Human Nature And Evil In William Golding's Lord Of The Flies

Throughout the novel of Lord of the Flies, William Golding provides a profound insight into human nature. Golding builds on a message that all human beings have natural evil inside them. To emphasize, the innate evil is revealed when there’s lack of civilization. The boys are constantly faced with numerous fears and eventually break up into two different groups. Although the boys believe the beast lives in the jungle, Golding makes it clear that it lurks in their hearts. The message of inner evil is portrayed throughout the book by the destruction of the conch, terrifying beast, and character developments to establish the hidden message throughout the novel.

For instance, at the beginning of the novel, the conch symbolized order and power.

The name “Lord of the Flies” is a reference to the name of the Biblical devil Beelzebub, which symbolizes the evil that potentially exists in the heart of every human. The beast was first introduced in the novel by a boy, described as “shrimp of a boy, about six years old, and one side of his face was blotted out by a mulberry-colored birthmark.” (Golding, 27). In reality, the beast is not real, it actually represents the children 's fears about themselves. The boys end up letting out the beast, which is the savagery hiding within them. During Simon’s encounter with the Lord of the Flies, Golding reveals the central issue concerning human nature. Simon reaches the realization that they fear the beast because it exists within each of them. The Lord of the Flies tells Simon that the beast is inside each boy and cannot be killed. The boys go from behaving like civilized young men to brutal savages. “What I mean is…maybe it’s only us.” (Golding, 77). Although the boys laugh at Simon’s idea, his belief conforms Golding’s idea that inner evil exists. The boys develop into the beast when they kill Simon. Simon was desperate to explain the unidentified creature on the mountain but the boys weren’t in the mood for listening to him. With his brutal murder by the other boys, chaos takes over civilized order on the island. Piggy was the representative of maturity of thought and rationality. However, his maturity

“They hate you, Ralph. They’re going to do you. They’re going to hunt you tomorrow.” (Golding, 170). After all the chaos from previous chapters of the novel, Ralph realizes that he’s completely isolated and lonely. No Piggy to talk sense, no Simon, and Samneric wasn’t by his side. Eric says, “Ralph, Jack, the chief, says it’ll be dangerous and we’ve got to be careful and throw our spears like at a pig. We’re going forward from this end until we find you.” (Golding, 170). Ralph has worked tirelessly to retain the structure of civilization and maximize the chances of being rescued. However, Jack and his tribe are eager to hunt Ralph down. In this final scene, it is clear that savagery completely took over civilization on the island. “Fun and games,” said the officer. (Golding, 181). The naval officer correctly identified the hunt, because the boys allowed the inner evil dominate themselves. “I should have thought a pack of British boys would have been able to put up a better show than that.” Ralph tried to explain to the officer that it was a jolly good show, like the Coral Island. “The officer, surrounded by these noises, was moved and a little embarrassed. He turned away to give them time to pull themselves together; and waited, allowing his eyes to rest on the trim cruiser in the distance” (Golding, 182). Even with the presence of the