I walked into my living room, ready to yell at my father for not lowering the volume of the television. He sat hypnotized on the couch as he stared at the CNN News headlines popping up on the screen. Only interested in stories with happy endings, I rolled my eyes at the 100-inch flat screen TV, where news reporters are constantly arguing with each other, debating the news of terrorist attacks, robberies, racism, and political corruption. This frequent bickering and arguing suggests that humans are born evil. Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding, constantly brings up this theme of human nature. Twelve children are stuck on an island, and struggle with the decision to leave behind their morals and resort to a barbaric lifestyle in order …show more content…
While Simon is wandering through the mountain, he stumbles upon a dead man on a parachute and runs back to Jack’s camp determined to tell them that the beast is just a dead body. However, the boys, who are enjoying their chanting and tribal dance, turn on Simon in their deliriousness, never giving him a chance to explain his theory. Jack and his tribe have the seemingly never-ending desire to kill the beast. They chant, “Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!” (Golding 152) This exemplifies the violence within the boys. Due to their savagery, they use language that no young boy should ever utter or hear. The book describes the cruel beating of Simon saying, “The beast struggled forward, broke the ring and fell over the steep edge of the rock to the sand by the water... There were no words, and no movements but the tearing of teeth and claws.” (Golding 153) This quote shows the true barbaric side of the boys. They use their bare hands and teeth to kill Simon, something only a wild animal would do. After Simon’s death, Jack convinces his tribe that Simon is the beast. He keeps fear alive on the island by lying that there are other beasts present in different shapes and forms that are impossible to get rid of. Showing no remorse for killing Simon, Jack continues to maintain control over the boys by infusing fear in his tribe, displaying …show more content…
This is significant because it is very unexpected for the reader to see twelve innocent boys from England become barbaric cavemen and succumb to uncivilized tribal dances and murder. Golding shows in Lord of the Flies that when exposed to lack of authority, sanity and common sense start to disappear into thin air. The boys constantly bicker with each other instead of collaborating and listening to everyone’s opinions. Initially, they set rules, have certain positions or jobs, and elect a leader like in a democracy. But as time passes, the boys start to break out of their “good” stage and embrace who they really are inside ‒ greedy savages. When Jack becomes violent and unruly, all order on the island begins to disappear. He abuses people and fights with others like cats and dogs. The conch, a symbol of power and order, is broken shortly after Piggy’s death, which shows the disappearance of morality and merit. Simon’s death and the need for power shows the corrupt nature of the boys, and thereby exemplifies that they are selfish. Lord of the Flies teaches us the importance of civilization and sanity, as they can disappear in the absence of authority and order. Hopefully, we can learn from this novel and try to better ourselves by focusing on the good in society and reporting about it rather than constantly bickering with
One of the most basic human instincts, prevalent in everyone, is the act of self-preservation, which can lead to the dismissal of their morals in times of distress. In Lord of the Flies, the boys’ subconscious takes over, allowing a much more ‘savage’ side of them to hinder their decision making. This is exhibited when the boys accidentally become too rough with what they think is the beast attacking them, but actually happens to be Simon. The second their minds went into survival mode, they battered him until his death, not noticing it was their friend all along until the next morning. Their judgement was so clouded with the idea of protecting themselves, that they did not come to their senses while brutally attacking the poor boy, who was only trying to help. This act of violence is a direct example of doing something at their own self-convenience, regardless of the costs. Because
Personally, I enjoyed reading “Lord of the Flies”. The author, William Golding did an excellent job of demonstrating how each character would act when put on a deserted island with little hope. It was interesting how some characters, such as Piggy and Ralph stayed true to their morals, while others like Roger and Jack, abandoned intelligence and based their decisions on greed and power. Jack displayed this greed by convincing the twins to leave the signal fire for extra assistance in catching the pig (Ch 4, p 67.). I think that the characters are realistic, as there is diversity in the group, and many younger children avoided work, which is very common among children. Overall, I think the characters are believable except for the speed in which characters developed. I think that in real life it would take a lot longer for the characters to turn into savages. Jack accelerated from not being able to kill a pig as he was merciful in chapter 1 to having prisoners in his fortress in chapter 10, but I do understand that the author had to do this to advance the plot. For the most part, I believe
When Simon comes to tell the other boys what he had seen (the dead parachutist on the mountain top) the boys formed a “new tribe” under Jack’s leadership saying “Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!” When they were done with their “dance” Simon was dead. That’s when you realize how much the group of boys has changed and that they are really going crazy and they can’t help it.
Simon has a heightened perception, even more so than Piggy. Simon is unique because he can actually hear the voice of the beast. He realizes that the beast is not something one can kill because it 's inside the boys. Simon is seen as a Christ figure. He gives up his own life in an attempt to tell the rest of the boys about the beast. Jack wants to take control over the whole society. Jack is the leading support of anarchy on the island. Jack is the leader of the savage tribe which hunts the pigs. Opposed to Ralph and Piggy on almost all matters, Jack represents the identification of one 's personality he supports the notion that one 's desires are most important and should be followed, regardless of reason or morals. Jack is the kind of person that is believed everyone would eventually become if left alone to set one 's own standards and live the way one naturally wanted. In this novel it is believed that the natural state of humans is disordered and that man is inherently evil. When reason is abandoned, only the strong survive. Jack personifies this idea perfectly.
There were no words, and no movements but the tearing of teeth and claws.”(CHECK PG.) Jack leaded this group to do this act as before Simon came dredging out of the woods they chanted ““Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood! Do him in!”(CHECK PG.) These quotes show the readers the darkness that Jack released and used to control his followers.
Jack and his tribe are very persistent with killing the beast and they get their wish when “Jack leapt on to the sand. ‘Do our dance! Come on! Dance!’… a circling movement developed… The circle became a horseshoe… The beast stumbled into the horseshoe ‘Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!’… Simon was crying out something about a dead man on a hill. ” (Golding 151-152). Jack and his tribe have begun their frenzied dance they see a figure stumbling out from the forest. However, instead of stopping to see what it was the boys immediately think it is the beast, so they let it into the circle and rip it apart with their teeth and “Claws”. One thing they do not know was that was Simon trying to notify them that the beast was a corpse near the top of the mountain. All Simon was trying to announce to everyone that no one has to be afraid as a way to help everyone on the island. Nevertheless, Jack helps the other boys tear Simon apart and does nothing else about it. Jack does not even care that he just killed a boy. In fact, he never talks about Simon for the rest of the
They were all part of the dance and Jack was not the only one who attacked Simon. All the boys that could get their hands on him attacked him. They were out of control and impulsive which caused them to attack what they thought was the beast. While performing their tribal dance, Simon crawled out of the forest and into the middle of the circle. As Simon tried to explain what the beast was the boys “poured down the rock, lept on the beast, screamed, struck, bit, tore.
Simon is the first to realize that the beast is “only us” and tries to give voice to “mankind’s essential illness” (Doc F). Later, when Simon finds the dead parachutist, he attempts to tell the others the “Beast is only human.” (Doc E). Rather than listening to his words, Simon is brutally attacked and killed by them: “There were no words and no movements but the tearing of teeth and claws” (Doc F). Ironically, Simon, the sensitive boy with the goal to tell of man's violent nature, is instead mistaken for the beast. Therefore he is murdered by the true, human beast: the boys with “teeth and claws.”
A sound heard in the distance, was thought as the beast making a move, the boys rush in not knowing that the person was Simon all along, they boys filled with excitement pounce on Simon and brutally kill him. The fear of the beast drove the savage boys to kill an innocent boy instead. Simon blaming himself for Simon’s death stating “I’m frightened, of us. I want to go home. O
As the boys who left Ralph to join Jack began to turn savage also began to feel the need for blood. This bloodthirst lead to the death of Simon. “Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Do him in!”
Throughout Lord of the Flies, Golding shows his views of the inherent evil of humans. He shows how humans can be in such a savage state, practically mimicking the way of life of their prehistoric ancestors. He exemplifies this with acts of carnage carried on by the young stranded children. It all started with a slight urge to hunt down a pig and then continued on to murdering another human being. Golding shows his views best at the end of the book with the boys being rescued by a Navy crew, which would go on to war it self.
Human nature is the “general psychological characteristics, feelings, and behavioral traits of humankind”. Between the Book, Lord of the flies and The Crucible, human nature is strongly portrayed through similar characters such as Simon and Mary Warren, Satan/Devil and the Beast, and Jack and Abigail. Simon and Mary Warren both share their wise and kind traits and being bringers of truth, while Satan/Devil and the Beast share the characteristic of exotic and the unknown, both are also able to bring out each person’s human nature like Jack and Abigail’s, which is consisted of being selfish liars. Lastly, Jack and Abigail, who both portray betrayal and the same characteristics of being evil, lying , and selfishness.
When a group of children become stranded on a deserted island, the rules of society no longer apply to them. Without the supervision of their parents or of the law, the primitive nature of the boys surfaces. Consequently, the boys live without luxury that could have been obtained had they maintained a society on the island. Instead, these young boys take advantage of their freedom, and life as they knew it deteriorates. Lord of the Flies is influenced by the author's life and experiences. Golding's outlook on life changes, due to his heavy involvement in W.W.II, to his current philosophy that "The shape of society must depend on the ethical nature of the individual, and not on any political system
One of the themes of Lord of the Flies is that order is needed for humanity, and the absence of it results in the absence of what makes humans human. William Golding conveys this theme with the conch shell being order and eventually shattered, and the Beast being savagery and eventually growing in the hearts of every boy, except Simon. The conch shell opens as the attractor of the boys and the symbol of power that facilitates discussion and logic in the group, but, without it and it’s power the boys will “be like animals” (71); and animals they do become. As the Beast in the boys grow they soon deviate from humanity until “there were no words, and no movements but the tearing of teeth and claws”(118) on Simon’s corpse as he tries to be civil
James Madison once said, “If men were angels, no government would be necessary”. But men are not angels and there is a need for government, because men are not inherently good. Throughout the novel, Lord Of The Flies, William Golding successfully portrays his view of human nature as inherently evil by the actions and thoughts of the boys who are stranded on an island. The catholic church’s standpoint that human nature is inherently good is overpowered by William Golding’s view. William’s view is expressed throughout the Lord Of The Flies through the savagery in the book, the desire to kill/ hunt, and the loss of their innocence.