How many hour must a bunch of kids be stranded on an island in order to go insane? According to William Golding approximately twelve hours. William Golding was a grade school teacher when he wrote lord of the flies, but prior to that, he fought in WWII. His time on the battlefield changed him dramatically when he came back from the war his outlook on society had changed a lot. William Golding now believed that all men were inherently evil. One theme of the book Lord of The Flies is that all men, even children, are evil.
To begin, Jack’s words foreshadow his inherent evil. When the boys all gather on the beach to get themselves situated, Jack says "We've got to have rules and obey them. After all, we're not savages. We're English, and the English
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At one of the meeting when all the boys gathered one of the boys talked about a "Bestie" (pg. 42), in the woods. This is the first mention of the bestie in the book. It is important because the bestie is one of the driving factors in the book, it is why Simon was killed, it is one of the things that drives the children insane, and its existence is highly debated on amongst the children. In the book, the beastie is a giant snake who lives in the woods and only comes out at night. But in reality, the bestie is a metaphor for the evil that lies within the children. The beastie that the children fear so much is the children themselves. The bestie is William Golding introducing the reader to the evil creature that lies within these children and in his eyes all men.
In conclusion, the theme of the lord of the flies is that all men are evil. William Golding shows this through his use of Jack's insistence on rules, then Jack's descent into madness, then his introduction of the beastie, all to drive home the point that everyone, even children, is evil. Lord of The Flies is a book that can teach the reader about the inherent darkness in everyone, and how important society is in maintaining