Glasser's Choice Theory In Lord Of The Flies
Criminal to the Core
Everyone has heard the expression ‘stranger danger’ since elementary school. But what if this simple phrase hides an alternate, deeper message? William Golding, author of Lord of the Flies, has used his book to bring up the controversial idea that humans are evil at the root of their beings. The idea of inherent malevolent nature is even present throughout world history. Perhaps the most famous example would be the villainy of the Nazis during the Holocaust, well expressed through the novel Night by Elie Wiesel. Even today, many people have pondered this concept. In the excerpt of philosopher William Glasser’s Choice Theory, Glasser discusses what motivates a human to make his choices, whether good or evil. Through the …show more content…
Jack’s barbarous side is exceptionally highlighted when the hunters go out to make one of their first kills in order to get meat for the rest of the boys. This simple killing of a pig drove once virtuous Jack to savage and insane limits, through the exhilaration, satisfaction, and pure bloodlust he gained from cutting a pig’s throat. This psychotic behavior is obvious when Jack leads the hunters down the mountain after the hunt was over, chanting “‘Kill the pig. Cut her throat. Spill her blood’” (Golding 69). Any sane being would have just killed the pig and gone on; however, that was not the case with these boys. Through the usage of parallelism to put individual emphasis on “kill” and “cut”, Golding shows the dark bliss the boys felt in going through with each morbid stage of killing the pig. The term “spill” has a celebratory feel to it, which further adds to the vicious satisfaction the boys had gotten from ghastly taking this pig’s life. In addition to the wicked words in the chant, Golding uses this situation to highlight the boys’ thirst for evil, the addictive nature of murder, and how it affects them. Moreover, the boys are mentioned to have been wearing face paint when hunting. The mask of
Everyone has heard the expression ‘stranger danger’ since elementary school. But what if this simple phrase hides an alternate, deeper message? William Golding, author of Lord of the Flies, has used his book to bring up the controversial idea that humans are evil at the root of their beings. The idea of inherent malevolent nature is even present throughout world history. Perhaps the most famous example would be the villainy of the Nazis during the Holocaust, well expressed through the novel Night by Elie Wiesel. Even today, many people have pondered this concept. In the excerpt of philosopher William Glasser’s Choice Theory, Glasser discusses what motivates a human to make his choices, whether good or evil. Through the …show more content…
Jack’s barbarous side is exceptionally highlighted when the hunters go out to make one of their first kills in order to get meat for the rest of the boys. This simple killing of a pig drove once virtuous Jack to savage and insane limits, through the exhilaration, satisfaction, and pure bloodlust he gained from cutting a pig’s throat. This psychotic behavior is obvious when Jack leads the hunters down the mountain after the hunt was over, chanting “‘Kill the pig. Cut her throat. Spill her blood’” (Golding 69). Any sane being would have just killed the pig and gone on; however, that was not the case with these boys. Through the usage of parallelism to put individual emphasis on “kill” and “cut”, Golding shows the dark bliss the boys felt in going through with each morbid stage of killing the pig. The term “spill” has a celebratory feel to it, which further adds to the vicious satisfaction the boys had gotten from ghastly taking this pig’s life. In addition to the wicked words in the chant, Golding uses this situation to highlight the boys’ thirst for evil, the addictive nature of murder, and how it affects them. Moreover, the boys are mentioned to have been wearing face paint when hunting. The mask of