Human Nature in William Golding's "Lord of the Flies" Essay

One’s behaviour can have an substantial impact on a society's outcome. There is a common notion that humans are nurtured to be peaceful and civil. However this belief is contradicted by the action of the boys, in William Golding’s, “Lord of the Flies”. A group of schoolboys are abruptly thrown out of their controlled and civil circumstances into an inhabited tropical island in the middle of the Pacific. The novel is Golding’s attempt to trace the defects of society back to the defects of human nature, by using symbolism to delineate this theme. Golding’s extensive use of symbolism, such as the conch, the signal fire and the painted faces helps demonstrates the defects of society. These symbols are used by Golding to illuminate the subsequent effects on the boys’ behaviour, which undoubtedly illustrates the defects of human nature on society.

People interact together to create a society. And within that society, a political system is formed to regulate and govern. However, when that society corrupts, who is to blame? The leader? Political system? Or the people? William Golding, the author of Lord of the Flies believes that the defects of society are caused by the defects of human nature, and the society must depend on ethical maturity of individuals. The novel demonstrates the defects of an individuals’ human nature corrupting society through Ralph’s failed civilization, Samneric’s fear, and Roger’s natural evil.

Human nature is complex. It may take over an individual’s mind in many desperate and threatening situations. In Golding’s compelling novel, Lord of the Flies, it is implied that the evil, or bad side of humanity will overshadow the good. However, there are certain situations present in the novel that portray the opposite. The depiction of human nature in this novel creates a nice balance between the positive and negative aspects of humanity. Although Golding’s novel is portrayed as pessimistic, Ralph’s words and actions when dealing with various situations, Sam and Eric’s loyalty to Ralph, and the boys’ rescue at the end of the novel contradict this idea, creating a commendable balance of pessimistic and optimistic situations.

William Golding's Lord of the Flies "Everything is breaking up. I don't know why." - Ralph What is going wrong on the island and why?

Two philosophers of different eras tackle the same topic, human nature, and a great argument breaks out. Is man inherently evil, like William Golding believes? Or is man good at heart but inevitably becomes corrupted by the society he lives in, as said by Jean Jacques Rousseau? Both philosophers have very strong opinions and well reasoning for what they believe. Golding’s views are displayed well throughout his novel, Lord of the Flies; a tale about strong minded, young boys stranded on an island who must find a way to survive on their own. After reading this novel, I found myself agreeing much with Rousseau’s views on human nature.

Civilization can be destroyed as easily as it is created.  Without the walls of society, humans are capable of committing actions that they would have never thought possible.  Lord of the Flies focuses on a group of boys who are alone on an island without authority. The novel reveals what can become of humanity without the presence of authority.  In Lord of the Flies by William Golding, the protagonist Ralph symbolizes leadership, civilization,  as well as the loss of innocence.  Ralph is the closest resemblance to authority that the boys have on the island.  His appearance plays an important role in him signifying authority, “You could see now that he might make a boxer, as far as width and heaviness of shoulders went, but there was a

Although humankind attempts its best at preventing evil actions, eventually evil rises above all else. While humans are living ordinary lives and living in ignorance, evil is always scheming and waiting to slide up behind the turned backs of society as depicted in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies. One could argue that this is not the case and that good deeds always overshadow evil and that evil is just an occasional blip. However, what one’s opinion of society does not outshine the cold hard facts of humankind’s natural tendencies; specifically, how things are never as they seem, how easily humans can betray their emotions and how humans choose to ignore difficult situations in the search for an easy

Lord of the Flies is an extraordinarily well-written novel that teaches one how to live life. When asked about the philosophy of the book, the author, William Golding, replied, "The theme is an attempt to trace the defects of society back to the defects of human nature. The moral is that the shape of a society must depend on the ethical nature of the individual and not on any political system however apparently logical or respectful." This completely exemplifies the theme of the novel. Lord of the Flies truly shows that it is not the government that determines survival, it is the sheer human nature in all of us that proves whether a society can function. A person's personality will always trump another person's because of difference

Authors commonly use adults as the main character of their novel due to the simplicity of an individual who’s mature and already has set his or her morals. William Golding, on the other hand, uses young boys in his novel, Lord of the Flies, to portray human nature because they are young, discovering life, and finding where their morals lie. Depending on what they’ve been taught by their guardians, on the island they have to use what they know and decide between right and wrong without any parents instructing them. Golding flawlessly depicts what would happen to children if they were left alone with free choice it leaves an uneasy feeling over the reader about humanity as a whole. The fear of whether human nature is genuinely good or evil as

William Golding's Lord of the Flies "In 'Lord of the flies' Golding is clearly seeking to explore

Gangs are considered a group of people that have a common link together. Gangs are typically ethnically, racially, economically or geographically based. In William Golding 's Lord of the Flies, gangs rise up within the group of boys. William Golding gives us a glimpse of the savagery that underlies even the most civilized human beings. The bullying and group mentality demonstrated in gangs has resemblances to the characters in Lord of the Flies.

Do you believe that you’re a better human being compared to the characters in the Lord of the Flies? Because you’re the same as them. Human nature is just inherently dark, with our “savage” instincts. To achieve happiness, we are to appease our desires to satisfy ourselves, and that is what the kids were doing in this book. Finding their definition of happiness trapped on that island. Consequently, because of primitive instincts being part of our human nature, their loss of civilization also triggered their revert back to savageness. With their newly converted primordial compulsion and search for contentment, violence, as well as barbarism, prevailed as their new version of happiness. Thus in the Lord of the Flies, William Golding conveys how man can relapse back to their primal instincts without the presence of civilization; even the supposed innocent, can descend into savagery with the darkness in our hearts. For this reason, we can also be considered the beast in the story.

In Lord of the Flies, there are many characters, objects, and events that display the fact that when rules in society are absent, chaos is present. Within these events and objects are examples, which lead us to believe that absence of rules destroys organization and structure within the boys. In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, Golding uses the conch shell, the fire, the beast, Simon’s death, and Piggy’s death to show that without rules in society, there will be chaos.

Sigmund Freud, an Austrian neurologist known for his research on psychoanalysis, said “Civilization began the first time an angry man cast a word instead of a rock.” Before the dawn of civilization, the basis of human mentality was savagery. It was, and is still argued to be, the underlying, fundamental nature of humanity. In the novel Lord of the Flies written by William Golding, the idea that humans tend to revert back to their roots of savagery instead of civilization is supported. The savagery found in humanity is an innate characteristic, as if it was embedded into the DNA of all humans, but they are just blind to it. The savage mentality slowly erodes away at innocence, and if one was to realize the truth, it kills that person. Society enhances the savagery found in our hearts, because it depends on the morals of each individual partaking in that society. The morals will not be constant, of course, and will differ. This is how savagery is cruel to the good-hearted; it does not treat the good with good and the evil with evil. There is no justice in savagery, nor is there any morality. It does not affect only one person, but the entire community. Savagery is like rain: it does not just rain on the good but also the evil, and not only on the evil but also the good. While leaning toward an uncivilized motive tends to be the natural tendency of humanity, there are those who choose to change and be a civilized people, taking hold of themselves; they are the most powerful

The image that comes to mind when someone thinks of young British boys, usually doesn’t involve them all killing each other. In the novel, The Lord of the Flies by William Golding, this actually is the case. A bunch of British boys get stuck on an island together and end up turning into monstrous savages who kill each other. William Golding kills off everything important to survival and by this he means that the world is doomed. There are a lot of symbolic items in this piece of work. Each symbol represents a small section of humanity. If you destroy one of these symbols, humanity starts to go downhill. Golding clearly shows that the world is doomed by one by one killing off most of the symbols that keeps humanity alive and sane.