...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...
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...Lord of the Flies is a 1963 British film directed by Peter Brook based on the 1954 novel by William Golding. Both the book and movie of Lord of the Flies represent popular culture in the fact that the book started out being popularized by the working class and would later become a best seller and even move into the category of high culture by becoming required reading in many schools across the world as well as wining the Nobel Prize. The Lord of the Flies and book and movie demonstrate many of the traits that are often reproduced in various form media and often imitated in other works of film, television, and reading. Lord of the Flies was remade into another film in 1990 but the 1963 film is considered to be closer to the book and is the one that is used by this paper. The 1963 Lord of the Flies film is a black and white British film that is presented in the form of a third person narrative in which the audience is a outside party looking in on the cast of the film. The film is about a group of young pre-teen to teenage boys who crash land on an island somewhere is the specific ocean as a result of their plane being shoot down. In the background of the movie there is some type of war but the film never mentioned which war is taking place. With the film being based on a book from the 1950s and the film taking place in the 1960 it can be assumed that the war in question is either World War II or perhaps a future war. In the film the overall theme is that violence and hate...
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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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...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 destructive powers of humans already, for the boys have just reached...
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...What is human nature? How does William Golding use it in such a simple story of English boys to precisely illustrate how truly destructive humans can be? Golding was in World War Two, he saw how destructive humans can be, and how a normal person can go from a civilized human beign into savages. In Lord of the Flies, William Golding uses the theme of human nature to show how easily society can collapse, and how self-destructive human nature is. Throughout the story Golding conveys a theme of how twisted and sick human nature can lead us to be. Many different parts of human nature can all lead to the collapse of society. Some of the aspects of human nature Golding plugged into the book are; destruction, demoralization, hysteria and panic. These emotions all attribute to the collapse of society. Golding includes character, conflict, and as well as symbolism to portray that men are inherently evil. Golding makes very good use of characters in Lord of the Flies, he shows both good and evil through each of the characters. One of the characters that represents goodness is Simon. He is very good and pure, and has the most positive outlook. Simon is very different from the other boys, he seems to always be helping the Littluns and many other vulnerable boys such as Piggy. "Simon sitting between the twins and Piggy, wiped his mouth and shoved his piece of meat over the rocks to Piggy, who grabbed it." (Golding, pg.74) This quote interprets an example of a time when Simon helped Piggy...
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...Lord of the Flies is an extraordinarily well-written novel that teaches one how human nature differs from one person to another. Lord of the Flies shows how human nature in all of us drives our actions. We can follow the rules of society and be civilized or follow impulses that may lead to our destruction. Human nature in the primary theme in Lord of the Flies. In Lord of the Flies the beast symbolizes the dark side of human nature and how it had a horrible effect on kids behavior in the land. “However Simon thought of the beast there rose before his inward sight the picture of a human at once heroic and sick” ( 128). This quote explain how human beings are evil. Golding provides his view of human nature very early in the novel “All round...
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...The Abominable Man William Golding's novel Lord of the Flies was published in 1952, seven years after the disastrous WWII. During the war, the veil of civilization was exposed very center revealing the true underlying evil of mankind, resulting in the death of millions including one victim; Anne Frank. Although she was hiding in a annex for two years because of the result of the brutality of people’s discrimination, she wrote; “It's really a wonder that I haven't dropped all my ideals, because they seem so absurd and impossible to carry out. Yet I keep them, because in spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart.” It is hard to think that such a young and innocent girl would perish soon after writing this in the concentration camps constructed by the Nazis. The Nazis’ brutal ‘purification’ of the world, leaving millions dead in the brutal concentration camps and the horrific gas chambers, exemplify Golding’s ideas of mankind; brutal, destructive and evil which are inherent in human nature. The use of Jack, the pig hunts, the Lord of the Flies, Simon and the island that Golding believes in the idea that evil in an inborn characteristic of the archaic human race. Golding's use of characterization of Jack portrays the capacity of evil and violence which men are capable of due to their inborn human nature of evil. This is indicated when Jack, feeling especially bloodthirsty after a pig hunt starts to chant: " Kill the pig, cut his throat! Kill 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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...Frankenstein and Lord of the Flies both have characters with comparable personalities living in similar environments. Both Golding and Shelly use them to present their ideas on human nature, and monster and ‘monstrous’. Comparison: The effect of environment on a person's character is an idea which is examined in both novels. In Lord of the Flies the boys’ inherent evil emerges when society and rules and regulations are withdrawn, whereas in Frankenstein the lack of human society and its nurturing and love is responsible for the evil that the creature does. Golding's idea of humanity is that it is integrally flawed by evil. That every human has evil within them. Golding used the names Ralph and Jack deliberately as they are characters from...
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...truculent behaviour in almost all people groups. From the earliest ages of the hunter-gatherer society to the pinnacle of modern civilisation, humans have possessed the same primal instincts to subdue and subjugate. Authors such as William Golding and Joseph Conrad have recognised this basic nature of humanity and portrayed it in their novels Lord of the Flies (Golding) and Heart of Darkness (Conrad). These novels exemplify the methods by which humans have placed checks upon their savage nature, checks which prove to be diaphanous when challenged by true hardships. In both of these stories, the authors attempt to demonstrate the savage nature of the human spirit by utilising symbolism and irony. Both Lord of the Flies and Heart of Darkness are intensely allegorical novels and emphasise the use of symbols. However, these symbols are not merely the characters, but also include their actions and the settings of the stories. For example, the characters of Kurtz and Jack are symbols for the ancestral instincts of humankind. Though they are two separate characters, they are both symbols for the same idea. They are contrasted with Marlow and Ralph, who are also separate apparitions of the same philosophy. Kurtz, the quintessential ivory hunter from Heart of Darkness, is consumed by the desire for ivory and allows his primal nature to dictate his actions. He even goes so far as to proclaim himself a god and order the natives to attack his fellow Europeans. “He informed me...
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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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...child grows up in impacts their decision making and behavior later in life. According to Jay Belsky, a professor of human development at the University of California, “We know that our early experiences likely affect all of us to a certain extent. . . and we know that due to variations in psychological makeup, some people are more sensitive to environmental factors than others” (Singh). This theory is commonly used in literature as a theme called nature vs nurture, an argument that describes whether the genetic makeup or the environment affects the way people behave. William Golding, author of Lord of the Flies, incorporated this theme into his book to prove behavior is dependent upon a child’s growing environment....
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...How could Lord of the Fliesbe described as an allegory? If it is an allegory, what message does Golding want to get across to his readers? What allegorical roles are the characters playing? Allegory Allegory is a form of extended metaphor, in which objects, persons, and actions in a narrative, are equated with the meanings that lie outside the narrative itself. The underlying meaning has moral, social, religious, or political significance, and characters are often personifications of abstract ideas as charity, greed, or envy. Thus an allegory is a story with two meanings, a literal meaning and a symbolic meaning. Types of allegory 1. Political allegory 2. Social allegory 3. Religious allegory POLITICAL ALLEGORY Political Allegory in William Golding's Lord of the Flies’ “Lord of the Flies is an allegory on human society today, the novel's primary implication being that what we have come to call civilization is, at best, no more than skin-deep" Though the need for civilization is focused on in this novel, the significance of political order, shown allegorically, is consistently referenced to. When utilizing political allegory, the characters are used as symbols that, overall, represent some kind of political organization. In Lord of the Flies, the persons, or characters allegorized include Ralph, Jack, Piggy, Roger, the biguns, and the littluns; each considered an important component of their political establishments. For most every society, there is a system...
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...Literary Devices in Lord of the Flies Ayomide Fakuade English III - 2nd Period 4-18-13 Is every human being predisposed with the capabilities to do evil? This question has stimulated minds since the beginning of time. In the Bible, as far back as the book of Genesis, we find the ineluctable capacity of man to commit evil. Likewise, in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies we find the depiction of the proclivity of man to transgress. William Golding “presents the universe under the guise of a school adventure story on a coral island” (Forster V). Golding presents the universe and the inescapable struggle of human kind between good and evil through his prolific use of symbols and metaphors. Symbols are one of the principle literary devices used by Golding in Lord of the Flies. Golding uses many of the devices discovered by the boys to represent vital elements of structured society. Ralph makes the statement, “The fire’s the most important thing” (Golding 162). The fire symbolizes the structured society the boys want to exist on the island. The fire represents structure and organization. Without the fire, the boys will never be rescued, and without an organized, structured society, they will not survive. Just as organization and structure are essential to the perpetuation of a society, the fire is vital to the survival of the boys on the island. When describing the setting of the novel, the narrator states, “It [the island]...
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...In William Golding's Lord of the Flies, a group of boys have survived a plane crash and have landed on an island. Without any grownups, the boys are forced to learn how to survive and cooperate by themselves, but the boys will soon be uncoordinated. The boys lose their innocence, and most will turn into savages. In developing the theme of the predatory, bestial atavistic nature of man, Golding employs numerous symbols using characters, symbolic acts, and objects. Of the groups of symbols, characters in Lord of the Flies symbolize different aspects of man. Some characters represent the different personalities that are involved with Sigmund Freud's id, ego, and superego. Piggy, a fat boy who wears spectacles, represents the superego as he is...
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