Inherent Good and Evil in Lord of the Flies Essay

The Lord of the travel by William Golding is tale of a group of young sons who become stranded on a delinquent island afterwards their plane crashes. Intertwined in this classic novel argon many themes, most that relate to the constitutive(a) immorality that exists in all human beings and the malicious nature of mankind. In The Lord of the Flies, Golding set ups the boys gradual rendering from being civilized, well-mannered community to savage, ritualistic beasts. From the time that the boys land on the island, both a office staff struggle and the first signs of the boys inherent evil, hoggishs mockery, occur.After blowing the conch and summoning all the boys to come for an assembly, an election is held. I ought to be chief , said sea dog with simple arrogance, because Im chapter chorister and head boy(Golding 22). After Ralph is elected Chief, Jack envies his position and constantly struggles for power with Ralph throughout the bear of the novel, convincing the rest of the boys to join his tribe rather than to stay with Ralph. Also, soon after the boys arrive at the island, piglet, a somatogenicly weak and vulnerable character, is mocked and jeered at by the other boys.After trying to recount all of the liluns names, shoat is told to Shut up, Fatty, by Jack Merridew. Ralph remarks by saying, Hes not Fatty. His real names Piggy. All of the boys on the island, except for Piggy, laugh and make themselves more comfortable at Piggys expense. A storm of laughter arose and even the tiniest child joined in. For a moment the boys were a c sufferd circuit of sympathy with Piggy outside. (Golding 21). The boys instinctively become more comfortable with one another after Piggys mockery and create a bond, leaving Piggy on the outside.While Jack and Ralph are exploring the island, they reckon a piglet which Jack supposedly attempts to kill. After gaining the courage to kill the vitiate pig, Jack rectifies the situation by saying I was just waiting for a moment to set where to stab him (Golding 31). This event clearly illustrates that along with inherent evil, man is also capable of being good and kind, and has to superior and free will to choose which one he will become. (Ridley 97) Jacks mercy is short-lived, however, and when they find out another pig, Jack and his hunters are relentless.They return to beach ritualistically chanting Kill the pig. Cut her throat. Spill her line of merchandise, where they excitedly explain the details of the hunt. I cut the pigs throat, said Jack, proudly, and yet twitched as he said it (Golding 69). Jack is internally struggling amid his civilized teachings and savage instincts in this example, in which he both proudly ex requires his murder and twitches while doing so. Another example of the boys inherent evil is the brutal murder of the sow. Without any regard for the sows new born(p)s, Jack commands his tribe to attack it.The boys hurled themselves at her. This dreadful eruption from an u nknown world made her frantic she squealed and bucked and the air was full of sweat and resound and blood and terror (Golding 135). The beastistic behavior of the boys frightens the sow, and the reader as well. After the death of the sow, the boys play with its blood and ritualistically celebrate their kill. Jack giggled and flicked them while the boys laughed at his reeking palms. Then Jack grabbed Maurice and rubbed the stuff over his cheeks (Golding 135). The boys show no mercy for the sow and behave like savages.The murder of the sow allows the boys to revert back to their primary instincts (Garbarino 96) and lose all traces of guilt and conscience. In the novel, Ralph and Piggy flirt intelligence, reason, and a government. They also try to refrain from resorting back to their primitive instincts and use reason to try and convince the other boys to do the same. Which is better- to be a pack of painted Indians like you are, or to be sensible like Ralph is? (Golding 180) stat es Piggy. The boys crazed reaction to Piggys question illustrates Piggys point about the civility of himself and Ralph, compared to Jack and the rest of the tribe. many another(prenominal) times throughout the book, Piggy is the voice of reason and helps to guide Ralph along that same road if he loses his way. After scolding Samneric for being pessimistic about their fate, Ralph momentarily forgets the reasons why the show fire is so important. He tried to remember. Smoke, he said, we want smoke. Course we have. Cos the smokes a signal and we cant be rescued if we dont have smoke. I knew that Shouted Ralph (Golding 172). Ralph begins to lose his initial cheerfulness and enthusiasm and replaces it with disinterest and pessimism.Piggy and Ralph separate themselves from Jack and his tribe and continue to get their government. However, when Jack and his tribe kill a pig and invite Ralph and Piggy to join their feast, the both accept and cannot resist the temptation of the meat. Later on in the celebration, Jack and his tribe perform a ritualistic leap, in which Piggy and Ralph later join. Piggy and Ralph, under the threat of the sky, found themselves eager to go through a place in this demented but partly secure society (Golding 152). They realize that the dance fueled the boys to murder Simon, and later deny their participance in it.We left early, said Piggy quickly, because we were tired (Golding 158). Ralph and Piggy recognize the evil in the dance, and know that if the others found out about their participance in it, past the boys would claim that Piggy and Ralph would be going against their own beliefs. Also, by not admitting their partaking in the dance, Piggy and Ralph are denying their affaire in Simons murder and their inherent evil. They do not recall that evil exists within them and believe that it will disappear if they do not believe in it.Simon and Ralph represent goodness and reason, and both encounter the Lord of the Flies. The Lord of the Flies is the head of a pig which is sacrificially given to the beast in order to preserve the boys safety. Simon is the first to talk with the Lord of the Flies, and when he does, he learns that the beast (evil) is not in an animal out in the woods, but in the boys themselves. Fancy you thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill. You knew didnt you? Im part of you, (Golding 143) says the Lord of the Flies to Simon.The Lord of Flies says that the beast is not a physical manifestation that is in the form of an animal that can be hunted and killed, but resides inside the souls of the boys on the island. The Lord of the Flies even says that the Beast is part of Simon, the symbol of goodness, suggesting that all human beings are born with both some evil and goodness. Later on while Ralph is fleeing from Jack and his tribe, he stumbles upon the Lord of the Flies. atomic prickles of sensation ran up and down his back. The teeth grinned, the empty sockets seemed to hold his g aze masterfully and without effort (Golding 185). currently after, Ralph hits the pigs head and smashes it into pieces. By destroying the Lord of the Flies, Ralph denies his internal evil and primitive instincts. The difference between Ralphs and Simons encounter with the Lord of the Flies is that Simon accepts The Lord of the Flies and listens intently to what it is saying to him. However, Ralph destroys it and then walks away from it. Both Ralphs and Simons experience with the Lord of the Flies states that all men are capable of evil, and evil is inherent in all human beings, without exception. (Ridley 107) The Lord of the Flies illustrates the capabilities of evil in all things.All of the boys on the island are tempted by evil, but not all of them give in to the craving. However, along with the evil that lies within all people, there is also a tinge of goodness, suggesting that all people have the free will to choose their destiny. The boys struggle between their anarchic drivin g force, and Ego, their sense and rationale, represent the ongoing feud between good and evil and is both exciting and emotional. The Lord of the Flies is a superbly written novel that will remain in the hearts of all who read it, and touch all who encounter it, much like the evil which it describes.Work Cited Garbarino, Ph. D, James. Lost Boys Why Our Sonds Turn barbarian and How We Can Save Them. New York, NY The Free Press, 1999. Ridley, Matt. Nature Via Nurture. Great Britain Harper Collins Publishers Inc. , 2003. Neubauer, M. D. , Peter B,, and black lovage Neubauer. Natures Thumbprint. New Tork Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Inc. , 1990. Burnham, Terry, and Jay Phelan. Mean Genes. Cambridge, MA Perseus Publishing, 2000. Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. The Berkley Publishing Group.