Rhetorical Strategies In Lord Of The Flies, By William Golding

“The line between good and evil is permeable and almost anyone can be induced to cross it when pressured by situational forces.” This quote was said by Philip Zimbardo during his ‘Psychology of Evil’ TED talk. Zimbardo explains in his presentation what defines humans as good or evil. He goes into depth on the negative impact of the external environment of a person. He follows by saying his ideology of evil came from the novel Lord of The Flies by William Golding. In Lord of The Flies, Golding uses a variety of rhetorical strategies in order to create a story about a group of boys who crashed on a desert island and are forced to adapt to the primitive environment. … thesis: Golding uses many rhetorical strategies throughout the Lord of the Flies; the most evident forms being

Among the many rhetorical strategies used by Golding, one of the most prominent forms is irony. He uses this device to not only foreshadow, but to portray the true evil in human nature. Although the group of boys did not seem savage to begin with, the trait became very apparent, eventually. Before the setting started to effect the boys and their morals, there was order and respect within the group. The leader of this group was Roger, leaving a not so pleased Jack as runner up. During the first group meeting while discussing laws, jack says, “I agree with Ralph. We’ve got to have rules and obey them. After all, we’re not savages.” This statement is ironic because Jack eventually becomes the most savage out of the boys, leading the group who kills Piggy towards the end of the novel. Golding does an excellent job of using this piece of irony