Evil And Lord Of The Flies Analysis

Lord of the Flies by William Golding is an explanation of the tendencies of human nature. Likewise, Khalil Gibran’s poem GOOD and EVIL puts forth a very similar message, of the power struggle between GOOD and EVIL within ourselves. Evil is the more tempting of the 2 powers. But, the human race has evolved over thousands of years to become tenacious, to fight for survival. To hold a metaphorical light in a dark, unpropitious situation. Both works ask us: what are the limits of the human spirit and how do we fight EVIL within ourselves?

Similarly, in the book Lord of the Flies, EVIL is presented as being innate, unwanted, even though it can be used to motivate and aid us in critical situations. When the boys first discovered they were marooned

Golding certainly gives us a view of the personalities of the characters, and also the influences present in the country at the time. An intriguing point is when Simon is presented as a Jesus-esque figure. He is kind, mends the huts (Jesus was a carpenter), and provides the children with the fruit they can’t reach. This also falls in line with the message the Bible presents us with, to live selflessly and to put others needs before your own without haste. In the case of Simon “communicating” with the pigs head, he learned that there is no beast to be afraid of- the only entity to be afraid of is the evil inside. Ergo, the beast is seen as a metaphor alluding to the evil within all human beings. It is interesting that Jack and his group are the first to succumb to their primal, savage, urges, because they were choir boys at a presumably christian school. “In your longing for your giant self lies your goodness: and that longing is in all of you. But in some of you that longing is a torrent rushing with might to the sea, carrying the secrets of the hillsides and the songs of the forest.” (Gibran) This is a passage that relates very well to the scene when Simon was killed after discovering the body on the mountain, and was trying to explain that the beast isn’t real before he was consequently killed. He was thrown into the sea, and he floated away, carrying away the secret of the

Simon’s selflessness is best described in the line “you are good when you strive to give yourself” (Gibran) . But, “yet you are not evil when you seek gain for yourself.” At what point is the line crossed between being too egotistical? Jack and Roger obviously ignored the pressures, or “rules” that the society that they had been forgotten by to further advance themselves at a cost to others, and it eventually became a part of their life, like a game to them. We get early implications of what is to come when they abandon the smoke fire (Jack and his group) and go to hunt pigs and when Ralph asks them why they left their post, they instead give him a play by play on how they almost killed a pig. The key word there is “almost”. They could have killed the pig, but they didn’t realize they had it in them until they replayed the situation in their head. Once they tasted blood at first, they couldn’t stop. The power their ability to hold the life of another creature in their hand eventually consumed them, and led to one too many people dying. Jack believed that “you are good when you walk to your goal firmly and with bold steps.”, except his goal was all consuming power and anyone who stood in his way wouldn’t stand a chance. So, does that make him righteous? It certainly isn’t