Lord Of The Flies Good Vs Evil

The concepts of good and evil have been debated throughout the history of man and they continue to affect society. Golding argues throughout the book that all humans have a primitive and savage instinct within them and it often leads to evil and immorality when left unregulated by the guiding principles of society. Golding was influenced by WWII as he wrote the novel and his perception of human nature and the capacity of societal leadership greatly shifted. Golding felt that the immorality and sinful nature of man could not be restricted by society or any other social influence because of the atrocious and savage crimes that he witnessed during WWII. It was not a few evil many that performed these deeds but ordinary citizens. In many ways

Jack is the primary example of this savage instinct; however, nearly all the characters fall victim to their primitive bloodlust and selfishness. Jack devolves into a animal and his primary concern is “meat” and killing the pigs. He begins “to dance and his laughter became a bloodthirsty snarling” after covering himself in paint (64). Jack’s paint is symbolic of his transformation from a well behaved head choir boy into a bloodthirsty savage that craves power and destruction. Similarly to Jack, Roger progresses from a well-raised English boy into a bloodthirsty murder. This savage nature reveals itself early on in the novel when he throws rocks at the younger Henry; however, there remains a force, “invisible, yet strong”, that prevented him from hitting Henry because “Roger’s arm was conditioned by a civilization that knew nothing of him and was in ruins” (62). Later on in the story, Roger breaks free from his moral education and gives in to his desire for blood and destruction when he murders Piggy. Roger represents the sadist that resides in everyone. He relishes the opportunity to witness others suffering and he continues to seek more evil ways to hurt others, for example: “he sharpened a stick at both ends” to spear Ralph. He has completely devolved and allowed his most primitive desires to take control of him. Without any guiding authority to repress

The source of violence and savagery is fear. When the hunters begin to feel scared and restless after it starts to thunder and rain, Jack took the lead and started a dance, yelling “Come on! Dance!” (151). The dance turned into violence and “Roger became the pig, grunting and charging at Jack” (151). Even Piggy and Ralph “under the threat of the sky, found themselves eager to take place in this demented but partly secure society” (152). When people feel like they are in danger, they turn to their most primitive instincts, and any guiding principles and morals they once had become secondary to survival. People feel most safe when surrounded by others and they all enter a mob mentality. All individuality and rational thought are sacrificed so that they can feel safe. The dance further devolves into murder when the boys see Simon stumble out of the forest and begin chanting “Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!” as they all “lept on the beast, screamed, struck bit, tore” (152-3). In this mob, the boys lose their ability to think properly and control their actions. They turn to sin and murder merely because they are scared and everybody else is attacking Simon. It is very clear that it is not a beast, but Simon, as he “was crying out … something about a body on the hill” and was extremely small, but the boys