Good And Evil In Lord Of The Flies Essay
The Choice: Good or Evil
Every child is capable of the greatest evil, just as they all have the potential to be kind and good. In the book Lord of the Flies by William Golding, a group of English boys are stranded on an island after a plane crash. At first, the boys act civilized, forming rules and focusing on being rescued. But, as time progresses and no one comes to save them, the boys begin acting savagely, killing animals and each other. In the end, the boy’s situation, combined with their fear, take them down an evil path of destruction and death. Evil isn’t necessarily the exercise of power, but the use of it to exploit one's self through immoral and malicious actions.
A person’s choices really show who they are, and how they see others. Ralph, the protagonist in the book, is a prime example of how a person’s decisions can determine if …show more content…
they are seen as good or evil.
Ralph is the first boy to gain power by using a conch shell to call the boys together. As chief, Ralph is the first to notice that “there's no signal showing. If a ship comes near the island they may not notice us. So we must make smoke on top of the mountain. We must make a fire.”(Golding 36). Ralph uses his power to create rules and helps the boys realize that instead of being stranded on the island, that they can make themselves useful by trying to gain the attention of ships. Even though Ralph has power, he doesn’t use it to harm others, instead, he chooses it to help the good of all of the boys by focusing most of their efforts on a rescue. This tactic also brings hope to many of the boys, who are scared and afraid. Wielding power doesn’t always make a person evil, it is the choices that that person makes when in power that determines whether they are truly evil. Jack, another English boy who crashed on the island with Ralph, is the complete opposite. This can be seen through his thoughts and actions. As Jack becomes less focused on becoming rescued
and more on hunting, the more evil he becomes. He turns to killing as a way to cope with his fears, instead of trying to find answers. As Jack’s savagery grows worse, so did “the compulsion to track down and kill....It swallowed him up. The madness came into his eyes again. ‘I thought I might kill.’ he said” (Golding 46). Jack grew so power hungry, that he left the other boys and started his own tribe. In this tribe, the boys performed gruesome and malicious acts. They went from civilized humans that followed rules to “monsters” who didn’t know how to control themselves. Jack’s choice to use his power to benefit himself at the expense of other’s well-being is what makes him evil. The ability to choose based on what is good and what is bad is what separates humans from the rest of the animals on this planet. When a person begins making choices that they know are wrong, it can have a detrimental effect on everyone around them.
When the boys first crashed on the island, the item that brought them together was the conch shell. Ralph found this shell and used it to create rules for the boys’ primitive society. The shell represented order in the civilization. During meetings, the boy who held the conch shell was the only one who could talk. The shell gave the speaker authority, and it also gave the boys a way to compromise and talk out problems. It wasn’t until " the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist" (Golding 181) that the boys’ civilization finally collapsed. Without the conch, the boys were unable to maintain order, or decide on what to do. The conch had held back the evil that was looming over the boys, but without it, the evil descended on the boys and chaos ran wild. Without rules or consequences for breaking those rules, the boys were free to do whatever they wanted. They acted viciously and all hope of a peaceful civilization was lost. Another effect of the conch shell being broken was the invention of the double pointed stick. The boys used sharpened sticks to hunt and to defend themselves from the infamous “beast”. But with a double sided spear, the boys could do double the damage, to themselves and to others. The double-pointed spear represented the change in the boys, from civilized to savage. When “Ralph fumbled to hold his spear, so that is was pointed foremost; and saw that the stick was sharpened at both ends...He screamed a scream of fright and anger and desperation.” (Golding 198). When holding the stick, Ralph realized that the spear was both pointing to his enemy and himself. Ralph was scared of what the other boys had become, and how he had changed. He went from trying to run a civilized nation, to trying to protect himself from savage 10-year-olds. The change in the boys on both a physical and mental level can be represented through the double-pointed spear. From the fall of the conch shell rules to the rise of the double pointed stick, the boys on the island lived through the collapse of their civilized nation, and the rise of chaos. Without laws to limit their power, evil overruled common sense and led to devastation and confusion.
All humans are born good and had the potential to stay that way, but it is the temptations of power, greed, and want that often drive them down a more evil path. Evil is seen through the choices that one makes, and the motives behind them. Though human nature can seem unpredictable at times, if one can see a person’s inner motives then one can know exactly where they stand between the lines of good and evil. When one of the boys finally confront the beast, the beast tells him, “There isn’t anyone to help you. Only me. And I’m the Beast. . . Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill! You knew, didn’t you? I’m part of you? Close, close, close! I’m the reason why it’s no go? Why things are the way they are?”(Golding 143). The beast that they were all afraid wasn’t a living thing at all. In fact, it was inside of all of them, slowly worming its way into their brains, giving them ideas about great evil. However, it was how each leader handled the inner evil that determined their actions as an individual. Since the boys didn’t have any rules to prevent the “beast” from infecting their heads, they slowly turned savage. The defects in society, all of the evil going on in the worlds, can be directly traced back to series of choices where power and that person’s own well-being were prioritized over everything else. Once one “evil” choice is made, it is very hard to prevent the chain of events that were put in motion? Like a snowball, it will continue to spiral out of control until it consumes the human down to the very core. It takes an outside force to eventually change the mindset, and make that person see beyond the evil mountain they have closed themselves around in. When the rescue boat finally arrived, Ralph’s eyes were finally opened to the horrors the boys had committed “he wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man's heart...” (Golding, 202). Even from an age as young as 12 years old, Ralph and the boys on the island had committed acts that were inhumane and immoral. Without consequences for breaking the rules, the boys were unaware of the vicious actions they were committing. When their eyes were finally opened, they began to realize how their choices had caused them to turn into the monsters they had become. Without the perspective to be able to step back and see what they were doing, or the knowledge to know how to deal with the stress or fear that came with being without adults, the boys were not prepared to know how to make the right choices on the island. In the end, their fear and lust for power led them to make corrupted decisions. What makes a person evil isn’t always just the fact that they have power, but also how they use it to benefit themselves, through corrupt decisions. When given power, it is a person’s decisions that determine whether they are evil or not. All people have the ability to be evil, and let their need for power consume them, but everyone also has the potential to rise above, and look beyond their lust for power, and use it to good. Evil lurks under the skin of every human walking this planet. When a person is born, they are an open book, innocent and good, but as they grow and learn, their experiences shape them into the person they are. A person's choice to make power a higher priority over compromise can turn them into a truly evil person. The abuse of power can turn just leaders into corrupt ones, and turn innocent children into savages.
Every child is capable of the greatest evil, just as they all have the potential to be kind and good. In the book Lord of the Flies by William Golding, a group of English boys are stranded on an island after a plane crash. At first, the boys act civilized, forming rules and focusing on being rescued. But, as time progresses and no one comes to save them, the boys begin acting savagely, killing animals and each other. In the end, the boy’s situation, combined with their fear, take them down an evil path of destruction and death. Evil isn’t necessarily the exercise of power, but the use of it to exploit one's self through immoral and malicious actions.
A person’s choices really show who they are, and how they see others. Ralph, the protagonist in the book, is a prime example of how a person’s decisions can determine if …show more content…
they are seen as good or evil.
Ralph is the first boy to gain power by using a conch shell to call the boys together. As chief, Ralph is the first to notice that “there's no signal showing. If a ship comes near the island they may not notice us. So we must make smoke on top of the mountain. We must make a fire.”(Golding 36). Ralph uses his power to create rules and helps the boys realize that instead of being stranded on the island, that they can make themselves useful by trying to gain the attention of ships. Even though Ralph has power, he doesn’t use it to harm others, instead, he chooses it to help the good of all of the boys by focusing most of their efforts on a rescue. This tactic also brings hope to many of the boys, who are scared and afraid. Wielding power doesn’t always make a person evil, it is the choices that that person makes when in power that determines whether they are truly evil. Jack, another English boy who crashed on the island with Ralph, is the complete opposite. This can be seen through his thoughts and actions. As Jack becomes less focused on becoming rescued
and more on hunting, the more evil he becomes. He turns to killing as a way to cope with his fears, instead of trying to find answers. As Jack’s savagery grows worse, so did “the compulsion to track down and kill....It swallowed him up. The madness came into his eyes again. ‘I thought I might kill.’ he said” (Golding 46). Jack grew so power hungry, that he left the other boys and started his own tribe. In this tribe, the boys performed gruesome and malicious acts. They went from civilized humans that followed rules to “monsters” who didn’t know how to control themselves. Jack’s choice to use his power to benefit himself at the expense of other’s well-being is what makes him evil. The ability to choose based on what is good and what is bad is what separates humans from the rest of the animals on this planet. When a person begins making choices that they know are wrong, it can have a detrimental effect on everyone around them.
When the boys first crashed on the island, the item that brought them together was the conch shell. Ralph found this shell and used it to create rules for the boys’ primitive society. The shell represented order in the civilization. During meetings, the boy who held the conch shell was the only one who could talk. The shell gave the speaker authority, and it also gave the boys a way to compromise and talk out problems. It wasn’t until " the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist" (Golding 181) that the boys’ civilization finally collapsed. Without the conch, the boys were unable to maintain order, or decide on what to do. The conch had held back the evil that was looming over the boys, but without it, the evil descended on the boys and chaos ran wild. Without rules or consequences for breaking those rules, the boys were free to do whatever they wanted. They acted viciously and all hope of a peaceful civilization was lost. Another effect of the conch shell being broken was the invention of the double pointed stick. The boys used sharpened sticks to hunt and to defend themselves from the infamous “beast”. But with a double sided spear, the boys could do double the damage, to themselves and to others. The double-pointed spear represented the change in the boys, from civilized to savage. When “Ralph fumbled to hold his spear, so that is was pointed foremost; and saw that the stick was sharpened at both ends...He screamed a scream of fright and anger and desperation.” (Golding 198). When holding the stick, Ralph realized that the spear was both pointing to his enemy and himself. Ralph was scared of what the other boys had become, and how he had changed. He went from trying to run a civilized nation, to trying to protect himself from savage 10-year-olds. The change in the boys on both a physical and mental level can be represented through the double-pointed spear. From the fall of the conch shell rules to the rise of the double pointed stick, the boys on the island lived through the collapse of their civilized nation, and the rise of chaos. Without laws to limit their power, evil overruled common sense and led to devastation and confusion.
All humans are born good and had the potential to stay that way, but it is the temptations of power, greed, and want that often drive them down a more evil path. Evil is seen through the choices that one makes, and the motives behind them. Though human nature can seem unpredictable at times, if one can see a person’s inner motives then one can know exactly where they stand between the lines of good and evil. When one of the boys finally confront the beast, the beast tells him, “There isn’t anyone to help you. Only me. And I’m the Beast. . . Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill! You knew, didn’t you? I’m part of you? Close, close, close! I’m the reason why it’s no go? Why things are the way they are?”(Golding 143). The beast that they were all afraid wasn’t a living thing at all. In fact, it was inside of all of them, slowly worming its way into their brains, giving them ideas about great evil. However, it was how each leader handled the inner evil that determined their actions as an individual. Since the boys didn’t have any rules to prevent the “beast” from infecting their heads, they slowly turned savage. The defects in society, all of the evil going on in the worlds, can be directly traced back to series of choices where power and that person’s own well-being were prioritized over everything else. Once one “evil” choice is made, it is very hard to prevent the chain of events that were put in motion? Like a snowball, it will continue to spiral out of control until it consumes the human down to the very core. It takes an outside force to eventually change the mindset, and make that person see beyond the evil mountain they have closed themselves around in. When the rescue boat finally arrived, Ralph’s eyes were finally opened to the horrors the boys had committed “he wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man's heart...” (Golding, 202). Even from an age as young as 12 years old, Ralph and the boys on the island had committed acts that were inhumane and immoral. Without consequences for breaking the rules, the boys were unaware of the vicious actions they were committing. When their eyes were finally opened, they began to realize how their choices had caused them to turn into the monsters they had become. Without the perspective to be able to step back and see what they were doing, or the knowledge to know how to deal with the stress or fear that came with being without adults, the boys were not prepared to know how to make the right choices on the island. In the end, their fear and lust for power led them to make corrupted decisions. What makes a person evil isn’t always just the fact that they have power, but also how they use it to benefit themselves, through corrupt decisions. When given power, it is a person’s decisions that determine whether they are evil or not. All people have the ability to be evil, and let their need for power consume them, but everyone also has the potential to rise above, and look beyond their lust for power, and use it to good. Evil lurks under the skin of every human walking this planet. When a person is born, they are an open book, innocent and good, but as they grow and learn, their experiences shape them into the person they are. A person's choice to make power a higher priority over compromise can turn them into a truly evil person. The abuse of power can turn just leaders into corrupt ones, and turn innocent children into savages.