Nature Of Evil In Lord Of The Flies

Ged’s inability to accept the multiple sides of his personality caused him to fear the darkness that followed him; however, he was able to defeat the darkness by acquiring the ability to entirely accept himself. Ged was oblivious to the fact that he could not have goodness without knowing evil. His pride convinced him that he was incapable of breeding evil, thus he never understood the complexity of human nature. He had no concept of self-acceptance, and believed it was not applicable to him, because his physical characteristics would serve him better. Therefore, Ged feared, “The dark thing [that] lurked… watching [him] and feeding… on his weakness, on his uncertainty, on his fear… [Ged] ran, he ran and the [shadow] followed” (101, 109), because
Due to his lack of acceptance, Ged was not able to realize that what followed him was a part of him. When he learned from his Master Ogion that, “ ‘If [you] keep running… [you] will meet danger and evil, for it drives [you]… [You] must seek what seeks [you]’ ” (130), Ged learned that he must not surrender to fear, but defeat it with bravery. Ogion’s lesson inspired Ged’s decision to seek the shadow beast. He later realized that triumph did not lie in his ability to physically defeat the shadow, but his capability of accepting it as a part of his whole self. When Ged realized that, “All [his] acts [had] their echo in [the shadow]; it [was] his creature…he [was] bound to the cruel thing”, he acquired the ability to accept it by, “…naming the shadow of his death his own name, [Ged] had made himself whole” (162, 184). By understanding the value of acceptance, Ged was able to conquer his shadow by accepting it as a part of himself. He learned to accept that evil is a part of human nature, and even though it did not define who he was, it is inevitable. Ged ultimately achieved success on his quest by developing his knowledge about the importance and benefit of