Examples Of Evil In Lord Of The Flies

Eli Murillo
Thompson/Franco
Honors English 9
23 March 2023
Man’s Inherent Evil
British writer and philosopher Mary Wollstonecraft says, “No man chooses evil because it is evil; he only mistakes it for happiness, the good he seeks.” In Lord of the Flies, a plane evacuating a group of schoolboys crashes into an island leaving them stranded. One of the older boys, Jack, attempts to control everyone through means of violence and force. Another older boy, Ralph, endures the temptations and dangers on the island, whilst trying to get everyone rescued. This book discusses humanity’s natural tendency to choose evil and the boys’ descent from innocence to savagery. Similarly, the Robbers Cave experiment explores how easily conflict can emerge between

At the beginning of Lord of the Flies, Jack shows his obedience and compliance when he says that “I agree with Ralph. We’ve got to have rules and obey them. After all, we’re not savages. We’re English, and the English are best at everything“ (Golding 53). He acts this way because he is still clinging to his usual standards of following rules and listening to his elders. Most young boys are expected to act based on how their parents or teachers want them to, as opposed to what they want to do. After being on an island deprived of adult authority for so long, Jack realizes that he no longer needs to act according to his usual morals. He strays away from the typical behavioral norms and into aggression and savagery when “[all] at once, Robert was screaming and struggling with the strength of frenzy. Jack had him by the hair and was brandishing his knife” (Golding 159). Jack allows the evil obscured in every human to take over his actions by harming the other boys. He gives in to selfish desires locked behind the customary norms of society. Jack may have initially acted conventionally, but naturally, he transitions to evil and is not the only boy on the island to behave this

Ralph tries to prioritize creating a society and establishing order but gives out when “under the threat of the sky, [Piggy and Ralph find] themselves eager to take place in this demented but partly secure society” (Golding 212). At this moment, the boys are reenacting the hunting of a pig. Ralph has never been someone to participate in this kind of foolishness, but in a situation like this, one can lose themselves and bring out the evil that lies within. He is tempted another time when Robert is getting beaten during a chant and “Ralph too was fighting to get near, to get a handful of that brown, vulnerable flesh" (Golding 159). Naturally, one wants to fulfill their immediate desires whether they are harmful or not. These desires are forcibly suppressed by society, but on the island, there is no society. The Robbers Cave experiment also demonstrates humans’ tendency to be