Defects in Society That Can Be Traced to Be Defects in Human Nature
“The theme is an attempt to trace the defects of society back to the defects of human nature. The moral is that the shape of society must depend on the ethical nature of the individual and not on any political system however apparently logical or respectable. The whole book is symbolic in nature."
— William Golding
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In lord of the flies, Golding expresses elements of multiple defects in society that can be traced to be defects in human nature. Whether it’s lack of self-control, violence, savagery, authority, common stereotypes, etc., we’re all accountable for our defects as people. I believe the characters portrayed within the book also give us a good sense of what our society is like in present day.
Characters such as Ralph demonstrate a good, authoritative, head-on-shoulders kind of person, a person wanting to be in charge to keep order, their interest being for the betterment of the people, a positive side for society. While characters such a Jack show a selfish, power hungry, discriminatory side of society, which leads to all things negative. Both characters are very much alike in a sense though. As people, we strive to be the best we can and if getting there means we have to incorporate both sides, then we’ll do it.
Components of society such as lack of self-control, violence, savagery, authority, societal stereotypes, etc., are demonstrated immensely throughout the book. Golding expresses this with examples such as the boys jumping to conclusions about Simon and putting him to his death with the threat of him being the ‘beast’, the superiority vs. inferiority expressed with the dividing of the two groups; the “Biguns” and the Littluns”, then you have Jack as a prime example of lack of self-control where he becomes power hungry in the sense of an authority leader, removing ralph from
— William Golding
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In lord of the flies, Golding expresses elements of multiple defects in society that can be traced to be defects in human nature. Whether it’s lack of self-control, violence, savagery, authority, common stereotypes, etc., we’re all accountable for our defects as people. I believe the characters portrayed within the book also give us a good sense of what our society is like in present day.
Characters such as Ralph demonstrate a good, authoritative, head-on-shoulders kind of person, a person wanting to be in charge to keep order, their interest being for the betterment of the people, a positive side for society. While characters such a Jack show a selfish, power hungry, discriminatory side of society, which leads to all things negative. Both characters are very much alike in a sense though. As people, we strive to be the best we can and if getting there means we have to incorporate both sides, then we’ll do it.
Components of society such as lack of self-control, violence, savagery, authority, societal stereotypes, etc., are demonstrated immensely throughout the book. Golding expresses this with examples such as the boys jumping to conclusions about Simon and putting him to his death with the threat of him being the ‘beast’, the superiority vs. inferiority expressed with the dividing of the two groups; the “Biguns” and the Littluns”, then you have Jack as a prime example of lack of self-control where he becomes power hungry in the sense of an authority leader, removing ralph from