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Comparing Evil In Lord Of The Flies And A Long Way Gone

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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. People are more tempted to act a certain way if someone in a position above their own commands them to do so. In A Long Way Gone, Ishmael is forced to adapt to the savagery of the government soldiers …show more content…

Current situations affect the instinct for savage behavior. Phillip Zimbardo, author of The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil, claims, “Each of us, given certain uncontrolled circumstances, is capable of sadistic or abusive behavior. When faced with difficult situations, people are forced to adapt their behavior to the environment around them due to their survival instincts (The Lucifer). In Lord of the Flies, the situation on the island causes the boys to revert to savagery. Since they are left on a deserted island with no adults, the boys have to take matter into their own hands and find a way to survive. Jack and Ralph use barbaric behavior to strike fear in the other boys on the island and get them to follow their evil wishes (Lord of the Flies 146). People can also reveal their evil side as an attempt to conform to stereotypes and social groups. In the Stanford prison experiment, the guards and prisoners both let their savage instinct take the better of them when they were trying to fit the part of their assigned social role. “Within a very short time both guards and prisoners were setting into their new roles, with the guards adopting theirs quickly and easily” (“Zimbardo” 2). All of these outside effects take part in the internal struggle between ones good side and evil nature in adults, but the effects of evil can grow even more apparent in

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Lord Of The Flies Morality Quotes

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In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, a group of stranded boys survive on an island with no adults, soon their sense of morality falls apart and violence takes place. The loss of morality causes the boys to break the rules and become violent. Eventually, the boys become uncivilized and stop caring about their actions. They get to a point where they disregard logical thought and resort to violence without reason. As the story progresses, the absence of morality causes violence to reign among the boys.

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A Long Way Gone Character Analysis

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How Does Golding Present The Evil In Lord Of The Flies

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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.

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443 Words | 2 Pages

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1057 Words | 5 Pages

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1127 Words | 5 Pages

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