Lord Of The Flies Good Vs Evil

Good vs. evil. Reason vs. instinct. Civilization vs. savagery. These are all examples of internal battles that occur within oneself and which can lead to horrifying consequences. In William Golding’s, Lord of the Flies, a group of young boys find themselves stranded on an island, after a plane crash. Without any adult supervision or guidance, the boys are forced to systematically establish a firm set of rules and duties, in order to coexist on the island. At first everyone, is glad to be assigned their tasks and fulfill the needed requirements to survive. However, things soon turn for the worst, when one by one the boys begin to succumb to the evil within them. With the quick deterioration of societal rules, the boys turn on one another and participate in

But although humans do contain this goodness, it is usually not strong enough to overpower the evil. Forty years after writing “Lord of the Flies” the author explains this exact concept. He states, “We are born with evil in us and cruelty is part of this. Though there is also a capacity for selflessness and love: otherwise we are denying part of our human nature” (Golding, “Why”). All of the boys on the island had both good and evil within them; however, the evil was much stronger and conquered them in the end. The boys were put in a rare situation that combined two deathly aspects: fear and chaos. When people are afraid they realize the violence they can cause, “and when they are afraid together they discover that the violence within them can be almost bottomless” (Golding, “Why”). On the island, there were only two boys who put a firm fight against their violent nature. But in the end this resistance, was what ultimately killed them. No one can argue that there is a share of good and evil in humanity, but when in a tough situation evil has proven in many cases to beat the