Inherent Evil In William Golding's Lord Of The Flies

Inherent Evil Without the laws that are currently enforced today, would humans revert to becoming savage animals? William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies, takes place on an isolated island where a group of young boys between the ages of six and twelve must learn to peacefully live with one another. However, anarchy within the tribe breaks up the group, and the boys show their true, evil nature. Correspondingly, the article, “The Social Hierarchy of Preschoolers,” by Po Bronson shows that as a young child, some kids may show hostile behavior, but the way they act is completely normal because over time they will naturally adapt to those around them. Human nature is based on the belief that that evil is inherent in all beings because even

The boys on the island were free to act because they believed that the laws of a traditional society were not applied. For instance, a hostile boy named Roger, a symbol of the Devil or great danger, was throwing stones at his fellow groupmate, Henry. Roger intentionally did not hit Henry because “Round the squatting child was the protection of parents and school and policemen and the law” (Golding, 87). This shows that Roger truly has a sense of evil within him, but he cannot reveal his vicious behavior to the world. This supports that laws are in place to control the evil residing in humans. The news article also supports that evil is within everyone because even at a early age, young preschoolers show signs of bad behavior. Yet unlike the novel, the article analyzes the benefits of evil and vicious behavior in a school environment because policies are established to ensure that this conduct can be controlled. For example, in a study by Dr. Cary Roseth from Michigan State University, the research ensures, “[Aggression] isn’t going unpolicied… teachers were intervening to smooth relationships” (Bronson). This shows that evil behavior is expected from young children and is completely normal. However, similar to the novel, regulations are put in place to keep situations from getting out of hand. Therefore, society