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What Is The Male Tendency To Violence In Lord Of The Flies

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The story “Lord of the Flies” is a book that demonstrates how male characters switch to their primal instincts, and tend to violence. This story, however, only consists of male characters with only one female voice ever presented, Piggy’s aunt. The debate that surrounds this book, argues whether or not this story is about the tendency to violence that all humans face, or just the male tendency to violence. In this essay, one will learn whether or not the book is about all humans or just the male tendency to violence. This will be discussed through looking at William Golding’s life experiences and their reflection on the book and the signs of evil shown on the island. When writing the book, William Golding decided to use only male characters …show more content…

In chapter 5, Simon realizes that the beast is not actually a physical beast, but the inherent evil inside each and everyone of the boys. This means that the beast within themselves symbolizes the primal instinct of savagery existing in all human beings. Finally, when Simon was murdered by the boys in chapter 9, it signified the final straw of the boy’s descent into savagery. The boys mistook him for the beast and danced around singing rituals. The boys killed Simon, which marked the ultimate loss of innocence. This event in the book shows how fear and the evil that lives inside everyone can overcome one's morals and control oneself. “Simon's dead body moved out toward the open sea.” (PG187) The boys all contributed towards Simon’s death and left him to float out to sea. In conclusion, William Golding’s “Lord of the Flies” could have been significantly changed if he had decided to include female characters. The book would have represented and demonstrated totally different themes and perhaps resulted in a different ending. William Golding decided to only include male characters, however, to demonstrate the male tendency to violence rather than that of all

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