...In the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding, Ralph experiences the loss of innocence on the island. In his experiences, we see that evil is inherent in man- something only Simon has understood on the island. The boys first enjoyed the freedom from adults, but soon all civil ideas on the island collapsed, leading to chaos and the death of Simon and Piggy; a metaphor to the background of the war in the adult world. This implies that every man has some capacity for evil within himself, even small children, leading to a loss of innocence. Furthermore, Ralph’s Loss of Innocence occurs during the death of Simon and Piggy, and during the destruction of the conch. At the beginning of the novel, the remains of what would be civilization still...
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...Caleb Alexander Mrs. Walls AP Literature May 8, 2015 Lord of the Flies Boys Fighting Man’s War I. Introduction Greed, jealousy, and murder three of man’s original sins. Since the time of Cain and Able, humans have had an inner hunger for power and savagery. Over time this nature has been hidden, but not totally erased from Man’s nature. In today’s world politics are filled with corruption in every corner of the globe, yet they hide their nature of greed for power. William Golding served in the Navy during World War 2 where he witnessed human tragedy like no other. Inspired by what he saw, Golding wrote his most popular novel in 1954 titled Lord of the Flies. The novel is set on a remote island where a group of young boys had survived an airplane...
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...In society today, one barely has any time to take care of one’s children. They are left alone and uncared for which often causes them to either react badly in every day life or to become accustomed to their solitude and learn to fend for themselves. Such realities can also be portrayed in works of fiction such as The Hunger Games and Lord of the Flies, two stories that may seem very different in content, but are based on very similar ideas. In these two stories, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and Lord of the Flies by William Golding, there are two main characters by the names of Katniss and Ralph who both go through their life journeys isolated from society and in each story, their situations becomes a disadvantage for them. Lord of the Flies and The Hunger Games are novels that portray an abuse of power as a result of leadership roles in society, an absence of identity used as camouflage, and finally, a loss of innocence among the characters as a result of living in a corrupted and chaotic environment. In both stories, there is an abuse of power, which destroys the main characters’ lives. In Golding’s Lord of the Flies, once Jack had decided to run the island the way he sees fit, things started to go downhill for Ralph. When Ralph was chief of the island, the children tried to stay as civilized as they could, and even started establishing rules and tasks for each person to accomplish. When Jack started to take control of the island, however, everything was completely ruined...
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...Lord of the Flies by William Golding is famous among the readers for its theme centered on civilization and savagery. One of the most important concepts that relate to the theme is the “essential illness of the mankind.” The essential illness is not an actual physical illness, but is a part of the mind of a human. In the novel, the essential illness is described as the natural evilness, which comes from human nature. Also, the illness is possessed by all humans, no matter their backgrounds. Most importantly, it is described to contribute to the fall of civilization without the supervision of super ego. First, according to the novel, mankind's essential illness is the evil which is part of human nature. This argument is indirectly introduced...
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...The Lord of the Flies: Characters The world had witnessed the atrocities of World War II and began to examine the defects of their social ethics. Man's purity and innocence was gone. Man's ability to remain civilized was faltering. This change of attitude was extremely evident in the literature of the age. Writers, who through the use of clever symbolism, mocked the tragedy of man's fate. One such writer was William Golding. An author who has seen the destruction of war and despises its inevitable return. Through the use of innocent and untainted children, Golding illustrates how man is doomed by his own instinct. The novel is called Lord of the Flies, and is of extreme importance to help reconstruct the current wave of revolutionary ideas that swept the twentieth-century generation. Lord of the Flies portrays the belief of the age that man is in a constant struggle between darkness and light, the defects of human nature, and a philosophical pessimism that seals the fate of man. Golding's work are, due to their rigid structure and style, are interpreted in many different ways. Its unique style is different from the contemporary thought and therefor open for criticism. The struggle between darkness and light is a major theme in all the works of William Golding. Strong examples of this are found throughout Lord of the Flies. The most obvious is the struggle between Ralph and Jack. The characters themselves have been heavily influenced...
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...Good or Evil? The Fight For Dominance The fierce battle between the lightness and darkness of man’s heart has coexisted since the earliest of times. William Golding’s award-winning novel, Lord of the Flies, is one that captures this very judgment. A group of young British schoolboys who were once innocent and pure of heart are quickly devoured by the dark powers of destruction, savagery, and murder. However, even with these destructive powers at hand, the young schoolboys along with their distant memories of being in a civilized society, fight in an epic battle to try and prevent the full outbreak of evil. Golding illustrates the never-ending combat of “good” and “evil”, amidst the young schoolboys and the Beast; Ralph, the democratic leader, contrary to Jack, who favoured dictatorship; and the strength of civilization versus the forces of human nature. First and foremost, the story displays the constant conflicts between the innocence of the British schoolboys and the dark nature of what they come to know as the Beast. An example of this is when the twins Sam and Eric encounter the Beast in Chapter Six: "Beast From Air." In the beginning of the chapter, Sam and Eric, who were on duty to watch the fire, falls asleep as a dead parachutist falls from the war in the adult world and lands on the island. When they awake from their sleep, they noticed a “figure that hung with dangling limbs” (103) and mistake it as the Beast. Sam describes to Ralph that the Beast was ‘“furry”’...
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...Does Golding Think That Man is Inherently Evil? “Man is the cruelest animal.” ― Friedrich Nietzsche. Sir William Golding, a man who survived World War II and transformed his life into that of a nobel prize-winning writer, was no stranger to the idea of inhumane behaviour. He wrote the novel Lord of the Flies, which is about a group of boys that have survived an airplane crash and are currently stranded on an island with no adults. Over the course of the story, the boys go from being civilized human beings to barbarous savages, a transformation the author likely witnessed during his tenure in the navy. Golding suggests that people are inherently evil. In Lord of the Flies, the survivors of the airplane succumb to their wicked nature. The first example of that is the sinister celebration of killing the pig, at which the boys dance like savages and chant, “Kill the pig. Cut her throat. Spill her blood” (Golding 2006, Ch. 4, p. 75). The fact that small children repeat such a malicious phrase implies a lack of humaneness. Another example of their malevolence are their unnecessary acts of violence. The first instance of this is torturing Wilfred. When Roger questions Jack’s motive for punishing the younger clan member, he does not get an answer: "But didn't the chief say why? … I never heard him"(Golding 2006, Ch. 10, p. 159). Further along in the book, Piggy is brutally killed by Roger. Once again there is not an ulterior motivation for committing such a deed, Roger simply...
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...Destruction of Mankind The novel, Lord of the Flies, by William Golding uses the destruction of Human nature shown through the boys stranded on the island. Golding adds into the theme on how easily a society can collapse, how twisted it can be , and self-destruction of society. Emotions have a part in destruction of mankind and Golding incorporated this into the novel; it is panic, fits of madness, and demoralization. Golding uses conflict, symbolism and characters to paint a picture on how men are corrupt. Golding uses conflict to help portray his theme. The conflict Golding uses, is Jack wanting to gain power and control. Ever since Ralph called all the survivors on the island, Jack wanted to be the leader.But he had lost the vote of being leader. He has always demanded power over...
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...Lord of the Flies Symbol and Theme "What I mean is... Maybe it's only us."... Simon became inarticulate in his efforts to express mankind's essential illness” (Page 89). In this quote from the Lord of the Flies the beast is used as a symbol to represent the inner savagery that exists within us. Symbol is something that stands for or suggests something else by reason of relationship, association, convention, or accidental resemblance. William Golding uses symbols to support the theme of Lord of the Flies which is civilization vs. savagery. This theme is present in many parts of the book but it is specifically developed using the following three symbols: the beast, the conch shell and, Simon. During the scene were Simon encounters the Lord of the Flies the Lord of the Flies speaks to him and says “There isn't anyone to help you. Only me. And I'm the Beast... Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill... You knew, didn't you? I'm part of you? Close, close, close! I'm the reason why it's no go? Why things are the way they are?” (Page 142). This quote completely reveals that the beast is symbolized as the innermost evil within all of us. This has a major role in the civilization vs. savagery theme because the beast represents the savagery. The beast is used yet again as a symbol for inner evil when Jack mounts the pig head on a stick. “The head is for the beast. It’s a gift” (Page 137). This shows how the boys begin to almost worship the beast as a god. It displays...
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...William Golding, in 1954, wrote the Lord of the Flies. Written after WWII portrays the inherent evil of mankind. Being evil is just easier than being good because there are no rules to follow and people get to do whatever one chooses to do, and a side effect of evil is power. Power then corrupts the brain into thinking people need it, then people just want more and more. All because of evil, respect then comes from fear, power comes from respect. Golding shows how evil and power is what corrupts the brains of the children on the island which makes them do horrible things that cause fear in the children. Evil is easy and because people get to do whatever they want, rules are the only things that contain evil within us and keep us human, Evil...
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...10 February 2015 Lord of the Flies Essay "Humanity has evil tendenc[ies] within its nature" (David Wilson). Jack, a choir boy from England, represents the evil incarnate and explains that within human nature, evil lies in oneself even when it is not projected. In Golding's Lord of the Flies, Jack, the Devil Figure, expresses the ideas about one's inner evil as he evolves from a choir leader to a ruthless varmint while spending time on a deserted island. In the beginning of Lord of the Flies, Jack, who emerges from the jungle dressed in black, possesses a dominant trait of a controlling personality. When Ralph first blows the sound of the conch, Jack and his choir come from the jungle, and as they approach Ralph, Jack tells them to "stand still" (Golding 20). The reader can identify his authoritative nature as he demands these words, which establishes his significance and rule in the choir, and the other boys can sense this superiority as well. Moreover, the audience can analyze that Jack has a manipulative influence in the novel due to the fact that he claims he "ought to be chief because [he is]...head boy"; therefore, he is making himself out to be the most qualified for the position as he points out his role of control in the choir (Golding 22). Likewise, the other boys on the island describe Jack to be "the most obvious leader," which in return proves to the reader that Jack's commanding attitude is not the only reason that defines him as a leader; the other boys' perspective...
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...Although there is a lack of light imagery in Lord of the Flies by William Golding, because of the frequent use of dark imagery to give an impending sense of despair, both light and dark imagery are still crucial to this novel. Light and dark imagery is an archetype that is used to give readers a better understanding of a story in some writer’s works. In the case of light vs. darkness, light usually suggests hope, renewal, or intellectual illumination; darkness implies the unknown, ignorance, or despair. Light can also be associated with the color white, which can represent the following: “innocence”, “goodness”, and “morality,” (Archetypes). Darkness can be associated with the color black, allowing darkness to represent the following: “the unknown”, “death”, “the unconscious”, or “evil” (Archetypes). All of these things can also be linked to morality- the id, ego, and superego. The id can be classified as “the primitive and instinctive component of personality”; ego can be classified as the part of the personality that “develops in order to mediate between the unrealistic id and the external real world”, and superego can be classified as the part of the personality that incorporates the values and morals of society which are learned from one's parents and others.” (McLeod). In Lord of the Flies, Many of the evil deeds in the story are committed at night, representing darkness. A perfect example of an evil deed that is committed at night would be the murder of Simon by all...
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...novel, Lord of the Flies written by William Golding, british schoolboys are trapped on an unknown island without the guardianship of any adults to push order and discipline. When the young boys first arrive, they are ecstatic about the idea of living without adults, meaning they can do whatever they want. However, the longer they are stranded on the island, the more innocence they get taken from them. For instance, the first time that Jack tried to hunt, he stares at the pig holding a knife over him. Jack couldn't find it in himself to kill the pig which led to it get away. Later in the novel, Jack finds pleasure in the killing’s and even chants “Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!”(Golding 218). Jack chanting this is a symbol of his loss of innocence....
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...There is a beast within everyone that without the proper guidance and instruction, can be unleashed and cause behavior referred to as barbaric. William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies takes place during the first World War when a plane full of British schoolboys is shot down and crashes on a deserted tropical island. They immediately presume that it will be all fun and games. Ralph, a boy who calls the group together by blowing into a conch, is deemed leader and begins to set rules and plans for the future. As the boys quickly lose interest in the day-to-day tasks they are asked to perform, they waste their time playing and hunting pigs. Jack, an aggressive and arrogant boy, encourages this behavior by taking out the boys routinely to help him catch and kill a pig. When Jack defies Ralph’s authority, the boys degenerate into a savage state of mind that overtakes their innocence and common sense. Without the guidance of authority and law, the youth of the world would become evil and egocentric....
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...In William Golding’s novel, Lord Of The Flies, Ralph, a young, charismatic, and determined boy is appointed leader by the rest of his peers after there plane crashes and lands on an unknown island. While most of the kids are having fun and joking around Ralph stays concentrated on the task at hand, creating a temporary living environment and figuring out a plan to get rescued. In the beginning Ralph was in control and civilization on the island still existed. However, as the novel progresses the characters gradually start to become savages due to their newly developed society. Ralph is now losing his civilized group and Jack is starting to form a group of his own, where more boys decide to follow and become savages. The remainder of the boys...
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