The internal conflict between good and evil has jeopardized the human condition since the beginning of time. Adam and Eve dealt with this when the serpent pressed Eve to eat the forbidden fruit and people still continue to struggle with this problem to this day. Every human struggles with good and evil actions because humans have the potential to be malicious and do evil deeds given the opportunity and motivation. In the play Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, the protagonist, Macbeth, wrestles with kind and evil thoughts due to the constant pressuring of his wife and witches. The witches symbolize Macbeth’s subconscious mind while his wife represents his true identity. Near the beginning of the plot, the witches predicted that Macbeth would …show more content…
Ralph, from Lord of The Flies, by William Golding, struggles between doing the right thing and doing what’s wrong. After being stranded on an island with a few dozen boys, conflict quickly emerges. There is an unsaid thirst for power by the oldest two boys: Ralph and, the antagonist, Jack. When given the problem of hunger, they both go to hunt, and are faced with a wild pig. The boys decided not to slain the pig because [They knew very well why he hadn’t; because of the enormity of the knife descending and cutting into living flesh; because of the unbearable blood. (Golding 35) Ralph and Jack knew consciously that killing the pig was inhumane, even if it was for means of survival. As the story progresses, Jack becomes more aggressive, while Ralph slips into submission. After Jack successfully kills a pig, anarchy forms. The boys start to shout [Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!] (Golding 161) The boys enveloped in evil, resulted in the atrocity that is murder. Evil flowed and ebbed in their lungs and they would do whatever it takes to see blood. Ralph, one of the few humane ones of he group, fought his own malicious urges. He finally gave in to his animalistic behavior after killing his first pig. He [Sunned himself in their new respect] and after the murderous act was done he [felt that hunting was good after all.] (Golding 170) Ralph, who was opposed to the thought of a knife [cutting into living flesh], now hungered for the flowing of blood. The evil thoughts would not have awakened from his subconscious if Jack had not focused on power or having to survive on an
In the beginning of the story, a number of the boys began to display their first signs of savagery by having a constant hunger for killing pigs. Even though killing pigs was clearly necessary for survival, the boys who hunted, especially power-hungry Jack Merridew, started going a bit too far when it came to hunting them. He started coming up with various chants and songs about blood and murder during his hunts. Even though he was referring to pigs, the song still conveyed the meaning that he was well on his way towards his descent to madness because of his constant description of death and blood:”Kill the pig! Cut his throat!
Jack and Roger were quick to turn into hunting, they were complete savages. Ralph wanted to fight it but lost. At the very end when they get rescued, you can see him being relieved about being saved by someone from civilization, but deep down he knows what him and the others are capable when no order is established. Ralph even contributed to Simons death, “Piggy and Ralph, under the threat of the sky, found themselves eager to take place in this demented but partly secure society… they chanted “killed the beast! Cut his throat!
Jack excitedly told Ralph, “I cut the pig’s throat” and “said proudly” all of the details about the attack including “the lashings of blood” from the pig and how he wanted to “go hunting every day” (Golding 69). The author’s use of the word “proudly” signifies how egocentric and self-glorifying Jack felt after he had just killed an innocent animal. He thrives off of killing the pig and feels satisfaction and a sense of control knowing that he has the weapon and the ability to cause fear in the animals and harm
Cut her throat! Spill her blood!" Not like the chanting was necessary, therefore, it was considered fun for a group of little boys. They cut the pig’s head off. Ralph drives a spear into the anus.
After Jack and his hunters split from the rest of the group and hunt on their own, they brutally slaughter a mother pig and place her head on a stick. Jack displays the head with triumphance and announces, “This head is for the beast. It’s a gift” (137). In the beginning, despite hiding it by promising to defeat the beast, Jack is as fearful of it as the other schoolboys were. Slowly, however, he has begun to see the beast as a symbol of power.
“You would, would you? Fatty!’ Ralph made a step forward and Jack smacked Piggy’s head.” This is just one of the many instances cruelty has played a crucial role in the novel Lord of the Flies, by William Golding. Peppered with symbolism and motifs, cruelty proves to be the most essential to major themes.
The pig artistically depicts what Jack sees and feels. The pig is strength, violence, and savagery. On the other hand, Jack depicts reality. In killing the pig, Jack killed himself, and, symbolically, in killing fear, fear kills you. This change, throughout the novel, represents the feedback loop of fear and violence in the
Jack selected a nursing sow, and they brutally stab her multiple times. Subsequently, Jack smears blood on another boy’s cheeks and they all chuckle that a spear went up her backside. They then prepared the meat to cook and impaled the pig’s head with a stick to give to the beast as a present. All of these actions are done with such brutality that could have been avoided. After Simon hallucinates and later discovers that the “beast” is simply a deceased paratrooper, he is slaughtered by his own friends.
(Golding 102*). Ralph is a good, sane, respectable child in the story. However, when he is given several weeks on an island with no laws, he devolves into savagery. He maddeningly tries to torture, squeeze, and damage
The true nature of human instincts and evil actions lurk behind the social masks that society forces upon. In William Golding’s fictional novel Lord of the Flies, the author features the alteration of a group of young males who are isolated on a deserted island, projecting their regression from innocent children to killer savages. Golding conveys how effortlessly one's morality can be ripped apart when isolated from civilization which is shown through the savagery and remorse of the group of boys. In chapter 11, the young group of boys dispute on the idea of civilization or savageness being better. Ralph, who stands together with Piggy, fights for the goodness of mankind and believes in orderly conduct as opposed to unlawfulness and killing for fun.
He goes to share his hunting story to Ralph and a boy named Piggy. On page 69, the narrator shares, “I cut the pig’s throat,’ said Jack, proudly, and yet twitched as he said it.” This quotation shows us that civilization is lost when the urge to kill takes over because it shows the stage where Jack is proudly killing animals, but still feeling a little bit uncomfortable with it. In this example, Jack proudly shares that he has killed, but still twitches after saying he did. Jack is still hanging onto the little bit of civilization that is left on their island.
He goes hunting with other boys on the island, and they successfully kill a pig. Unfortunately, they let the signal fire out in the process. Ralph tries to look for the boys, when they come marching in, carrying a dead pig. The boys, led by Jack, are chanting “kill the pig. Cut her throat.
Of all the failures human beings experience none are as crushing as those that are a result of following someone else’s desires. In Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, the protagonist self-destructs because of his external forces as well as his own poor choices. An external force that influenced Macbeth includes Lady Macbeth’s strong goals, which she forced on her husband. Additionally, the witches impacted Macbeth’s choices by offering him their tricky prophecies. The blind greed that took over Macbeth’s life also impacted his choices.
The want for power strengthens and his hunger increases, but what he was unaware of was the fact that he was destroying his own mind. He was brainwashed by his surroundings to think that in that situation, it was acceptable. Jack’s evilness has officially broken everyone's norms on the island. These young boys have been exposed to the wild and this has destroyed the minds’ of these kids and has turned the kids into
Macbeth 's confidence diminishes and when he begins to meet his true fate. A powerful theme shown in Macbeth is that anyone can be susceptible to being both good and evil; this is shown through the snowballing effects of Macbeth 's potential idea of evil, to his guilt of murdering Duncan and Banquo, and his and Lady Macbeth 's eventual downfall due to committing worse deeds for power. Anyone can be capable of good or evil, and in this case, Macbeth was shown as becoming potentially evil towards the beginning of the play. This is introduced when the witches first told Macbeth the good fortunes that were going to come to him. In the first spell they cast they chanted, “Fair is foul, and foul is fair,” (1.1.12).