Lord of the Flies
Since the beginning of time, man has shown his capacity for evil. To this day, war is still raging around the world, with people fighting against other people. Yet, what keeps man from completely destroying himself? William Golding reveals his view of man's nature through the central theme of his novel, Lord of the Flies. He explains that man is inherently evil and the only aspect holding him back from man's primitive behavior is the moral influence of civilization. For it is society that holds everything together with its rules, values, and consensus of right and wrong. A person's morality is developed because of civilization's emphasis on respecting others. When the rules of society no longer govern a person's action, he loses all sense of moral identity. First, society causes people to respect each other. This is symbolized in the beginning by the presence of the conch which summons and unites the boys in order to form a civilization. The conch serves as a regulator of democracy. " 'We'll have to have hands up, like school... then I'll give them the conch [to speak]' "(Golding 31). This quote shows the universal understanding tha
Respect for others and priority in morals are all products of society that aid in restraining man's inner evil. However, as time passes, the desire to return to civilization is replaced by the primal desire to seek, kill, destroy as seen in their chant: "'Kill the beast! Cut his throat. The beast accomplishes in unleashing the boys' inner evil by the use of face paint, which allows the boys to mask their identity and excuse their uncivilized behavior. Most importantly, it is society that prevents people from destroying themselves completely. The lack of respect for others is relevant when Jack has Wilfred tied up for no particular reason and when he and his tribe tries to murder Ralph. At the start of the novel, maintaining the fire was first priority amongst the boys. Laws and rules are necessary to keep the darker side of human nature in line. They prefer selfishness and anarchy to responsibility and democracy. As time progressed, the mutual respect for authority and the power of the conch begins to diminish. Maintaining an organized society is no longer the boys' first priority. The assembly begins to disrespect the conch's possessor, and the rules of their society starts to falter. Roger blatantly reveals man's inner evil when he brutally kills Piggy, without regret or sympathy.
Common topics in this essay:
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William Golding,
Jack Wilfred,
Berkley Publishing,
Choe Choe,
Honors English,
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inner evil,
man's inner evil,
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human nature,
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