Preview

Human Natures Tragic Flaw

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
700 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Human Natures Tragic Flaw
Human Natures Tragic Flaw Do you believe there is a beast within man that tempts us to do wrong and commit sin? Or is it just human nature to be sinful? In the bible, book of Genesis, it shows how God created Adam and Eve. These two beings had everything one could possibly imagine, food, water, shelter, and the protection of our heavenly father. Their only rule in The Garden Of Eden was to not eat from the forbidden fruit tree in the center of the garden, but Adam and Eve were flawed and soon fell into temptation from the serpent, and ate the fruit. They went against God’s only command and made the human species sinners. In the novel, The Lord Of The Flies, a plane crashes on an uninhabited island leaving numerous boys stranded. These boys had to learn to survive without adults to make their food and provide shelter for them. At first they all agree to a chief, Ralph, and are willing to work together to build shelters, but as the novel reaches its climax, they turn savage which soon leads to the death of three boys. The author “William Golding” portrays that it is not human nature within ourselves that makes us act out, but when times are rough, violence and sin leads us away from the path of righteousness. Symbolism is used throughout the novel to show that things put in this world tempt us to act out. The biggest illustration of symbolism in The Lord Of The Flies is in relation to “the beast”. The Beast was introduced on the very first day on the island. A little boy with a mulberry-colored birthmark on his face educated everybody of a so called Beast, which he had apparently seen on the previous night. At the time, this was overlooked by the older boys as something in his imagination. As the story advances it becomes evident that the older boys begin to believe in this Beast. One evening Simon was spotted when returning from one of his nature walks, and Jack persuaded the others that he was the Beast. Each boy began pouncing on Simon, stabbing and beating

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Symbolism is something that many others use in their writing to give meanings without coming out and saying it. The dictionary states symbolism as “the art or practice of using symbols especially by investing things with a symbolic meaning or by expressing the invisible or intangible by means of visible or sensuous representations as artistic imitation or invention that is a method of revealing or suggesting immaterial, ideal, or otherwise intangible truth or states.” When authors do this it lets readers get different ideas as what they mean as they read the story, which makes them think a lot more as they read the story. This story has a lot of symbolism, most of it…

    • 960 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    As the symbolism of the “beast” in Lord of the Flies changes from fear, to war then to the savagery of human nature, in the end they all come together and connect. While the boys are fearful of being alone, it’s the fear of others that lead to war. War isn’t started without the savagery of human nature. So in the end we find that the figure of the “beast” is more than just one thing and is all around…

    • 519 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    As you read the lord of flies there are a lot of allegory and symbol to backup the allegory. In his lord of the flies, allegory William golding attempts to argue that kids on the island have a darkness by show it by the beast.The beast is the kid’s on the island.During the story, first kid to find out about the beast was a littlun who name was Phil.The person who was really affected by the beast was Simon.Lord of the file tries to prove him that the beast was their self.…

    • 513 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Symbolism is the gateway to truth in this essay. In Lord of the Flies, William Golding uses “The Beast” to represent savagery and uses Simon to represent spirituality, instinct and a Jesus figure in order to show human nature is savage and that the role of government, a monarchy, is giving out more of the way towards Thomas Hobbes theory of people and government.…

    • 481 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    (Hook). Lord of the Flies, by William Golding is about a group of boys that are evacuated from england and get trapped on an island with no adults. In this story there are many pieces of symbolism. For example three pieces of symbolism are the fire which represents hope, the beast that represents fear, and the (3rd symbol) that represents (something).…

    • 244 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    There are many symbols in our lives that reflect our culture. Even when we don't know it, we are either influenced by symbols, or are helping those symbols influence others. Without the use of symbolism, a culture or society cannot continue to stand. William Golding's Lord of the Flies shows how symbols are created, and how those symbols become powerful. Three of the symbols he uses are the conch, the pig's head on a stick, and Piggy's glasses.…

    • 545 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A symbol is a thing, person, or place that is presented as a representation of a larger mean. In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, as the story unravels, the objects which the boys encounter are decoded to provide a deeper meaning. Golding uses symbolism to expose that an item is more powerful than it first seems.…

    • 837 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    lord of the flies 101

    • 591 Words
    • 3 Pages

    3. William Golding has said that his novel Lord of the Flies was symbolic from the beginning until the end when the boys are rescued. During the course of the novel these symbols are constantly changing, giving us a new interpretation of the island society.…

    • 591 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Meaning in Lord of the flies

    • 3894 Words
    • 16 Pages

    The main allegory for Lord of the Flies is that without civilization, savagery takes over. The Lord of the Flies and the Beast are not really physical characters. It is the evil that is in every human being. Without civilization the boys unleashed this evil. Piggy stood for intellect which every civilization needs, when he died it showed that savagery had completely taken over. Also Simon stood for morality, but not because civilization told him to be moral, but because he knew that morality was natural. But this book shows the allegory that savagery…

    • 3894 Words
    • 16 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Throughout the novel Lord of the Flies, symbolism is the most important literary device used by William Golding, to reveal the central theme of the novel. The hunters…

    • 1088 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lord of the flies

    • 1176 Words
    • 4 Pages

    William Golding uses symbolism many times in his book _Lord of the Flies_. He uses numerous representations all throughout the book to get the reader to recognize the theme which is that human nature is inherently evil. When a group of British boys get into a plane crash during World War II, they establish rules and a chief. But, later in the book, they start to turn savage. Golding uses a conch in the book to represent order. He uses a pair of glasses as a symbol of seeing what is right. Fire is used to represent rescue, which the boys tend to forget about. These three symbols help demonstrate Golding's message in the novel.…

    • 1176 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “Symbolism is no mere idle fancy or corrupt egerneration: it is inherent in the very texture of human life” This is a quote from Alfred North Whitehead, an English philosopher from the early 90s, that explains that symbolism is not a pointless past time, but rather it is a part of human structure. The very existence of the human species is based solely off its ability to survive, the first society of humans where not so gifted as man is today for they had to fight and kill in order to live another day. It was eat or be eaten in there world. Nowadays, man is taught, at a very young age, that he must always act accordingly or in a civilized manner thus concealing his ancestral dark side. In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies there are many…

    • 912 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Authors frequently use a powerful literary device called symbolism to express their ideas creatively and indirectly. By definition, symbolism is an object or idea that represents more than what the object or idea actually is. The conch, just a mere pretty thing that attracted attention, has more meaning than that of just being a conch shell. The conch’s symbolism can be traced throughout William Golding’s entire novel, Lord of the Flies and is a major symbol of power and order within the story. At first the conch shell effectively governs the boys and keeps them civilized. However, as civilization on the island begins to diminish and as the boys descend deeper into the abyss of savagery, the conch shell loses the power and influence it…

    • 814 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lord of the flies

    • 470 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In the novel, Lord of the Flies, symbolism played an important part in the development of story. The use of symbolism in objects develops the structure and meaning of the novel. Some examples of symbolism in objects are the pig's head, Piggy's glasses, the Conch and the Fire. One of the most important and most obvious symbols in Lord of the Flies is the object that gives the novel its name, the pig's head. The pig's head, in this novel, is described as "dim-eyed, grinning faintly, blood blackening between the teeth," and the "obscene thing" is covered with a "black blob of flies" that "tickled under his nostrils." (Pg. 151, 152). As a result of this detailed, striking image, the reader becomes aware of the great evil and darkness represented by the Lord of the Flies.…

    • 470 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A prime example of symbolism in Lord of the Flies is the representations of Jack and Simon. Jack is the leader of the island's hunters. His leadership technique is to intimidate, frighten, or even threaten those that he leads. From a historical standpoint, Jack's governing style could be compared to Stalinist totalitarianism or even Nazi fascism. If Lord of the Flies were a religious allegory, Jack would, undoubtedly, represent Satan. This is evident by the way he encourages others to be bad. Jack has very few useful qualities, among these is bravery. However, his bad traits and his lust for blood obscure his bravery. Ralph's efforts to get Jack to follow the rules are useless. Jack frequently has tantrums and acts savagely. "Bollocks to the rules! We're strong-we hunt! If there's a beast, we'll hunt it down! We'll close it and beat and beat and beat and beat"¦!" Simon is the exact opposite of Jack. Simon represents goodness and pureness. Simon is a "Christ Figure" in Lord of the Flies. He goes off into the jungle frequently for solitude and meditation. Jesus did the same thing when he wandered the desert for forty days. Simon shows no fear like the other boys. Simon seems above the other boys; he is mystical and spiritual. Just like Jesus delivered the lord's message, Simon tries to deliver the Lord of the Flies'message from the "beast" to the boys of the island. This is symbolic of how Jesus delivers God's message to mankind. Also just like Christ, Simon is killed by his fellow man before he can deliver the Lord of the Flies' message. In this passage Simon is followed by the "littluns" much like Christ was followed. Instead of feeding bread and fish, Simon gives fruit. ""¦Simon found for them the fruit they could not reach,…

    • 862 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays