Evil is Within Everyone Without thinking, the laws and social rules we abide by every day are actually a fragile barrier keeping the worst of human nature from overtaking modern society. In the allegorical novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding, a plane full of British school boys is shot down over an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. They are stranded without adult supervision or means to communicate with the outside world. This creates the perfect setting for Golding to explore the best and worst of human nature. It is in this setting that Golding illustrates what can happen when laws and rules vanish and human instinct reigns.
The Evil Within “All things truly wicked start from innocence,” Ernest Hemingway, (A Movable Feast.) The nature of evil lies within all human beings whether they realize it or not. Both Lord of the Flies and A Long Way Gone have main characters who struggle with the temptation of evil, and eventually give in to their dark side. Under harsh circumstances, the evil within all people comes out as an attempt to adapt to their environment. Authority figures are one of the major components affecting the development of evil within their followers.
Inherent Good People think that inherent goodness does not exist, but it is more prevalent than one might think. Although the topic of inherent goodness can be difficult to think about, talking about it is sometimes easier. Inherent goodness has been created over time as a mindset that people are born good, and nobody is born bad. Everyone wants to do the right thing.
In Lord of the Flies by William Golding, young boys turn savage on a deserted island during a futuristic war. Coming from a world where most daily work was covered by their parents, the boys try their best to make life on the island more civilized and safe. In the end though, this only leads to the boys discovering their own inner evil which caused them to make careless decisions and ruthless actions.
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.
With no adults present, it’s up to the most logical children of the few to help the others survive the isolated conditions. As the group progresses on the island, priorities change and chaos strikes, changing their outlook on human frailty. Though being at such a young age, the boys do whatever it takes to survive on the island. Even if it includes slaughtering one of their own.
Lord of The Flies: Human Nature Are humans instinctively evil? Savage? In Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, young boys are left to organize themselves into a society to keep balance and peace on the island. When the society crumbles beneath their feet, one must ask these questions. The downfall and overall plot of the book is largely telling of human nature, and may be a smaller analogy for human nature in itself.
This shows the human nature of children and men when they are away from society and order for a long time. If they do not get what they want, then they will drive themselves crazy trying to fight and in turn, become savages, who are focused on killing and hunting. They are blinded by their anger and illusions that they forget about the real point, which is trying to escape from the island and their new goal is to kill each other off so they alone can be the chief of the island, but eventually all the boys will have to end up dying from natural causes or battles if they are not saved by a ship. Their morals are ruined and this leads to further chaos on the island. Once the chaos starts to happen on the island, Ralph also starts to rethink his idea of being chief.
The island itself was their society that corrupted them because of being stranded on the island at a young age. The boys’ fear was larger than anything and the idea of
They want to be rescued, as they delegate tasks at first, however, the story unfolds in a way that shows the savage and iniquitous side of humans as the boys become less civilized. They become less logical, and the little ones start to think there is a beast on the island, which causes them to kill their friend, Simon, thinking he was the beast. They are constantly stressed out and their behaviors change as the story progresses.
The boys hope to get off the island. They have no way of getting out. Only a person can save them. Irony: -The group of British boys are supposed to symbolize the growth of society however, they turn into wild, bloodthirsty creatures.
“We all have good and evil inside us.It's what side we choose to follow that defines who we are”-J.K. Rowling
There is an old Cherokee parable in which a little boy compares his internal struggle between good and evil to a fight between two wolves. His grandfather assures him that everyone experiences this same struggle, but the wolf that wins is “…the one that you feed” (Two Wolves). The evil wolf wins if he is fed anger and aggression, and the good wolf wins if he is fed kindness and empathy. Although the capacity for good and evil exists in everyone, evil will triumph unless one makes it a point to feed the good
The question as to whether humans are inherently evil or good has been asked time and time again. Despite the fact Humans are naturally evil based on how they act under grim situations, the tendency of people to follow leaders that are evil, and how people have caused destruction, and have committed terrible acts throughout time. Humans often do terrible things when the situation for them is dire, even with the knowledge that doing said terrible things will only further the problem. A famous example of this is present in the story surrounding the wreck of the french ship, the Méduse.
The boys no longer had adults in their lives, and because of this void, they had to become responsible. They attempted to create rules, shelters, and a way off the island. They attempted to provide for one another, and eventually began to act a little like adults. “…The ground was hardened by an accustomed tread and as Jack rose to his full height he heard something moving on it.