Lord of the Flies (Human Nature Essay)
Human Nature in Lord of the Flies In the novel, Lord of the Flies, William Golding is able to use his outstanding writing abilities utilizing metaphors, symbolism, and other literary devices to establish a hidden message throughout the novel. The hidden message that Golding builds on is that there is a natural evil inside every human being, which is suppressed in an organized society through laws, rules, and punishment. The young boys in the novel are on an island all by themselves. There is no punishment for their actions, therefore allowing that evil to come out of most of the boys. All humans have an innate evil within them and that evil is brought out when there is a lack of civilization and consequence as seen in Simon’s murder, Jack and his tribe attacking Ralph, and Piggy’s murder. Simon’s death revealed the innate evil within the boys of jack’s tribe. Jack’s tribe hosts a feast to celebrate the boys’ first kill. During the feast, the boys reenact the killing of the pig and also create a scenario where they pretend to kill the ‘beastie’. When Simon comes back from his encounter with the dead parachutist, he is attacked and killed by the tribe. The boys mistook Simon to be the ‘beastie’, as it was dark and difficult to see. “A thing was crawling out of the forest. It came darkly, uncertainly. The shrill screaming that rose before the beast was like a pain.” The innate evil within all of the boys made it their first instinct to kill. The savage things they do to Simon’s body are disgusting. “There were no words, and no movements but the tearing of teeth and claws.” This specific quote makes the boys seem like animals. A normal boy at the age of 12 or younger would probably run away from a beast not tear it apart. Piggy’s murder was also a result of an innate evil inside Roger brought forth due to a lack of order within Jack’s tribe. Roger’s character, as any reader of this novel knows, is someone who enjoys hurting others. He is a “bigun” who