Humanity In Lord Of The Flies Persuasive Essay
A group of boys crashed on an island and the exact opposite of what you would think would happen, happened. William Golding decided to come up with a possible story of what happen to a group of boys in that situation.. In the novel written by William Golding, The lord of the flies, the possible story of many young boys being alone on an island with no adult guidance is explained. Golding explains this by using many symbols and the idea of civilization vs inner savage. The symbol, the lord of flies, particularly shines in the novel. In The lord of the flies, William Golding argues that civility (the good in humanity) is fragile and very easily shattered. His argument is correct because of Ralph, people from the modern day world, and examples
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of lost humanity from the past.
The first reason Golding is right about the good in humanity is easily shattered is because of Ralph. Ralph was one of the lead characters in the book and Golding focused on his humanity a lot throughout the novel. In the novel, The Lord of the flies, Golding says “Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man's heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy” (211). Ralph was getting rescued off the island at this point in time and it really showed his humanity shattering completely. It shows that because ralph has lost his innocence from just being on an island for a short amount of time. He lost his innocence because of the things he’s done like kill Simon, another young boy on the island. A quote from the book that also showed the fragile humanity is, “Kill the pig. Cut her throat. Spill her blood” (75). The boys were chanting this when they became savages and killed the pig. Young boys should not chant about slaughter especially because of their age. The fact that boys are chanting about spilling blood and cutting throats just goes to show how much humanity they have left, which is next to none. At this point they have not been on the island long at all. Their humanity was very fragile and was shattered in just a short amount of time.
However, another example of why Golding was right about humanity being fragile and easily shattered is because of people from the modern day world.
The article “humanity was most fragile of all”, by David sweet really showed Golding’s argument. This article was about the aftermath of hurricane Katrina and how it affected the humanity of everyone that experienced it. A quote from the article is “However, what caught my attention more profoundly than all the physical damage (not to mention the finger-pointing between the various levels of government) was the human failings and lack of character that became so apparent in this Louisiana disaster”. Sweet was saying how surprised he was that the humanity of the people of Louisiana was more destroyed than Louisiana itself. The people of Louisiana were failing to act like humans after the hurricane and people were losing sight of who they really were. Another quote from the article “Humanity was Most Fragile of all” is “But is our civilization so fragile as to put women at risk of being raped amid the fetid squalor of the shelters? What lurks in the heart of a man who would rape a hungry, desperate woman in her hour of need?” This took after the hurricane when people had lost their homes, family, and their own protection. A homeless and helpless woman was raped because a man had lost his humanity after the hurricane. How could a man who was just through a hurricane, rape a women who was in need of someone. That man’s
humanity was so easily wrecked because of a natural disaster, that he took measures that far. If something like a hurricane can destroy a person’s humanity, than its apparently fragile.
Lastly, a third reason why Golding’s argument is correct is because of past events that show exactly how fragile humanity is. An example that explains this fragile side of humanity is the article “Is Humanity Getting Better”. This article explains that humanity is easily shattered and fragile, but it also explains why it is strong. For the fragile side of it, it uses the example from history of the black plague. That was a bad time for people and there humanity was shattered from it. A quote from the article is “Kill the dogs and cats.” This was an order put out by the president during the time of the black plague. He put the order out to kill the cats and dogs because of how many homeless ones there were running around. The owners of these pets have died and they have nowhere to go but roam around and look for food and shelter. The black plague damaged humanity so bad that the president put out a kill order on innocent animals, when they could have been easily helped. A sickness shattered a man’s humanity so bad that he had to come to that sort of decision. Another quote from this article that shows how easily humanity is lost is “Our science is now so penetrating; our systems are so robust, that we are mostly endangered by our own creations”. This quote is saying how our ways of life and the decisions we make because of certain disasters like the plague can so easily hurt our humanity. The way our kind handles things like the plague is exactly what is making our humanity that much more fragile. The system they had like killing innocent animals doesn’t make our humanity strong at all.
of lost humanity from the past.
The first reason Golding is right about the good in humanity is easily shattered is because of Ralph. Ralph was one of the lead characters in the book and Golding focused on his humanity a lot throughout the novel. In the novel, The Lord of the flies, Golding says “Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man's heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy” (211). Ralph was getting rescued off the island at this point in time and it really showed his humanity shattering completely. It shows that because ralph has lost his innocence from just being on an island for a short amount of time. He lost his innocence because of the things he’s done like kill Simon, another young boy on the island. A quote from the book that also showed the fragile humanity is, “Kill the pig. Cut her throat. Spill her blood” (75). The boys were chanting this when they became savages and killed the pig. Young boys should not chant about slaughter especially because of their age. The fact that boys are chanting about spilling blood and cutting throats just goes to show how much humanity they have left, which is next to none. At this point they have not been on the island long at all. Their humanity was very fragile and was shattered in just a short amount of time.
However, another example of why Golding was right about humanity being fragile and easily shattered is because of people from the modern day world.
The article “humanity was most fragile of all”, by David sweet really showed Golding’s argument. This article was about the aftermath of hurricane Katrina and how it affected the humanity of everyone that experienced it. A quote from the article is “However, what caught my attention more profoundly than all the physical damage (not to mention the finger-pointing between the various levels of government) was the human failings and lack of character that became so apparent in this Louisiana disaster”. Sweet was saying how surprised he was that the humanity of the people of Louisiana was more destroyed than Louisiana itself. The people of Louisiana were failing to act like humans after the hurricane and people were losing sight of who they really were. Another quote from the article “Humanity was Most Fragile of all” is “But is our civilization so fragile as to put women at risk of being raped amid the fetid squalor of the shelters? What lurks in the heart of a man who would rape a hungry, desperate woman in her hour of need?” This took after the hurricane when people had lost their homes, family, and their own protection. A homeless and helpless woman was raped because a man had lost his humanity after the hurricane. How could a man who was just through a hurricane, rape a women who was in need of someone. That man’s
humanity was so easily wrecked because of a natural disaster, that he took measures that far. If something like a hurricane can destroy a person’s humanity, than its apparently fragile.
Lastly, a third reason why Golding’s argument is correct is because of past events that show exactly how fragile humanity is. An example that explains this fragile side of humanity is the article “Is Humanity Getting Better”. This article explains that humanity is easily shattered and fragile, but it also explains why it is strong. For the fragile side of it, it uses the example from history of the black plague. That was a bad time for people and there humanity was shattered from it. A quote from the article is “Kill the dogs and cats.” This was an order put out by the president during the time of the black plague. He put the order out to kill the cats and dogs because of how many homeless ones there were running around. The owners of these pets have died and they have nowhere to go but roam around and look for food and shelter. The black plague damaged humanity so bad that the president put out a kill order on innocent animals, when they could have been easily helped. A sickness shattered a man’s humanity so bad that he had to come to that sort of decision. Another quote from this article that shows how easily humanity is lost is “Our science is now so penetrating; our systems are so robust, that we are mostly endangered by our own creations”. This quote is saying how our ways of life and the decisions we make because of certain disasters like the plague can so easily hurt our humanity. The way our kind handles things like the plague is exactly what is making our humanity that much more fragile. The system they had like killing innocent animals doesn’t make our humanity strong at all.