Innate Viciousness Of Humankind In Lord Of The Flies By William Golding

The Innate Viciousness of Humankind

In, William Golding's story Lord of the Flies he tells the story of a group of boys who find themselves stranded on an island with no adult figures. As the story progresses, they establish a not-so-dependent system of rules and organization. Yet, without the structure and punishment of adults, the boys become uncontrollably violent. In Golding's narrative, he provides a symbolic feel to the readers through the use of allegories; also known as a strategic way to convey a deeper meaning which is not explicitly given in a novel. According to Golding, when humans are not constrained by social norms, human nature leads them away from reason and towards savagery. William Golding's famous novel Lord of the Flies

He writes, "Kill the pig. Cut her throat. Bash her in..." (Golding 75), the group chants when they have killed their first pig. In a setting where there are no defined standards to live by, this simple chant discreetly illustrates the savagery that has gradually taken hold inside the community. By using this allegory in Lord of the Flies Golding is showing how not having people to look up to or listen to in life can change people's personalities and their internal instincts. Golding later writes, "He could see a striped savage moving hastily out of the green tangle, and coming toward the mat where he hid, a savage who carried a spear..." (198). When Ralph, the last hope of civilization is hunted down by Jack's boys, Golding is directly connecting the group of boys who had been disconnected from society to a group of uncivilized human beings with no control. This also supports the idea that the boys' human character has changed since they arrived following the plane crash. Similarly, this idea of human-born viciousness is supported by Golding as he writes Lord of the Flies is also supported by researchers all

Thomas Hobbes famously wrote, ‘“Life in the state of nature – that is, our natural condition outside the authority of a political state – is ‘solitary, poore, nasty brutish, and short”’(Douglass). Hobbes is essentially stating that if society crashed down and people had to live in “a state of nature” without laws or anyone to enforce them, they, like everyone else, would steal and commit crimes when necessary. This statement greatly relates to the novel Lord of the Flies specifically when the boys were struggling to find food and water to survive, it was rational for Jack to kill Simon before Simon turned to kill Jack and his team. “We’re naturally self-interested and look out for ourselves first and foremost” (Douglass) Thomas Hobbes said supporting Golding’s views. It is just human nature for people to put themselves first no matter what the situation is. While it may come down to being near civilization or not, no matter who people are around their selfish souls will always unintentionally take control and put themselves first in front of anyone else. Moreover, the human body is born innately evil and will always do what is best for itself first, intentionally or