Evil In Lord Of The Flies Essay

Analysis of contemporary literature and its perspective of human evil

Imagine being stranded on an island, separated from society and all of civilization. The doomsday scenario of being isolated on an island is explored in the novel, “Lord of the Flies.” A plane crashes and several boys are stranded on an island, left to survive alone. One can imagine chaos and violence soon emerging, which is exactly what ensues. In the novel Lord of the Flies, Golding explores the idea of evil and savagery, and its inherent nature; humans abuse power through manipulation of fear, and evil.

Through the metaphor of the pig’s head and Ralph’s change of character, Golding asserts humans are evil. As Simon is hallucinating in the woods, he hears the Lord of the Flies declare, “I’m part of you” (Golding 143). The Lord of the Flies is symbolic of evil by representing the beast. Therefore, Golding describes sin as a natural part

Squealer instills fear in the animals when he asks, “Surely, comrades, you do not want Jones back” (Orwell 17). Squealer exploits the animals’ fear of Jones’ return to make them obedient to Napoleon’s rule. Thus, by exploiting the animals, Napoleon, who represents Stalin, maintains power by employing cruel propaganda. Although Napoleon’s treatment of the animals was identical to Jones’s, Orwell emphasizes that humans are savage; gaining power at the expense of others demonstrates evil. Furthermore, there were "executions" to the point that "a pile of corpses" lay next to Napoleon, and the air reeked of “the smell of blood” (Orwell 25). Napoleon resorts to savagery, as shown in executing animals, to reduce rebellion. Thus, humans are expressed as acquiring power through malevolent actions. In summary, Napoleons exploitation of the animals to the extent of execution indicates sinister human