Evil In Lord Of The Flies

It took mankind thousands of years to emerge from a state of darkness that, under certain circumstances, can be restored in the blink of an eye. A group of British schoolboys get stranded on an uncharted island in Lord of the Flies by William Golding. Ralph, the rightful chief, butts heads with Jack, a hot-tempered redhead, about the main objective of the group-rescue or meat. Jack immediately urges the group to hunt for food, volunteering himself and the choir to fulfill the task. Many older boys, referred to as bigguns, follow suit with Jack and create their own group of savages. Roger, a biggun, later becomes Jack’s right-hand man allowing him to show his true evil alias. All humans, when isolated from the moral laws of society, will eventually regain a forgotten malicious behavior.

An experiment was conducted within a simulated prison to see how normal men would adapt to their given role as guards or inmates. The guards wore, “mirrored shades, to prevent eye contact” and make themselves unknown (Shuttleworth). Staying hidden allowed the guards to quickly resort to punishing the prisoners. One’s actions seem less impactful while being faceless because they do not suffer any consequences. Similarly, Jack instinctively hides behind a mask to be, “liberated from shame and self-consciousness” imposed by civilization (Golding, Lord 64). Both the guards and Jack deceptively hid themselves from the world to be overcome by their corrupt alter egos. Mankind may have lost the forward appearance of savagery but deep within there is still a sinful darkness gripping