Pessimism In Lord Of The Flies
Goldings novel Lord of the Flies is not a totally pessimistic novel; hence this is not the only reason that it was refused by so many publishers. It is evident that although it has strong pessimism throughout the text, it is not without a brighter side. Thus, pessimism could not be at fault for the publishers lack of interest in the text as there are other grounds for their judgment.
The Oxford English dictionary defines pessimism as:1.lack of hope or confidence in the future.
2.a belief that this world is as bad as it could be or that evil will ultimately prevail over good.
So is Lord of the Flies a totally pessimistic novel? Well judging by the definition of pessimism, this theme is indeed strongly evident throughout the text, yet it is a far cry from being totally pessimistic as such. The novel explores mankinds potential for evil as it illustrates a number of irresponsible, malicious and violent acts performed by mere schoolboys due to the situations in which they are placed in. Maybe its only us . . . Says Simon as the idea of the beastie being only the darkness within one another hits him. Though almost every character becomes a savage (as Golding describes them), some characters represent the better aspects of human nature. Ralph represents democracy and order as he is put in power by a democratic vote, attempts to …show more content…
In fact, Golding initially describes the island as being a paradise, like Eden, until the boys slowly turn toward savagery and the descriptions are filled with pathetic fallacy showing the darker side of nature, such as when thunder is used to symbolise incoming conflict. The boys then begin to enter into conflict with one another, which points towards the story of the original sin in Genesis, and as religion was such a delicate issue at this time; the book was deemed as unacceptable in the early
The Oxford English dictionary defines pessimism as:1.lack of hope or confidence in the future.
2.a belief that this world is as bad as it could be or that evil will ultimately prevail over good.
So is Lord of the Flies a totally pessimistic novel? Well judging by the definition of pessimism, this theme is indeed strongly evident throughout the text, yet it is a far cry from being totally pessimistic as such. The novel explores mankinds potential for evil as it illustrates a number of irresponsible, malicious and violent acts performed by mere schoolboys due to the situations in which they are placed in. Maybe its only us . . . Says Simon as the idea of the beastie being only the darkness within one another hits him. Though almost every character becomes a savage (as Golding describes them), some characters represent the better aspects of human nature. Ralph represents democracy and order as he is put in power by a democratic vote, attempts to …show more content…
In fact, Golding initially describes the island as being a paradise, like Eden, until the boys slowly turn toward savagery and the descriptions are filled with pathetic fallacy showing the darker side of nature, such as when thunder is used to symbolise incoming conflict. The boys then begin to enter into conflict with one another, which points towards the story of the original sin in Genesis, and as religion was such a delicate issue at this time; the book was deemed as unacceptable in the early