Manifestation Of Evil In Lord Of The Flies

For centuries, man has wrestled with the ideas of evil and humanity’s capability of it. Where does evil come from? Is man naturally evil? William Golding tackles this through the story of a group of young British boys who are stranded on an uninhabited island. As they struggle to survive, they attempt to maintain order and govern themselves, only to be led astray by the darkness of their own hearts. The novel, Lord of the Flies by William Golding, serves as a brilliant metaphor of the loss of innocence and man’s innate inclination to evil. Throughout the novel, a certain beast is said to roam the island, terrifying the children. The boys became paranoid about this monster and sought to put an end to this beast. Simon, a quiet young boy, wandered away from the crowd and eventually went mad of dehydration. In his stupor, Simon hallucinated that beast was speaking to him in the form of a pig’s head. “Fancy thinking the beast was something you could hunt and kill! … You know, didn’t you? I’m part of you? Close, close, close! I’m the reason why it’s no go? Why things are what they are?” (Golding, 143). With the correct perspective, it becomes clear that the beast is not a real, tangible creature, but an internal force, a manifestation of evil. Simon understood this beast as the Lord of the Flies, thus the title of the novel. “Lord of the flies” is a literal translation of the Hebrew word, “Beelzebub”, which is a name for Satan. While this portion of the book is minor in the