong with the exploration of the downfall of rules and structure of society, the desire to kill, as well as the abuse of power.

William Golding was born on September 19th 1911 in Cornwall, England. As a child he had an interest in literature but his parents wanted him to learn about natural sciences and he did so until his second year at Oxford when he changed his major to English literature. After college he worked as a teacher, director, theater actor, and wrote poetry. He also entered into the Navy during World War II. The Navy gave him insight to the evils of the world he lived in. When he left the Navy, he began writing novels and teaching again.