How Does Golding Present Human Nature In Lord Of The Flies

Humanity is civilized, harmonious, and advanced. People believe that they are good and could do no wrong. But in reality, that is far from the truth. Although society has managed to condition people far enough away from their savage and evil roots, it doesn’t cover up that deep down, humanity is malicious. In his novel, The Lord of the Flies, Golding portrays human nature as evil, which is an accurate representation of how ruthless and violent humanity is at its core.

Golding presents human nature as an evil that, although society tries to change, will always resurface. Although Ralph is one of the more logical and peaceful characters on the island, he too got carried away by his violent urges. When in the forest with Jack and Roger,

During the Stanford Prison experiment, college student volunteers were put in a position that brought out their worst. Similar to the corruption of power in Animal Farm, the authority that the volunteer guards immediately received changed how they began to act. With the additional anonymity, these average people turned into heartless rulers. They began to punish the prisoners excessively; the guards “escalated very noticeably their level of harassment, increasing the humiliation they made the prisoners suffer, forcing them to do menial, repetitive work such as cleaning out toilet bowls with their bare hands” (Stanford Prison Experiment). When given the opportunity, people revert to savagery and evil; when all forms of identity and respect are gone, nothing is stopping the guards from abusing their role. However, this sudden burst of abusing power and control is not something that is because of the person themself. The situation and environment can bring out evil much faster than anything else. Since the guards and prisoners were placed in such an environment that they will have total gain or loss of power and control, they acted accordingly. When choosing volunteers, “there were no differences between boys assigned to be a prisoner and boys assigned to be a guard” (Stanford Prison Experiment). Although many of these volunteers came into the experiment relatively similar, the circumstances brought out these boys’ evil instincts, much like in Lord of the Flies. This experiment demonstrates how quickly people get corrupted by power, and how much of a role humanity’s evil nature