How Does Golding Present The Evil In Lord Of The Flies

William Golding provides an answer to our life long question about our nature in his novel Lord of the Flies. Golding expresses our evil nature with examples of an arrogant, young boy who loses track of society and brings his crew down with him. The author also shows even the most reasonable boys, Ralph and Piggy, begin to go savage after living without laws or consequences. Golding contrasts philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s ideas by continuing to portray the fall of mankind with symbols that show that humans true nature is evil, yet we are able to hide our nature well. Golding uses Freudian’s ideas throughout the novel, therefore, proving that a psychological allegory is used showing humans evil nature. To begin, Golding first focuses

In particular, the author shows Ralph, the kind hearted leader, eventually losing control over his superego. Golding captures this in chapter 10, with guilt overflowing Ralph, “That was murder . . . We was scared! said Piggy excitedly. Anything might have happened. It wasn’t- what you said . . . p’raps he was only pretending-”(156). This quote conveys Piggy and Ralph feeling guilty about Simon’s murder, showing even the most civilized have begun to go savage. This evidence also poses proof that even the most reasonable and law abiding children cannot hide their nature any longer. Similarly, Golding displays Roger as a silent boy who understands right from wrong; yet later in the novel, Roger murders Piggy. The author says, “Round the squatting child was the protection of parents and school and policemen and the law. Roger’s arm was conditioned by a civilization that knew nothing of him and was in ruins”(Golding 62). In this quote, Roger is relying on basic worldly taught rules that taught him right from wrong, he remembers consequences from parents, school, and the law. Due to being new to this freedom, Roger thinks he cannot hurt the littluns; once he realizes that there are no guardians or rules later in the novel, Roger taps into his evil nature and murders Piggy. Hence,

After the murder of Simon, the text states, “the parachute filled and moved . . . still falling, it sank toward the beach and the boys rushed screaming into the darkness”(Golding 153). This piece of evidence represents the fall of all society between the group of boys; it seems as if all rules, order, and discipline has left with the parachutist and Simon’s body. The boys have thrown away their civilization and have almost all regressed to savagery. The boys prove that without laws, we exploit our power and cannot hide our nature. Similarly, Claire Rosenfield helps analyze the novel psychologically with her article “A Psychological Analysis of William Golding’s Lord of the Flies”. Rosenfield breaks down another symbol of the fall of society in the novel, she states, “In the subsequent struggle, one of the lenses of Piggy’s spectacles is broken. The dominance of reason is over; the voice of the old world is stilled”. Rosenfield explains that Piggy’s glasses symbolize reason, so once the glasses were falling apart, it represented the fall of mankind between the boys. This quote earlier in the novel foreshadowed that the boys were becoming savages. Thus, Golding shows that once the boys lost order, they were bound to show their evil nature or their “id” personality based on Freudian’s