Zarqa Private University
Faculty of Art
Candidate: Yasmin Mahmoud
Research Proposal

Indicative Title: Corruption and Evil in Human Nature: Analysing How Crisis Affects Human Nature in "Lord of the Flies" and "Blindness"

Aim of the Study:
The aim of the study is to highlight the roots of evil in human nature, and how crisis can change a lot of things in a human being when it strikes by analysing two novels: "Lord of the Flies" and "Blindness".

Abstract:
"Lord of the Flies" tackles the theme of human nature. Throughout the novel, William Golding illustrates how sick and twisted human nature can get when faced by crisis. On the other hand, "Blindness" which is a novel by the Protégées author Jose Saramago, questions the good and conscious part in the heart and brings it to test. Both novels dig deep in human nature and go under the surface to reveal the source of evil in human nature.

This study is designed to employ scenes and events in both novels to prove how fragile the sense of civilisation is in human beings, and how easy it can be to fall in the ambush of savagery as a last resort for survival.

The research will analyze both novels separately from a psychoanalytical point of view then compare the findings of the two works.

Introduction:
The research is about two novels that tackle the same crucial theme of the evil nature in human beings. The two novels were written in different eras and as a result of different circumstances which in one way or another affected the philosophy of both of the writers.
Lord of the Flies is an English novel written by William Golding in 1954. The book was written after the World War II, however, the events tell the story of English boys evacuated by a plane to safety after threats of an atomic bomb during the war. The crisis in the novel begins when this group of boys find themselves all alone on a deserted island after their plane crashes with no adults to take care of them. The boys, who supposedly, come from a sophisticated background try at first to manage their lives on the island by setting rules. They even choose a leader by voting, which is a sign of democracy. But after a while, the rebellious nature of some of the boys leads the whole group to drop their civilised nature and instead adopt savagery behaviors in order to survive. The savage behaviors develop from killing pigs to killing each other without any feeling of guilt. The novel, as mentioned before, highlights the evil nature in human beings that needs only the right chance to surface and overwhelm the mask of civilisation.

The second novel is Blindness. This book was written by the Protégées writer Jose Saramgo and was published in 1995. The novel tells the story of a city that is hit by a sudden epidemic of white blindness. Blindness does not affect everyone at the same time. It rather creeps slowly targeting people one by one. As a result, the Government of the city isolates the blind people in an old hospital where they set their own rules and choose their own leader. After a period of time, the number of the affected people increases and new members join. The new members are nothing but gangsters who try to dominate the other group of the old blind residents. The gangsters kill, rape, steal and destroy in order to take over.
The novel emphasizes the idea that the human being is naturally evil, and this evil surfaces when crisis hits. The crisis here is blindness spreading like plague. The instinct of survival overwhelms and at the end it turns to be a heated race between the blind, and survival is for sure for the fittest.

The two novels intersect in the theme of evil in the human nature. Both writers try to highlight this topic by creating events that jeopardize lives of characters and test their morals and values. The failure of the characters to remain civilised prove what the writers aim at.

This study will focus on the corruption of the ordinary people when they are put at test, and how human nature tends to be evil when it is a life or death matter.

Research Question:
The main question of the study is: How does crisis affect human beings so to reveal the evil nature within?
From the main focus question a number of other sub-questions can be inferred:
1- To what extent does the Darwinian Theory "Survival of the Fittest" can be applied?

2- Are there any exceptions to this theme?

3- How does economy affect human nature negatively?

4- Can politics and wars be blamed in stimulating the instinct of survival so savagely in human beings?

Theoretical Perspective:

Many researchers have applied the Darwinian Theory "Survival of the Fittest" on "Lord of the Flies", this study focuses on applying this theory on the novel of "Blindness". The two novels share the notion of the striving struggle of the characters to survive despite the harsh circumstances, and how many of them fail to make it to the end.

Conceptual Framework: The study is based on comparing between two books dealing with the same topic. The story of "Lord of the Flies" is about a group of boys, meanwhile the story of "Blindness" is about people from different ages and backgrounds.

Golding chose boys as his characters to represent the unpolluted nature of the boys as innocent creatures at the beginning of the novel. Meanwhile, Saramago knitted his plot around people from different ages and backgrounds to prove that corruption and overwhelming evil can affect every soul regardless of the circumstances.

The comparison covers the historical background of the two books as one was written after the World War II, and the other was written after political uproar in Portugal.

The comparison also touches upon the possibility of exceptions; that is if some individuals can survive savagery even when the majority fails to. In "Lord of the Flies" all boys are guilty in one way or another of some acts of savagery and evil, while the doctor's wife, a central character in "Blindness", remains sane despite of everything around her.

Methodologies used in the Study:
Historical background is important in this study and must be taken into account, however, the method followed in the research is comparative. The study is based on comparing between the two novels tackling the same topic. The story of "Lord of the Flies" is about a group of boys, whereas the story of "Blindness" is about people from different ages and backgrounds.

The comparison also takes place between the times of both novels, when each of them was written.

In addition, the study compares between the political situations of the two books: How did war affect the writing of "Lord of the Flies"?
How far did politics affect Saramago's ideas and themes in "Blindness"?

Data Collection as a Method:
The research mainly depends on collecting data through reading previous pieces of research concerning the central theme, and going through books written about both novels related to the topic of evil and corruption.

Ethical Considerations:
The research will not use any human subjects, however, it will dig into resources and documents that enrich the material of the study and quote them professionally.

Outline Plan of the Study: 2014: December: Go through the resources and books that discussed the themes of "Lord of the Flies".

2015: January: Study the material that discussed the themes of "Blindness". In case the material of "Blindness" was short and not enough, I will go through the material written in Portuguese and seek translation.

2015: February: Study the Darwinian Theory "Survival of the Fittest" and search for more psychology books that are related to the topic and apply the findings on the data collected from both novels.

2015: March: Collect the data and the findings to finalize the first draft.

2015: April: Revise the first chapters of the research, re-read the findings and assess them.

2015: May: Revise the rest of the chapters and assess the rest of the material.

2015: June: Revise data analysis chapters for final submission

Justification for the Level of the Award:
This research will help bring better understanding of the topic in question as it is the fruit of analyzing two major works combined together discussing a universal theme; evil in human nature.

References:
Blindness by Jose Saramago
Lord of the Flies by William Golding

http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/20452903?uid=3738320&uid=2&uid=4&sid=21105323498123

http://www.gradesaver.com/lord-of-the-flies/study-guide/about

Evil in a Social Context: Research