Essay On Human Nature In Lord Of The Flies

Everyone’s Evil Human Nature Without society, humans will always rely on human nature, and with an exception for a select few, it is bad. In the allegorical novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding, a plane full of British school boys is shot down onto an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and they are stuck with no adults and no communication with the outside world. Characters and events all represent something greater than what is read in this story, but one of the frequently recurring issues is the question of human nature: whether it is good or bad. But based on the events in this story, there is no doubt human nature is bad, even if there are good people. The most good-natured person in the story, Simon, believes evil, symbolized by the Lord of the Flies, is within everyone. At one assembly on the platform, he says,”’Maybe… maybe there is a beast...What I mean is… maybe it’s only us’” (Golding 89). Although the rest of the boys laugh, even Piggy, Simon has the idea that this is true. His idea is furthermore confirmed later when he imagines the Lord of the Flies says,”’Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill!... You knew, didn’t you? I’m part of you? Close, close, close! I’m the reason why it’s no go? Why things are the way they are?’” (Golding 143). Simon’s vision of the Lord of the Flies talking to him confirms his ideas about the evil inside everyone, sadly nobody listens to him, even though their actions are becoming more