Ignorance In Lord Of The Flies Literary Analysis

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. pg.35), mocking the little boy on what he thought he saw. This also showed how the older,

When the Lord of the Flies said to Simon, “fancy thinking the beast was something you could hunt and kill!” (Golding. pg.158), it showed that even if Simon did not know it, he subconsciously understood that the beast was not real, but something within all of them. This also shows that no matter how hard the boys try to stay good, the evil within them is something they cannot get rid of. Additionally, the end of the conversation Simon had with the Lord of the Flies also represents evil. At the end of the conversation, when Simon, “fell down and lost consciousness,” (Golding. Pg. 158), helps the readers know that the conversation is not real. Simon fainting after the conversation also showed that instead of talking to the Lord of the Flies, or the beast, he was thinking to himself about the evil on the island and realized it was within the boys. Similarly, this also shows the fact that he subconsciously knew of the evil within the boys. Finally, Simon 's hallucination represents the realization he had of the evil within the