Lavalle
Lit/Writ
December 2015 LOTF Essay
What is evil? Where does it come from? According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, evil is categorized as “the force from nature that governs and gives rise to wickedness and sin”.While Golding, the author of The ‘Lord of the Flies’, believes in the nature and extent of its abilities, he has quite different opinions on where it originates from, which can be seen in the book, ‘Lord of the Flies’. This book tells a story of a group of young boys who become stranded on a deserted island after their plane crashes. While Golding portrays the boys as those marked by bad luck and misfortune, he also relates their transformation to savagery …show more content…
The former choirmaster and "head boy", he arrived on the island having experienced some success in exerting control over others, as seen by his complete control over the decisions of the choir boys. He at first is eager to follow civilization’s example by making rules and punish those who break them, although later in the book, he consistently breaks them to spearhead his own interests. His gradual dismissal of rules and can be seen in the quote,”Bollocks to the rules!….We don't need the conch anymore - we know who should say things!"(LOTF 9.68 - 70). However, his fall to darkness began even before became a savage as his thrill to hunt swinged to the extreme side as seen in the quote, “Kill the beast! Cut its throat! Bash him in!"(LOTF 5.32-33). Based on these quotes, it can be concluded that the author attempted to categorize Jack to represent the evil and violence of human nature. As he falls into darkness, he sees the conch as the rules and boundaries that have kept him from achieving his ‘goals,’ as seen in his wording of the 1st quote. During their entire lives in the other world, it seems that civilization conditioned him from revealing his character. On the island, however, that social conditioning fades rapidly from Jack's character as he is quick to …show more content…
While many might say Ralph was portrayed by Goldings to represent kindness and the good aspects of civilization, he too is human and like everyone in on the island, he too has darkness in his heart and in times, have also has fallen prey to evil.
This can be seen in the quote, “Ralph too was fighting to get near, to get a handful of that brown, vulnerable flesh. The desire to squeeze and hurt was over-mastering. ( LOTF 7.74-76).” A seen in the quote above, while Goldings portrays Ralph as the good aspects of civilization, he also is trying to convey an important message to the readers; Even the best fall. This supported by the fact that Ralph, who before the pig run, argued against the hunting and insisted on focusing on rebuilding the huts but 2 hours later, he is a frenzy after killing the pig, a seen in the quote, thus indicating