Salvation In Lord Of The Flies Research Paper

Samuel Hynes said that the novel Lord of the Flies “tells us a good deal about evil; but about salvation it is silent.” (249) Considering Lord of the Flies is an extremely influential novel because of its creation after World War 1 and 2 its influence on the culture is important. The book has prompted many evaluations and critiques and the implications of the book supporting the idea if salvation or not could be important. Hynes statement regarding existent evil and the lack of salvation in Lord of the Flies can be proved correct after considering the apparent evils in the book and the misconceptions of salvation. The novel is full of dark ideas and metaphors that no one can deny. The time period in which the novel was written inspired a despairing view of mankind. The horrors of the past shocked many and led people like the author William Golding to see the darkness inside people. The evil in the novel grows slowly like a disease after the boys are stranded.

Roger was a character who showed a great chance towards evil throughout the book. In the beginning of the novel, he was restrained by civilization “Roger stooped, picked up a stone, aimed, and threw it at Henry—threw it to miss… Here, invisible yet strong, was the taboo of the old life.” (66-67) However, by the end of the novel Roger had completely freed himself from the restraints of humanity when he purposely pushed the rock that killed Piggy. “Roger, with a sense of delirious abandonment, leaned all his weight on the lever.” (209) After he released himself into evil, he even “sharpened a stick at both ends” (220) This horrific idea of the stick parallels the death of the sow earlier in