Khalil Gibran Lord Of The Flies Quote Analysis

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The matter of morality makes for a deceptively complex discussion. Good and evil actions are categorized variously by different religions, organizations, families, and authors. Moral alignment, a popularized system mainly used referencing fictional and historical characters, classifies people and characters by their views and reaction to the world. Before this system surfaced among the recent generation, authors, playwrights, and philosophers have established their own contrasting views on the idea of human nature. Among these was William Golding, who elucidates in his novel Lord of the Flies how humankind will eventually dissolve reason and civility and resort to their most base and visceral instincts. Contrastingly, in

Khalil Gibran explicates his philosophy through the excerpt’s descriptive passages. He outlines how humanity is not reduced to evil when they demonstrate neutrality or do the bare minimum, signifying evilness did not exist in their natural state. The concept of goodness is likened to being competent or unhindered in word and deed. Gibran selects a variety of examples to demonstrate how goodness exists within humanity, such as having clear speech and being lucid: “You are good when you are one with yourself…, when you are fully awake in your speech”; and being willing to give and traversing a clear path: “you are good when you strive to give of yourself…, when you walk to your goal firmly and with bold steps”. To contrast, Gibran also explains “When you are not one with yourself you are not evil…, you are not evil when you seek gain for yourself…, you are not evil when you sleep while your tongue staggers without purpose…, you are not evil when you [walk] limping…”. Gibran thought that doing the bare minimum is the basis of humanity, that our primal instincts, possibly self-centered and ignorant, are what we rely on to

In comparison, they both insinuate goodness as the ideal; goodness is treated as the most logical or generous decision in each work, being favored over evil, whether the good decision is chosen or not. Gibran implores, “You who are strong and swift, see that you do not limp before the lame, deeming it kindness. You are good in countless ways”. In Golding’s, Piggy beseeches their friends, the tribe of hunters, “Which is better, to have rules and agree, or to hunt and kill?... Which is better, law and rescue, or hunting and breaking things up?” (180). They also agree that the basis of human nature is less than good. However, they disagree on the actual substance of human action. Gibran believes that natural inclination is not evil, but certainly not as well-developed as virtue; he declares “in some of you that longing is a torrent rushing with might to the sea… and in others it is a flat stream that loses itself in angles and bends and lingers before it reaches the shore”. This clarifies the notion of humankind being connected at their roots, each attaining direction, yet each individual possessing different goals and a different path of existence. Golding believes human nature is savagery, which is masked only by society’s rules impressed upon the people. When Roger, one of the most violent boys, begins to fling rocks at another boy, his guilt pressures him to only throw in the boy’s