Lord of the Flies: Evil

The Power of Evil Evil: A noun meaning profound immorality, wickedness, and depravity. Everyone has a little bit of evil in them, but it’s up to that person if they want to show it or not. In Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, a group of boys show the evil within themselves while being stranded on an island. Because of the situation that has been thrust upon them, they soon discover the true evil they are capable of. In the book, the boys show evil through their lust for power, the behavior that the boys express, and their murderous actions. When the boys first arrive on the island, they are all nothing but British school boys who had lived in society where rules and regulations are established. The rules and regulations, teach the boys from right and wrong, but since there were no rules enforced on the island, the boys have to make their own decisions. This leads to them illustrating that human kind is inherently evil through the yearning for power. In the story, Jack announces that he should be chief, “’I ought to be chief,’ said Jack with simple arrogance, ‘because I’m chapter chorister and head boy. I can sing C sharp’” (Golding 22). This shows that Jack’s desire to be chief has nothing to do with the island, but simply he himself wanting power. Another example of human kind being inherently evil though the lust of power, is yet another one of Jack’s blatantly acts to obtain power. This time, Jack starts to control his choir, making him look even hungrier, “Ralph, I’ll split up the choir- my hunters, that is-into groups, and we’ll be responsible for keeping the fire going” (Golding 43). This quote explains how Jack controls ‘his’ choir by calling them hunters. Also, he is again going out of boundaries for the need of power and to have his own control by holding the responsibility of watching the fire. Of all the acts Jack made, it is very clear that man is in fact inherently evil. Secondly, throughout the story, the way the boys