Evil In Lord Of The Flies Essay

1108 Words5 Pages
One of the most famous and extensively studied literary works of the twentieth century is in direct violation of arguably the most commonly accepted belief about human nature. It is typically thought that humans are born ethically good and are then corrupted by society. Quite contrarily, author William Golding clearly expresses in his novel Lord of the Flies that humanity is indeed evil in nature, and that these “defects” are the reason for which there exists manifold problems in our societies. Within his writing Golding provides evidence to this claim, the first being the “beast” in the novel which symbolizes the darkness that resides within each human being that evokes our primitive instincts of savagery. Second, in each character some definable…show more content…
As the group of boys continue the process of leaving behind civilization, the smaller children fear the unknown and invent the notion of a physical beast that could be hunted and killed. The boys are all convinced that some kind of beast exists, but none of them realized, with the exception of Simon, that it lies within them. This is confirmed in the eighth chapter, when the “Lord of the Flies” explicitly states the following: “…Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill!…You knew, didn’t you? I’m part of you?…”. Here, Golding suggests that humankind is essentially a barbaric and savage species. He uses the symbolism of the beast to communicate this idea, as it functions as the main source of fear and panic among the boys which leads to their descent into savagery, as soon as there is an absence in authority. Further, we can affirm that this part of our nature cloaks itself with the appearance of a cooperative, ordered, and harmonious civilization, otherwise known as society. Essentially, we are predisposed to the evil exhibited in the novel, and in attempt to control this evil, we have created what we know as laws, rules, and
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