How would you act if you were stranded on an island? William Golding demonstrates how violence comes hand in hand with human nature in his novel Lord of the Flies; a story about a group of boys who get stranded on a secluded island. Through the experience of the boys surviving on the island when free from the constraints of society, Golding portrays his pessimistic thoughts on the violent behavior of human nature. Multiple scientists and authors support his stance including Stanley Milgram, Philip Zimbardo and Steven Pinker who all have theories that violence is a basic part of human nature. Scientist Stanley Milgram found that 65% of experiment participants would inflict pain in the name of obedience. Similarly, Philip Zimbardo conducted an experiment in Stanford University, which resulted in an early shut down due to the abuse of authority and high levels of violence and aggression. Steven Pinker, the author of The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature, proposes that human nature…show more content… During this, the guards were able to pick out uniforms and were given mirror lens sunglasses and almost immediately assumed new violent and hostile personalities. Similarly, the boys began as mannered civilized English children with a simple goal to get rescued however as time passed on the island they started to lose sight of their morality, forgot their own beliefs and questioned the cogency of their society. With that, they transformed into savages that cared more about hunting and meat than finding a way back home. They had reached the point where Jack who had gained a leadership role in the group suggested to use one of the younger children referred to as a littlun as hunting practice. The boys responded with amusement and laughter to this remark symbolizing their