Human Defects In Lord Of The Flies By William Golding

Humanity’s defects have led to suffering and ruin throughout history. There would not have been war, murder, enslavement, or annihilation if humanity were a completely ethical society. Unfortunately, human defects are simply part of our nature and cannot be extinguished entirely. We see these defects and their effects in William Golding’s renowned novel Lord of the Flies. Lord of the Flies is a book where a group of British schoolboys are deserted on a distant island and begin to lose sight of civilization for savagery. Selfishness and humanity’s inclination to violence are two key human defects that lead to the destruction of order on the island.

The self-serving nature of the boys aids in the rise of barbarity and the fall of society. Humanity’s sense of self-preservation is an important element to our survival, but when that sense turns to selfishness, there

The boys’ willingness and even desire to do violent things destroy order and common sense. After Jack returns from hunting and slaughtering a pig, he reminisces wistfully about the power he had held over that creature. The narrator observes that “[Jack’s] mind was crowded with memories …[the] knowledge that they had outwitted a living thing, imposed their will upon it..." (84). Jack’s apparent thirst for blood and violence leads to the rise of pain and suffering on the island. Killing for survival is one thing, but killing for the pleasure of it is what differentiates a hunter from a serial killer. However, not only does Jack have the capacity for violence in him. When a group of hunters chases down a bleeding sow, they are “wedded to her in lust, excited by the long chase and the dropped blood” (170). The boys’ inclination to violence makes them forget the cruelty they were perpetuating, only the rush of blood and gore. This human flaw of violence causes the end of common sense and democracy and the rise of brutality and