Human Nature And Evil In William Golding's Lord Of The Flies

All the boys participate in assaulting Robert because they believe it is just a game and that nothing will go wrong, but this is not true. The mask plays a part in this as it disguises the boys from their civilized sides, and brings out their savagery causing them to brutally beat Robert even when not wearing it. Moreover, as Simon attempts to inform the boys about how the beast is actually a dead parachutist, they mistake him for the beast and , “The sticks [fall] and the mouth of the new circle [crunches] and [screams]. The beast was on its knees in the center, its arms folded over its face. It was crying out against the abdominal noise…”(152).

In the words of David Gemmell, “there is evil is all of us, and it is the mark of a man how he defies the evil within.” The beast in the novel starts as a symbol of fear and something that was ignored but ends up creating chaos and representing evil. In William Golding 's, Lord of the Flies, the boys making fun of the little boy for being scared of the beastie and the boys doubting Sam and Eric, Simons hallucination, and Simon 's death are evidence that show the evil and ignorance in the boys. There are many signs of ignorance towards the beast in the novel. One example of ignorance towards the beast is when the boys made fun of the little boy for being scared of the beast. When the little boy brought up the beast the first time, the older boys, “laughed and cheered,” (Golding.

As stated in “Maybe it’s only us”, one of the boys says “maybe there is a beast… what I mean is… maybe it’s only us… Simon became inarticulate in his effort to express mankind’s illness.”(Doc F). Simon eventually found out that a human could be capable of behaving like a terrifying creature. In “the Beast is Human”, Simon, the same boy who understood how cruel humans could be, “sets off, weak and staggering, to tell the other boys that the beast is human.”(Doc E). The boy found the body of the man terrorizing the children on the island and realized how being cruel mankind could be. People are capable of something so harsh and tormenting that they could be considered monsters.

143) The Lord of the Flies (Satan), admits to being the beast. He is behind the corruption growing in the boys. He is the one tempting the boys to turn against each other, and lose trust in one another. The boys’ biggest fear was the beast, but they can’t sharpen a stick at both ends and hunt Satan. Before the blame falls on the Lord of the Flies, notice Satan can tempt people, but he can’t force anyone to do anything.

The quote “‘Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill!’ said the head.” (Golding 164) expresses that the Lord of the Flies is divulging to Simon that the evil is not something that can be hunted or killed but is within the boys. Simon also learns that the beast of evilness was in the boys all along. The theme Inherent Evil of Man is displayed through Simon learning that evil is within the boys and that this was the beast. This shows how the evil action appears as a beast and the understanding of evilness by

Piggy is the ‘brains’ of the island which turns into people not listening to him and focusing on what Ralph says. Throughout the story, the boys try to figure out ways to be rescued off of this dark and evil island. The boys are also constantly fighting a ‘beast,’ but the only beast on the island is fear itself. Jack also starts to slowly draw more and more boys from Ralphs influence into his tribe of hunting and adventurous activities indicating the forces of evil and darkness. Throughout Lord of the Flies, different symbols convey the fact that human nature is purely evil; therefore the boys should adopt a socialistic parliament to try and eradicate the force of evil.

In the bible, the garden is corrupted by the evil snake that has a physical form. In comparison, the boys in Lord of The Flies continue to be afraid of a creature called the Beastie and spend their time trying to kill it. “You did the other day. You said they dream and cry out. Now they talk- not only the littluns, but my hunters sometimes-talk of a thing, a dark thing, a beast, some sort of animal.” (83).

Throughout their troubles finding food and keeping a signal fire going for rescue, the boys have a civil war of sorts when Jack and his group of hunters split off from Ralph’s group. By looking at Lord of the Flies there is a deep psychological interpretation that Golding leaves hints of in his novel. One of the most notable impacts is that of mob mentality; which, by definition, forebodes chaos. William Golding believed that inherently all humans were evil; his use of mob mentality in his novel represents his belief with full force. This type of collective thought can be used for either good or evil, but with Golding’s idealism, he uses it harshly to push forward the thought process that humans are evil and deadly creatures to each other.

I’m the reason why it’s no go? Why things are the way they are?” The Lord of the Flies says this to Simon in Chapter 8, during Simon’s vision in the forest. These words confirm Simon’s belief in Chapter 5 that perhaps the beast is only the boys themselves. This idea of the evil on the island being within the boys is central to the novel’s exploration of innate human savagery. The Lord of the Flies identifies itself as the beast and acknowledges to Simon that it exists within all human beings: “You knew, didn’t you?

Savagery is a influencing, evil force that challenges the purity of mankind, and is underestimated by its true strength. Golding plays with the concept of human nature in the plot of Lord of the Flies by having a group of boys getting marooned on a deserted island with no adults, forcing them to strategize and work together in order to survive. Chapter 9 especially highlights the major themes that Golding is trying to convey in his book. While Simon uncovers the true identity of the beast, the other boys have a feast, where they eat pig and enact tribal dances. Simon finally arrives only to be mistaken as the Beast, and is murdered in cold sight.