Is Man Inherently Evil In Lord Of The Flies

Society has an evil deep within. Most don’t notice it because it is them, we are the evil, people are the evil. The Lord of the Flies novel written by William Golding was a look into the evil of society. This evil was conveyed through one specific character in the novel, Jack. Jack is a main character in the story whose personality is way different than we would expect a common 12 year old boy’s to be. He had acted very barbaric, bloodthirsty, and manipulative throughout the novel.

The island is used as a sort of playing ground to reveal the true underlying qualities of each character, and as mentioned above, the qualities of humanity. When the boys first gather on the island, they are quick to order themselves in a society, more of a tribe in their case, that reflects the social structure they were exposed to at home. This process involves electing a leader, holding meetings or assemblies to vote on matters, and working together for the greater good of everyone on the island. The assemblies become a part of keeping order within their society. To illustrate, when Ralph finds out that Jack neglected the fire he calls an assembly to prioritize. Ralph says, “The fire is the most important thing on the island. How can we ever be rescued except by luck, if we don’t keep a fire going? Is a fire too much for us to make” (80). As an effort to show the boys their dire circumstances, he tries to convict them, including himself, of their ignorance. On the contrary, Jack Merridew counters Ralph’s authority with the proposition of thrill and amusement. Jack proposes that he forms his own tribe.. Within this rebel tribe he suggests that they act only as savages. The temptation to hunt won many of the boys over in favor of orderly society as suggested by Ralph. The two groups of boys reach the culmination of the conflict when logic battles savagery; “ ‘Which is

Golding intricately details the rise of a demagogue, JACK, through the development of the PLOT and the power struggle between the two major leaders, Ralph and JACK. Ralph struggles to provide for the wellbeing of the group, while JACK “want[s] meat’” (51). This opposition of values is essential to understanding JACK’s rise to power because while Ralph wants to take steps to increase the groups’ chances of rescue, JACK wants to “‘catch a pig first-’” (53) which reveals that JACK does not value the, more civil and less delusional, society outside the island. Like the others, JACK has lost his connections to reasoning and reality in exchange for power through extortion and fear. Ralph and JACK’s confrontation, essentially, sets the stage for the competition between Ralph’s path of civility and order versus JACK’s path of evil and demagoguery. When JACK wins the battle against Ralph, he immediately utilizes the BOYS’ fears of the BEAST in order to bolster his power. Within the process of conformity and deindividuation, the BOYS, desensitized, do not question JACK’s power while he commits acts like “beat[ing] Wilfred” (159) for no reason. Golding specifically denounces JACK’s actions and portrays him like an animal. In many cultures throughout the world, acting like an animal is considered an insult to intelligence and a proverb for misconduct. Therefore, Golding intentionally paints

Lord of the Flies is a book that is written by Golding and it is used to construct the idea of the inherent evil of human nature. Is human Inherently Evil/human nature is Sinful or human are good in personality. For judging this statement the writer Golding use the symbolism of Simon, Ralph, the Hunt and the Island.

William Golding, the author of Lord of the Flies, states, “We refuse to see the true nature of evil and we underrate its strength. We appease the power of evil and allow it to develop unchecked when we should stamp out its manifestation.” Lord of the Flies is an allegorical novel about a group of British boys who are stuck on an uninhabited island and struggle between civilization and savagery. When Golding said this quote, he meant that mankind does not take the roots of evil seriously and it develops more and more into a feeling that will be hard to control later on. Golding believes society should try to eliminate the beginning of evil before it grows into something more that would be harder to destroy. Mankind should try to cure or prevent

Lastly, Jack is known as the rebel of the story who disagrees with the leaders, and is pure evil from middle to end. Although Jack is evil, his bad character trait ensures his survival and alliance with the boys. The first example of when Jack’s evilness is shown in the story is when Jack hunts the pig and puts its head on a stick, the line says “ Jack held the head up and jammed the soft throat down on the pointed end of the stick which pierced through into the mouth. He stood back and the head hung there, a little blood dribbling down the stick” ( Golding, 150). This shows Jack’s evilness because instead of fearing the beast he is offering him the head of the pig that he just brutally murdered. This shows evilness because all throughout the story the littluns and even some of the biguns were fearful of the beast, yet Jack has influenced them to help him offer it to the beast. This also shows evilness because some of the

In the novel, Golding associates the conch with the boys nature, signifying there civilisation till it was destructed and therefore, the dark side of the boys was released when there was no unity or order. The beast is another important symbol demonstrating their impulses to becoming violent, that the 'beast' is within the boys themselves. The antagonist Jack is addressed to represent that without regulations of society all human beings are savages by nature. Golding includes these symbols, motifs and characters to confront the idea the dark side of human nature is represented when left to your own

To conclude, in Lord of the Flies William Golding shows the forces of evil overtaking good in his characters when they turn away from the morals they know are correct and start making justifications for themselves. This is seen through the boys thoughts and realizations, when they are hunting, and when the boys start falling away from their regular civilization. William Golding’s Lord of the Flies shows the unsatisfying idea that it is the natural nature of man to let the evil conquer the good in

In the novel, Lord of the Flies, over a dozen boys are stranded on an island with no adults and to fend for themselves. One individual in Jack Merridew, a boy who is turned cruel and ruthless, is being charged with 1st degree murder for the deaths of two boys, Piggy and Simon. First degree murder is characterized as deaths that a person committed was the individual either plans and commits the murder conscience of their actions. Jack is guilty of first degree and should be charged with 1st murder degree murder because of his direct involvement in Simon’s death, his dictatorial of leadership leading to the other boys’ savage behavior, and his disregard for human life.

Many children dream of a place where they can run wild and not have any adult supervision, but few consider the consequences like their inner evil coming out and their humanity changing. In the novel, Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, symbolism is a key part in communicating the theme of The Inhumanity/Inherent Evil of Man through the conch, the fire, and the Lord of the Flies. The fires symbolism of evil can be shown by the boys going wild at the sight of it and starting their wild chant, often hurting people. The lord of the flies holds symbolic power because it represents the boy's inner evil, and that they are the real “beasts.” The conch is seen through the boy's destruction of the island and each other throughout the book.

It is said that most people if put in a particular situation they would not do things they would normally. In the novel Lord Of The Flies, by W.Golding, a group of young boys are stranded on an isolated island cut off from society, having no adults or figures of authority on the island, the boys become savage. Examples of such savagery would be the murders, the cruelty of Jack, and how even Ralph could succumb to it as well

Golding explores that Jack loves to hunt and kill pigs while on the island. Jack does this in a gruesome fashion and upon putting it to death ,“[Jack] began to dance and his laughter became a bloodthirsty snarling" (Golding 64). The use of imagery provides a sense of the harsh reality of what is happening to Jack as he is losing the civility he had arrived with every day. Throughout his evolution process, he has gotten to a point where Piggy claims,“I’m scared of him” (Golding 93) and that when he sees Jack, he feels that “it’s like asthma an’ you can’t breathe” (Golding 93). These words from a wise young boy, Piggy, are very concerning relating to the amount of civility Jack has left in him. As the civilized boys fear Jack every second of the day, Piggy and Ralph have a discussion and want to “ keep on the right side of him, anyhow. You can’t tell what he might do” (Golding 175). At this point, one of their fellow members, Simon, has already been put to death by Jack’s tribe and now the boys have to fear for their lives because of the unknown status of Jack at any time. Golding uses this type of language to represent fear in their voices because it is one of a leader 's most powerful tools for controlling a society. Jack teaches acts of killing and savagery of humans and other living animals, draining out every last ounce of civility the boys had upon their

William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies does not simply describe the life of a group of children stranded on an island, but rather it is a representation of the qualities of human nature. As the novel progresses, the children grow deeper into savagery, performing actions that would be often criticised in society. The absence of law and order devolves even those that attempt to recreate it, like Ralph and Piggy. In this novel, Golding uses children to answer the question whether or not humans are born inanimately good or truly evil. Golding answers this question by symbolising the main characters and their descent into savagery. He uses Ralph and Piggy to describe the well-educated that attempt to grasp civilisation, but ultimately fail to deliver. His symbol of Roger as an ordinary person that breaks loose of the chains of society once disconnected from it. Finally, the nature of Jack is a depiction of the power hungry that will do anything to lead.

Throughout the novel of Lord of the Flies, William Golding provides a profound insight into human nature. Golding builds on a message that all human beings have natural evil inside them. To emphasize, the innate evil is revealed when there’s lack of civilization. The boys are constantly faced with numerous fears and eventually break up into two different groups. Although the boys believe the beast lives in the jungle, Golding makes it clear that it lurks in their hearts. The message of inner evil is portrayed throughout the book by the destruction of the conch, terrifying beast, and character developments to establish the hidden message throughout the novel.

Throughout the book we witness the power struggle between Jack and Ralph, we watch as Jack undermines Ralph's authority and gains control of the boys on the island. Jack's leadership is powerful, he understands how to coerce others into following him and is exceptional at controlling his crowd. Take for example him leading the crowd of hunters, “Kill the pig. Cut her throat. Spill her blood” (Golding 56). This shows how humans can easily be swept up into the subversive and hateful mindset of others when the support of an idea of any nature is so loud, it is difficult to think clearly. Evil reigns triumphant because of the weak will of man that allows the evils of others to take root inside of him.