Lord of the Flies Essay I believe that human nature is neutral. People are not born naturally bad, but they are not necessarily born good, either. I think that everyone starts off in the middle.
When a child is first born, they have no past influences. Without any past influences, they do not know of anything bad or what the word bad even means. This would refrain a person from having any negative thoughts or performing any wrong actions, which shows that there has to be some sort of spark to trigger the start of evil behavior. There is no past evidence given in the novel on how the boys lives were before they arrived on the island. Because of the lack the knowledge of this, there is no proof that the way they acted was instinct and not
…show more content…
Not only is being stranded on an island extremely stressful, it also can affect one's attitude and judgement. Of course Jack was deemed as the “bad guy” throughout Lord of the Flies, but in no way does this mean he was born evil. I think one reason why he began to act out so wildy was because of his desire to be leader being shot down. When the boys were all gathered at the meeting EVIDENCE Not only was he embarrassed, but he may have also been scared that Ralph’s ideas may not keep them alive and safe. Instead, he resorted to hunting to ensure that he would never go without a …show more content…
At first, they used the conch when they wanted to speak, had meetings, all lived around each other, and were allies. There were multiple events that impacted their order. The first large problem was when they lost the young boy in a forest fire. Before this, not many extreme things had occurred and this made the boys feel much different. When some of the boys began hunting, order was greatly affected. They would be gone for hours, which caused the younger boys to not have a guardian to watch over them as they ran helplessly around like lost puppies. The final piece of order was shattered physically and metaphorically when Jack broke the conch. The conch had brought numerous amounts of order to the boys and kept them in
“The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee; the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist.” (Golding, 181). Jack was the first boy to challenge the power of the conch when he talked out of turn and Ralph scolded him for doing so. Roger pushed a huge rock from the top of Castle Rock onto Piggy and killed him along with the conch he was holding. Golding described the death of the conch as if it was never there to begin with to show that the conch was gone forever and there was nothing the boys could do about it.
His qualities of showing strength along with intelligence sets him apart from the rest of the characters, leaving him to develop essential rules for the group to follow, since it’s the only thing that’s holding the boys back from anarchy (Goulding 91). Such rules were keeping a fire going on the mountains, using the rocks beyond the bathing pool as a lavatory, shelters needing to be built, and keeping water from the stream in coconut shells under fresh leaves. All of these rules ended up being broken by the group and Ralph addressed them during a solemn meeting (Golding 79-81). Their one and only chance to get off the island turned out to be when Jack and the rest of the group disobeyed about keeping the fire lit on the mountain for ships to see the smoke. The “little uns” had started disappearing and without any rules being followed, they were never found.
Look, there ain’t no need, Ralph! What’re the others going to think?” (Golding, 158) The conch started off as a symbol of calmness and was supposed to help the boys keep order, as the conch being a “talking piece”. Later on, it turned into chaos, causing a lot of issues between the boys, and not being the symbol of calmness as it had started off as in the novel.
One character trait that jack shows throughout the story is selfishness. Jack was given the job of watching the signal fire, and instead of doing his job, he went off to hunt. Since jack was not focused on the group the signal fire went out and the ship that could have recused them did not know there were there. Even though he was the reason they did not get rescued, he did not care. He was so worried about himself killing a pig that nothing else
(Golding, Lord 33). The conch was something they could rely on the bring everyone together. So when the conch breaks there was no more rules for them to follow, they could do what they wanted to do. When the boys started to fight “the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist” (Golding, Lord 181). The conch was finally gone.
In the book “Lord of the Flies” Jack isn’t the only one that started the destruction of the island but in my point of view the ultimate cause is Jack is the main cause of the destruction of the island the one that led to the destruction he is careless that only cares about himself and that wants to be the one everyone listens to the one everyone looks up to. In the beginning Jack has always had that ruthless look in him,that feeling of evil I mean he had red hair kinda symbolize as a devil,he saw himself powerful when he sees weak in people he takes advantage of them and makes fun of it without even realizing. One way of Jack seeing himself powerful and better than the others is when he automailty saw himself as chief because he is leader of the choir,and can sing a c sharp “A
I meant that! There isn’t a tribe for you anymore! The conch is gone-” (p.181). Conch can represent respect of the boys because at the beginning of the story person who hold the conch is only one who can speak, but when jack became the dictator; he is the most powerful boy on the island; he destroys the conch violently. The power of Jack destroys respect of other boys.
This digression is caused by the absence of adult supervision on the island, specifically affecting Jack, Roger, and Samneric. Upon arriving at the island, Jack Merridew is a beacon of civilization. After hearing the call of the conch, Jack leads a group of boys dressed in uniforms through the jungle, walking in military fashion. As it states in the text, “the creature was a party of boys, marching approximately in step in two parallel lines and dressed in strangely eccentric clothing” (19).
Represents humanity and their civilization. The blowing the conch is a test to see how far gone Jack's group are from humanity. If they do not come back then all hope of being rescued is gone. Some of the boys like Jack have already been taken over by their savage natures and they can't be rescued from that.
At the beginning they were able to maintain their structured society; they had an election-- a civilized way of selecting their leader-- and they had the conch. As Ralph said “I’ll give the conch to the next person to speak... and he won’t be interrupted. Except by me” (Golding 33). This shows how the children were trying to uphold their constitutional monarchy by having the conch give everyone an opportunity to speak. However, they were not able to uphold their cultural values much longer once fear came into the picture.
The conch is a part of his authority that is being shared with the boys when it is their chance to voice an opinion or idea. In addition, Ralph does not specify that the conch can only be used by a specific group of boys, rather the conch is available for any boy, therefore representing equality and respect for all boys. Furthermore, the conch represents civilization back in England with its rules and structure. When planning a rescue, the boys race off the build a fire. Upon the mention of fire, “half the boys were on their feet.
Rousseau once stated, “Man is born free but feels chained from everywhere he turns to.” Rousseau is conveying that human is born good and is free do what we want, but society force us to change and become evil. In the book Lord of the Flies, William Golding display a story of a group of boys that errant away from their good nature into the evil of savagery of the society. Humans are born good, but inherently turn evil. To begin, humans turn evil of because of the society they live in.
Jack lost his sanity and civility and this changed him in more ways than imaginable. Jack was a natural leader when the boys first came onto the island, but as time continued he became a horrible dictator. On the first day on the island, Ralph and Jack competed for chief of the island. Ralph won. Jack was unhappy with this result, but it didn’t yet throw him into a spiral of craze and anger.
In the 18th century, Genevan philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau influenced the French Revolution through his ideas and principals. In his book, The Social Contract, Rousseau said that every man is born good until corrupted by society. Rousseau was correct in saying that people were born good, people were naturally born with a pure heart because God made us that way. However, one could argue that man is born evil based off of the perspective of society’s moral laws, which Rousseau may not have considered. Man is born evil because every human being is born with a desire for possession and a hunger for power.
Loss of Innocence Is mankind inherently evil? Perhaps children aren’t actually innocent. Nature versus nurture has been a discussion for years whether we develop our personalities from where we grow up or if we are born the way we are. Lord of the Flies written by William Golding, illustrated the theme of loss of innocence; a matter on youth having to quell life’s reality. The effects of the island the novel takes place in posts a violent demeanor on the boys stranded on it.