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Lord of the Flies Essay Level 4 In Lord of the Flies, Golding illustrates how everyone can be turned back to their animal savage instincts. As a matter of fact, even young and innocent boys can be turned into murderous savages in only a matter of months. It can be argued that Roger’s sadistic behavior in Lord of the Flies demonstrates how all humans will revert to their primal instincts when left to their own devices. This is shown through Roger crushing other boy’s sand castles early on in the novel to eventually killing, torturing, and sodomizing the other boys towards the end.
In the Roman Empire, England, France, and the Middle East, ever since people have been around, there has always been conflict and fighting. A common theme in war is inhumanity. For example, in World War I mustard gas would produce terrible blisters on soldiers who were exposed to it. Empathy for those suffering young men was not present in those causing the pain.
Lord of the Flies Essay Revision In the book, Lord of the Flies by WIlliam Golding, a group of young boys are stranded on an island all alone, which turns to have a horrible outcome- murder and savagery. Golding uses a variety of symbols to paint the picture of little boys turning savage, one symbol being ¨the beast¨. Throughout the use of the beast as a symbol of fear, as seen when the boy´s find a dead parachuter and confuse it with the beast, Golding suggests that every human has a beast in them, and humans are the only thing that should be feared. From the start, it was clear to see how rapidly the boys were starting to turn into savages on account of their fear of the beast. Piggy and Simon were the first to figure the puzzle out on page 84, during an assembly to discuss about the beast.
To elaborate on motif, there is a chant that keeps repeating among the group of little boys “Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!” (Golding 152). In this excerpt from the book the boys chant leads up to Simon a side characters death.
The character, Simon was like a stronghold for the boys, he was the one who discovers that the beast, rather than a physical object, was themselves, “maybe it’s only us” (…). However, this was not what the boys wanted to hear. Like Jesus, Simon who wanted to save the boys and tried on multiple occasions, was killed for trying to save mankind, or in this case all the boys on the island. Upon his death, Golding depicts Simon death as,
In Lord of the Flies by WIlliam Golding, a group of boys are flying away from England because of the war that is going on and eventually get stranded on an island. The boys go through a journey of learning how to survive by themselves in a foreign place with no one else but them. Golding writes his characters very well and they are very thought out, whether it be from the way they look to the way their mannerisms slightly change from the start of the book to the end. One of the big differences in Golding's characters is that all the other boys have some form of evil in them, some more than others. One character had no evil in him, Simon is the only boy who does not fall victim to mob mentality but he does fall victim to the other boys on the island.
It has been said several times throughout history that human nature is constitutionally a negative force. This is further shown in William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies when numerous young boys aged twelve and under are stranded on an island after a plane crash during World War 2. These children abandon all civilization and grow more savage as the literature progresses. The main boys: Ralph, Simon, Piggy, and Jack change exponentially throughout the novel, gradually losing themselves and any culture they had. Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, depicts human nature’s inherent evil and man’s inability to escape it.
Although the other boys laugh off Simon’s suggestion, Simon’s words are central to Golding’s philosophy of anti-transcendentalism, that innate human darkness exists. Simon is the first character in the novel to see “mankind’s essential illness” which in turn, shows the beast not as an external force but as a component of human nature. Simons deep understanding of the beast is further expressed in his hallucination or his “discussion” with the lord of the flies that he has after one of his fainting spells, “There isn't anyone to help you. Only me. And I'm the Beast...
Evil is Within Everyone Without thinking, the laws and social rules we abide by every day are actually a fragile barrier keeping the worst of human nature from overtaking modern society. In the allegorical novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding, a plane full of British school boys is shot down over an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. They are stranded without adult supervision or means to communicate with the outside world. This creates the perfect setting for Golding to explore the best and worst of human nature. It is in this setting that Golding illustrates what can happen when laws and rules vanish and human instinct reigns.
William Golding uses the theme that humans are naturally bad at heart, in the book Lord of the Flies to highlight that without the order and respect we choose to live our daily lives with our human nature will ultimately take us into chaos and savagery. Morals are what we choose to live by, this is what keeps us accountable. Morals do not appear overnight. Overtime they are ingrained throughout our childhood. Giving us a sense of right and wrong.
Human behaviors are easy to be changed by the experiences and environment. As the time passes by, the changed behaviors can be worse or better than before. However, most people become worse because of the specific experiences in their life time. In Lord of the Flies, the changes of behavior are occurred obviously in the characters of Jack, Roger, and Ralph.
Everyone has this underlying darkness within them that is hidden away deep inside the nooks and crannies of their hearts. Golding demonstrates this through the use of his major characters, Ralph and Jack. In the novel, Lord of the Flies, the author William Golding utilizes character development to suggest the idea that when individuals are separated from civilization, dark forces will arise and threaten unity and harmony. Golding presents the protagonist, Ralph, who is decently intelligent and completely civilized, to demonstrate how once individuals are pulled away from civilization, the dark forces within them will arise and change how they are for the time being.
The collective fear of the unknown leads to the untimely and accidental death of Simon. The distress present in the boys causes their impulsive action, of Simon’s horrific murder. Fear of “the beast” an imaginary creature causes the boys to act irrational, and provokes survival instincts as a result of life threatening terror. The fear of the boys in this moment is epitomized when they chant, “Kill the beast!, Cut his throat, Spill his blood!” (168).
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.”
Evil has always been evident, throughout the history of man examples of evil are apparent, so why would our literature be any different? Written in 1959 William Golding's novel Lord of the Flies is no different, as its theme explores the natural evils of man through the plot. The book tells of the events that occur after a group of young boys are marooned on an island, the main characters Ralph, Jack, Piggy, and Simon, grapple with finding food and water while they struggle with the return of more animalistic instincts without the guiding hand of civilization. The intrinsic evil and unavoidable sins of man are are exposed through William Golding’s characterization and overlying themes in Lord of the Flies. Man as an individual carries evil
