...evil ways.” In essence, this quotation denotes that because every human being has a brain, they also possess the ability to think and act in a malicious and inhumane manner. Considering this, William Golding, the author of Lord of the Flies, illustrates that uncivil behaviour will prevail on the adult-free island. In a like manner, Macbeth by Shakespeare gives insight to the lengths people will go to so that one can achieve personal profits at a rapid pace. Through similar fashions, both novels depict the true nature of human beings. Similarities between the characters of Jack from the Lord of the Flies and Macbeth from Macbeth reveal that power and greed is the root of all evil. In addition, the use of knives and representation of blood in both novels plays large roles in the quests for power. Also, similarities in plot structure help to further establish the sinful nature of humans. One can conclude that both Macbeth and Lord of the Flies give insight to the fact that human nature is predominantly evil through the characterization of Jack and Macbeth, symbolism of knives and blood and similarities within plot structure. Initially, the predominantly evil aspects of human nature show through the characterization of Jack and Macbeth. In the Lord of the Flies, the society the boys live in begins to crumble as Jack becomes less and less civil while the others follow. Jack quickly turns from an innocent young boy to an uncivil animal, “He looked in astonishment, no longer at himself...
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...AS ENGLISH 91479: Develop an informed understanding of literature and/or using critical lens. Literature/text: Lord of the Flies Critical lens: Freudian psychoanalytical criticism Take away parents and society and you are left with mere children, who have the instinct to only pleasure oneself. This is what Sigmund Freud theorizes in his psychoanalysis. Lord-of-the-Flies by William Golding is a novel that uses Freud’s work. The Lord-of-the-Flies is a novel that depicts a microcosm of society. A plane-full of boys are stranded on a desert island, away from civilisation. Freud’s theory is that if you eliminate rules, “children are completely egoistic” – they only care about themselves. Without any parental guidance, a child relies on its instincts and this is where Freud’s theory of personalities are cleverly conveyed: id, super ego and ego. The use of Freud’s theories exceptionally allows us to have a great depth of understanding of the characters. The first part is the id. This is the “primitive impulses” of the human being. Golding used the character of ‘Lord-of-the-Flies’ to represent the id. Freud’s theory is that the id is based upon pleasing oneself.1 The Lord-of-the-Flies is the instinct that tells the boys that they do not need civilisation anymore and thus this is when savagery prevails. Golding uses Roger to represent the id. The Lord-of-the-Flies, inside Roger, turned him from a young-civilised boy to a killer, when he violently kills Piggy, as a release of his...
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...How does William Golding support his hypothesis of what could possibly happen on an island when humans and boys in particular are marooned there? You may consider setting, characterization, themes and/or symbolism you must incorporate quotes from the text to support your analysis. William Golding wrote Lord of the Flies shortly after the end of WWII. The novel's plot, in which a group of English boys end up stranded on a deserted island struggle to develop their own society, is a social and political thought-experiment using fiction. The story focuses on their attempts at civilization, devolution into savagery and violence puts the relationship between human nature and society under literary observation. Golding uses several allusions to human evolution, such as when the boys discover fire, craft tools, and form political and social systems in a process that recalled theories of the development of early man. Golding's hypothesis about humanity is pessimistic, that is, there are anarchic and brutal instincts in human nature. He displays this throughout his conveying of the setting, characterization, themes, and symbolism. The novel takes place on an un-known inhabited island in the Pacific Ocean, Immediately in the novel Golding reveals the instinct of the restricted human savagery in the boys in regard to the setting. “Behind this was the darkness of the forest proper and open space of the scar” Page 10. Golding shows the...
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...The Flies that Plague Us All " Lord of the Flies" is the book that could strike a nerve of each and every individual whoever reads it. To me, it seems like to start an enthralling and fascinating journey when diving between the lines of this work. Bearing in mind that it was written during the time of WWII , I’m not surprised that this book discusses the essential evil of man. The story begins with a group of fifteen prep-school boys are stranded on a Utopia-like paradise island in the pacific after their plane crashes. With no adult supervision, they immediately try to set up a social system like any modern-world people would. Initially, they elect a chief and call group meetings to discuss important things to do such as building shelters and maintaining a signal fire. Through this system they select an attractive, intelligent boy named Ralph as leader. They also select a wild, power-urging boy named Jack and a mellow, calm, an most importantly peaceful boy named Simon as his assistant-leaders. However, as the boys indulge in the joy of their freedom and find that nothing there could hold them back or their misbehavior, they begin to fall from the floor of civilization and order to the abyss of chaos. Golding portrays this novel with an exploring eye for details and natural images. No one shall ignore the brilliant descriptions Golding made through out the whole book. “A great platform of pink granite thrust up uncompromisingly through forest and terrace and sand and lagoon...
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...Lord of the Flies Full book report 1. A person’s behaviour is determined by several causes through out his life. The phase already begins when we are born. As a child we’re taught how to behave by our parents. Later on our teachers and surroundings influence our behaviour towards a more and more civilized one. In a society we’re kept as civilized as possible by following rules and laws. If we as human beings are placed away from a society, will we be able to maintain our civilized characters, or will we become savaged barbarians? This is the theme William Golding creates in his novel The Lord of the Flies from 1954. Golding takes his readers on a journey, where he shows what mankind is capable of doing through youngsters. The question is: can the young kids maintain civilization? 2.c. The Lord of the Flies is a novel about a group of young boys who crash on an island. While they’re stuck on the island they manage to establish some order and civilization by choosing a leader and by using a conch shell to arrange meetings between the boys. The established civilization crumbles as the book goes on because some of the boys can’t control their animalistic qualities. The boys waddle between the human instinct of savagery and the civilized ways of order, which they’re taught from home. Despite the fact that they try to establish order they become more and more drawn towards savagery throughout the book. The sow’s head and the conch shell are both symbols of power, but...
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...In Lord Of The Flies, the author, William Golding is making the announcement that we cannot flee our savage, cruel dispositions, and in the absence of social order, we sink into a predicament of turmoil. The protagonist of the novel, Ralph, has the finest intentions of keeping the stranded boys on the deserted Island safe, as he is naturally a leader of the civilization. Along with his friend, Piggy, they find the conch shell, which is a symbol of democracy on the island. The individuals, being controlled by the society, are trapped with no sense of direction of how the day is going to end. The boys rely on fear, destruction, and an inch of hope to survive on the Edenic-like island. Alongside Ralph, the Antagonist, Jack Merridew is controlling and reluctant to Ralph’s ways. He is very cruel and manipulative and represents our savage tendencies. His biggest ally, Roger, represents pure evil. ”Ralph’s temper broke. He screamed at Jack. You’re a beast and a swine and a bloody, bloody thief!” (Golding,258). Jack and Roger form a tribe with the hunters as Ralph and Piggy form a tribe with Simon and the littluns. At this point, the characters have let go of all their innocence in the novel and now rely on social strength in numbers and trust in their tribe....
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...The evil nature and intentions of people can either hurt or harm individuals or it can bring about resilience and determination. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee revealed that humans often have other motives in life; some are born to be evil in nature, some are naturally innocent and then there are some that are born to protect the innocent. Are humans decidedly cruel or is there some moral good in each of us? In Lord of the Flies, William Golding presents a different view of the individual, specifically that within each person there is a struggle between right and wrong, but that evil will end up winning in the end. Initially, the boys listen to their consciences and act according to the moral code they were taught during their...
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...When people are put in life or death situations their views and morals are put into the back of their brain, and they start to only think about living. The novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding is a good example of this situation. When our main priority is physical survival we lose our innocence, empathy, and our conscience. When our main priority is physical survival we lose our innocence. For instance, before the island the boys had never killed anything, but they realize they must hunt the pigs to stay alive. Jack comes back from a hunt and says proudly, “ I cut the pigs throat” (69). This shows that we lose our innocence when our main priority is living. Others may argue that not everyone will lose their innocence when a person is forced into survival mode. However, since food is necessary for survival, it would be very difficult to not kill any animals in the process. For example, after Piggy is killed by the rock, Jack, “[v]iciously, with full intention... hurled his spear at Ralph” (181). This shows that he is no...
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...“What is an adult? A child blown up by age.” (Simone de Beauvoir). Is William Golding saying anything about the adult world in Lord of The Flies? William Golding says so much about adults it was an adult world he placed the boys in and the boys react in a way that adults very well can react. And In a way the power struggle, mob mentality, fear and violence represented in Lord of The Flies has played out many times over history. William Golding was not just comparing the two worlds they were one and the same represented by boys because really adults can be just as vulnerable and volatile they simply hide behind the idea of maturity which can quickly disintegrate when scared. This of course happened in Lord of The Flies the maturity disintegrated and they descended into savagery. It is simply human nature “I believed that the condition of man was to be morally diseased creation…trace the connection between his diseased nature and the international messes he gets himself into”. (Pg. 253) The symbolism in Lord of The Flies represents so many different aspects of society. The conch represents democracy and power it being the object that brings them together to vote, assemble and speak freely. As long as the conch exists the island is a place of order and fairness and with the conch comes Ralphs reign as chief. But when the boys begin to ignore the conch does Jack gain more power though he is still not equal to Ralph until the conch is destroyed the conch represented Ralphs authority...
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...Savagery in The Lord of the Flies William Golding’s novel ‘The Lord of The flies’ presents us with a group of English boys who are isolated on a desert island, left to try and retain a civilised society. In this novel Golding manages to display the boys slow descent into savagery as democracy on the island diminishes. At the opening of the novel, Ralph and Jack get on extremely well. We are informed Jack, “shared his burden,” and there was an, “invisible light of friendship,” between the two boys. Jack changes considerably throughout this novel. At first he tells us, “I agree with Ralph we’ve got to have rules and obey them,” This shows us that at the beginning of the novel, just like Ralph, he wants to uphold a civilised society. We are also notified, “Most powerfully there was the conch.” As the conch represents democracy we can see that at the beginning of the novel the boys sustain a powerful democratic society. This democratic society does not last very long as the children (especially Jack) have a lack of respect for the conch and the rules. We can see this when Jack decides, “We don’t need the conch anymore, we know who should say things.” As the conch represents democracy we can see that civilisation on the island is braking up and savagery is starting to take over. We can also see a brake up in society when Jack says, “Bollocks to the rules!” Here we can see that Jack contradicts himself while managing to diminish the assembly and the power of the conch. Golding...
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...How often do we find ourselves modifying our own image because of the opinions of others around us? Do we live in a world of disguise? William Golding wrote a novel called The Lord Of The Flies, that shows how we as humans in society put on a mask that conceals us from both good and evil qualities. He explains and shows how things that happen in this life are not at all what they always seem to be. He expresses how humans hide their true selves and perhaps even change their appearance, for the purpose of making others think differently about them. In the selection, The Lord Of The Flies, William Goulding ties in a similar topic- creating a mask so that others become oblivious as to what we are hiding underneath. In the first chapter of the...
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...put on face paint, “He looked at himself in astonishment, no longer at himself but at an awesome stranger…Beside the pool his sinewy body held up a mask that drew their eyes and appalled them. He began to dance and his laughter became a bloodthirsty snarling… the mask was a thing on its own, behind which Jack hid, liberated from shame and self-conciseness,” (Golding 64). The “mask” that Jack paints on is a metaphor. Jack is not only camouflaging his face to kill the pigs, but he is covering up his morals; Jack is hiding the civilized part of him, which allows him to act in such savage and barbaric ways. Conversely, Piggy embodies the “superego”-his moral conscience impacts his decisions and guides him from right and wrong. In Rohitash Thapliyal and Shakuntala Kunwar’s Ecocritical Reading of William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, each character is analyzed. From the start of the boys arriving on the island, Piggy is the most physically vulnerable. He portrayed as the “fat boy” with asthma and poor eyesight, who’s only use is watching the littluns while the biguns go explore and hunt. As the boys begin to reveal their hidden inner selves, Ralph realizes how Piggy is the brains on the island. Thapliyal and Kunwar explain Piggy’s...
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...In this competitive era, everyone is eager to gain something. Positive attitude on satisfying desire can push one to achieve one’s dream, while radical and unsatisfied desire will ruin one’s humanity and take away one’s reason. “a contented mind is a continual feast” is a good suggestion about how to control ambitious. In Lord of the flies, it is their different attitudes toward how to satisfy their desire make them have different fates. Field Marshal said, “The most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire.” When you set the fire of kind desire for power, your weapon is a shield, which protects your followers and saves your conscience. In an opposite way, the weapon can be a spear, which not only hurts followers but also spears you. In Lord of the Flies, the desire for power breaks boys’ brittle civilization, causes conflict and competition, and finally devastates the island. Jack, an aggressive and ambitious boy, is novel’s primary representative of primitive, instinctual savagery and the desire of power. In the beginning of chapter 2, Ralph encourages boys to vote for a chief, he [Ralph] lifted the conch. “Seems to me we ought to have a chief to decide things.” “A chief! A chief!” “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 thinks there’s no doubt that he should hold the power because he gets used to being the top one in a group. However, he fails to be elected. Since then, the...
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...Inside each of us, there is the seed of both good and evil. It's a constant struggle as to which one will win. And one cannot exist without the other. Evil is inherited in man, as it is the societal bounds that restrict one’s savage nature from arising. Structure and order are key in the survival of humanity and consequences keep us in check of our morality. In Lord of The Flies, by William Golding an award winning author depicts a group of British boys beached on a deserted island to illustrate the malicious nature in mankind. The novella dealt with the changes the boys underwent as they gradually adapted to freedom from their society. William Golding’s expresses his basic philosophy through character and symbols foretells that man was inherently...
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...building and some of the staff. Even though she has been there for a while, it doesn’t mean that she likes it. The prisoners scare her; “is he going to be all right?” Evie ask tentatively. The officer looks round with a perplexed… but realizes how nervous she is and that her question is really about whether Victor is the dangerous, unpredictable type who might want to throw a punch at news of his loss” (page 3 lines 63-65). Her intentions to help are good, but it is difficult for her to get a real break through to the prisoner’s minds, because she is afraid of them. Evie has a ritual before delivering the bad news. On a spot at five floor across the window. She stands at a certain spot across the window on the fifth floor and prays to the lord because she is afraid of the reaction from Victor. She is a good and a religious person because she wants to help others to get rid of the pain. But what if there is no pain and no emotions from the prisoner like Victor? Victor Zamora is a young boy, who seems way too clever and pretty to be in prison. He was not...
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