William Golding's Lord Of The Flies

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Sathya Kumaraguru LOTF essay “Man is the cruelest animal.” - Friedrich Nietzsche. Friedrich exemplifies the idea that the nature of man, is a much more cruel and violent creature than any other being on this earth. The novel, Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, follows a group of stranded boys on an island, who attempt to create a society in order to be rescued. At first, the boys are successful in creating a society, as they had certain rules and responsibilities in order to be rescued. However, over time, the boys start to lose the sense of civility, and eventually turned to violence in order to gain power. The natural state of human nature starts to show, as it had once been concealed by associating and cooperating. Hobbes ideas…show more content…
“For there is not ordinarily a greater sign of the equal distribution of anything than that every man is contented with his share.”(Hobbes) Hobbes portrays that men are in no way equal to each other in any aspect of life, other than the assumption that their own abilities are greater than others, which is seen to be a universal belief that all humans share. Hobbes uses words and phrases such as “greater” and “contented with his share”, to relate to the reader his idea of cockiness, and a sense of pride in one's own belief. By relating to Hobbes’s writing, it gives the reader a guilty feeling because it is true in most cases. Even if it is clearly shown that another individual outclasses another in every way, the defeated one will still think that somehow they are better, and will always want more power to complement their abilities. The idea of superiority and cockiness is clearly reflected in Golding’s work in Lord of the Flies when the boys first landed on the island. At first they were trying to mimic their old society, and to accomplish this goal they decide to vote for a cheif,“I ought to be chief,” said Jack with simple arrogance,”because I’m chapter chorister and head boy. I can sing C sharp.”(22) Jack expresses his confidence and his belief…show more content…
“Yet they will hardly believe there be many so wise as themselves; for they see their own wit at hand, and other men's at a distance.” People will not believe that other people’s abilities are as great as their own, as they don’t pay attention to others as they do their own abilities. Hobbes used words such as “wise as themselves” to portray his idea of humans being self obsessed and focused on themselves. Hobbes, in his story Leviathan, portrays to the reader how the nature of men is in reality very greedy and self-obsessed.“I’m going off by myself. He can catch his own pigs. Anyone who wants to hunt when I do can come too.”() Jack is tired of listening to Ralph's ideas as he believes his own beliefs are superior than others, which included hunting pigs over being rescued, which is clearly seen to be the lesser priority. The idea of cockiness in oneself is clearly seem through Jack’s thoughts.Golding used phrases such as “can catch his own pigs” to illustrate Jack’s arrogance towards Ralph, as he doesn’t believe he is skilled enough to catch a pig. Rousseau, an english philosopher, believed that humans, on the contrary to Hobbes, are naturally good, but society corrupts them. This cannot be seen in Lord of the Flies, as in the beginning of the novel Jack also wanted to be greedy and benefit himself, which

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