What Is The Evil In Lord Of The Flies
The destruction that occurs on the island is due to the natural instinct of humans to destroy and tear down one another. In Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies Golding uses three major symbols, the conch shell, fire, and the beast support his theme that mankind is evil. The conch represents the order in humanity until it brakes and all hope is lost. The fire represents the hope to be saved yet in the end it only destroys. Lastly, the beast represented the fear of the unknown and is the origin of violence throughout the novel. The three symbols show the humans natural instinct to overrule and destroy one another no matter how young. The boys on the island suffer through the loss of innocence that they come to the island with and by the end of
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the book they face serious terrors and dilemmas that lead to violence and the downfall of their population. The tragedy is that they experience this at such a young age but this proves Goldings point that humans are evil and bound to evil. This story is made to show the cruelty of human beings and their natural instinct to destroy and bring down one another for the sake of their own wellbeing and success as shown throughout the novel. As we look further into the novel the signs of mankind’s natural instinct of evil is more prominently shown and acted upon.
The conch shell represents law, order, and power. The conch is represents a system of equality for the boys. It also represents the familiarity of rules and the good in humanity. When Piggy and Ralph set out to venture through the island in hopes of finding civilization they stumble upon the conch. Piggy immediately recognizes the conch and says "S'right. It's a shell! I seen one like that before. On someone's back wall. A conch he called it. He used to blow it and then his mum would come. It's ever so valuable--" (15). Ralph then blows the conch and all the children on the island come together as one. The conch brings them together in unity and is used to regulate speech from that point on. As the story goes on the conch gains more and more significance to the boys. Then The conchs power is starting to be abused when ralph says “I bet if I blew the conch this minute, they’d come running” (51). Soon the importance of the conch is no longer relevant and no longer has a place. The conch represented their last piece of humanity throughout the novel but suddenly things take a turn for the worse. The children turn to violence as a result and a a repercussion piggy is killed "The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee; the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist" (181). When the conch breaks the good in humanity disappears and is replaced with evil. With the conch gone ralph realizes there was no way he can regain authority and is faced with the brutality of reality.
The fire represents hope, rescue, and their only connection to civilization or humanity at the beginning of the novel. The boys are bright children and decide to build a fire to send a signal so they can be rescued. When the boys are about ready to give up ralph encourages them by saying “Don't you all want to be rescued?”(102). The fire is their only hope and motivation throughout this cruel island. The fire connects them to the world outside the island and serves as a constant reminder of humanity. The fire continues to encourage and motivate them but eventually it beacame less important. When fire became less important he has to keep reminding them of its importance "The fire is the most important thing on the island. How can we ever be rescued except by luck, if we don't keep a fire going? Is a fire too much for us to make?" (80). Although after they burn down about half the forest and fail to keep a steady fire Ralph has to remind himself “Ralph tried indignantly to remember. There was something good about a fire. Something overwhelmingly good” (163). As the story goes on fire becomes less and less a symbol of hope but instead becomes a symbol of destruction and the collapse of mankind. When Jack and the hunters steal the fire, the evil and destructive power of a dictatorship is symbolized as Jack and Roger gain control of the boys. Golding however continues with his theme of evil and ends the book in ironey. The ending is ironic because all this time the boys are creating fires and snoke to get rescued and had ggod intentions for the fire whereas the fire is meant to kill ralph yet it signals halp and they are met with an officer. The officer comes and says “We saw your fire”(201) but by this point Ralph knows the extent of evil in humanity and has gone through the loss of humanity.
Lastly, the beast represents the frear of the unknown and the evil within the group.
The beas plays a huge role and is a imaginary fear from the start. Simon is the only boy who understands that they are all beasts inside. Meaning that he understood the evil witrhin each of them. Golding directly tells us that they are evil when The Lord of the Flies says “There isn’t anyone to help you. Only me. And I’m the Beast. . . . Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill! . . . You knew, didn’t you? I’m part of you? Close, close, close! I’m the reason why it’s no go? Why things are the way they are?”(158). When this is said all the evidence and clues come together to form the conclusion that the beast is the evil within us that cannot be take out or removed because it is apart of each and everyone of us. The Lord of the flies is a physical symbol of the beats however the boys’ behavior mentally brings the beast into existence. The beast makes the boys make rash decisions, act violently, and turn against one another, the death of simon is an example of this. Simons death was horrific and gruesome. Simon was injured and was crawling down the mountain, when he reached the bottom the boys started vigorously attacking him while shouting “ Kill the beast!Cut his troat! Spill his blood!”(168). They were so caught up in the chant and the fear of being killed first that they did not notice they were killing one of there own. Ironically simon was coming down to spread the word that the beast is not real and there is no need to fear it because the only beast they should fear is themselves because there is a beast inside each and every one of them. The “existence” of the beast has brought out the evil within them and turned them against one another. Golding has clearly proven his point that mankind is
evil.
In conclusion, Golding has shown us the true nature of human beings. From the evidence displayed to us throughout this novel such as the conch, fire, and the beast it is clear to us that Goldings belief that mankind is evil is indeed true. Golding also states that actually destruction is instinctive within each and every one of us. Golding has showed us the true nature of human beings. From the evidence displayed to us throughout this novel such as the conch, fire, and the beast it is clear to us that Goldings belief that mankind is evil is true. The three symbols, the conch, fire, and the beast express the true intentions of mankind. The conch symbolizes the collapse of society and self-destruction. The fire symbolizes the hopelessness of mankind. The beast represents the fear of the unknown and the instinct of violence. These three symbols help us realize that mankind is truly evil and made in the likeness of evil. The symbols provided by Golding have given us insight on the true intentions of mankind. Therefore when children are left to fend for themselves they turn to violence and self-destruction thus proving Goldings point that mankind is evil from birth.
the book they face serious terrors and dilemmas that lead to violence and the downfall of their population. The tragedy is that they experience this at such a young age but this proves Goldings point that humans are evil and bound to evil. This story is made to show the cruelty of human beings and their natural instinct to destroy and bring down one another for the sake of their own wellbeing and success as shown throughout the novel. As we look further into the novel the signs of mankind’s natural instinct of evil is more prominently shown and acted upon.
The conch shell represents law, order, and power. The conch is represents a system of equality for the boys. It also represents the familiarity of rules and the good in humanity. When Piggy and Ralph set out to venture through the island in hopes of finding civilization they stumble upon the conch. Piggy immediately recognizes the conch and says "S'right. It's a shell! I seen one like that before. On someone's back wall. A conch he called it. He used to blow it and then his mum would come. It's ever so valuable--" (15). Ralph then blows the conch and all the children on the island come together as one. The conch brings them together in unity and is used to regulate speech from that point on. As the story goes on the conch gains more and more significance to the boys. Then The conchs power is starting to be abused when ralph says “I bet if I blew the conch this minute, they’d come running” (51). Soon the importance of the conch is no longer relevant and no longer has a place. The conch represented their last piece of humanity throughout the novel but suddenly things take a turn for the worse. The children turn to violence as a result and a a repercussion piggy is killed "The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee; the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist" (181). When the conch breaks the good in humanity disappears and is replaced with evil. With the conch gone ralph realizes there was no way he can regain authority and is faced with the brutality of reality.
The fire represents hope, rescue, and their only connection to civilization or humanity at the beginning of the novel. The boys are bright children and decide to build a fire to send a signal so they can be rescued. When the boys are about ready to give up ralph encourages them by saying “Don't you all want to be rescued?”(102). The fire is their only hope and motivation throughout this cruel island. The fire connects them to the world outside the island and serves as a constant reminder of humanity. The fire continues to encourage and motivate them but eventually it beacame less important. When fire became less important he has to keep reminding them of its importance "The fire is the most important thing on the island. How can we ever be rescued except by luck, if we don't keep a fire going? Is a fire too much for us to make?" (80). Although after they burn down about half the forest and fail to keep a steady fire Ralph has to remind himself “Ralph tried indignantly to remember. There was something good about a fire. Something overwhelmingly good” (163). As the story goes on fire becomes less and less a symbol of hope but instead becomes a symbol of destruction and the collapse of mankind. When Jack and the hunters steal the fire, the evil and destructive power of a dictatorship is symbolized as Jack and Roger gain control of the boys. Golding however continues with his theme of evil and ends the book in ironey. The ending is ironic because all this time the boys are creating fires and snoke to get rescued and had ggod intentions for the fire whereas the fire is meant to kill ralph yet it signals halp and they are met with an officer. The officer comes and says “We saw your fire”(201) but by this point Ralph knows the extent of evil in humanity and has gone through the loss of humanity.
Lastly, the beast represents the frear of the unknown and the evil within the group.
The beas plays a huge role and is a imaginary fear from the start. Simon is the only boy who understands that they are all beasts inside. Meaning that he understood the evil witrhin each of them. Golding directly tells us that they are evil when The Lord of the Flies says “There isn’t anyone to help you. Only me. And I’m the Beast. . . . Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill! . . . You knew, didn’t you? I’m part of you? Close, close, close! I’m the reason why it’s no go? Why things are the way they are?”(158). When this is said all the evidence and clues come together to form the conclusion that the beast is the evil within us that cannot be take out or removed because it is apart of each and everyone of us. The Lord of the flies is a physical symbol of the beats however the boys’ behavior mentally brings the beast into existence. The beast makes the boys make rash decisions, act violently, and turn against one another, the death of simon is an example of this. Simons death was horrific and gruesome. Simon was injured and was crawling down the mountain, when he reached the bottom the boys started vigorously attacking him while shouting “ Kill the beast!Cut his troat! Spill his blood!”(168). They were so caught up in the chant and the fear of being killed first that they did not notice they were killing one of there own. Ironically simon was coming down to spread the word that the beast is not real and there is no need to fear it because the only beast they should fear is themselves because there is a beast inside each and every one of them. The “existence” of the beast has brought out the evil within them and turned them against one another. Golding has clearly proven his point that mankind is
evil.
In conclusion, Golding has shown us the true nature of human beings. From the evidence displayed to us throughout this novel such as the conch, fire, and the beast it is clear to us that Goldings belief that mankind is evil is indeed true. Golding also states that actually destruction is instinctive within each and every one of us. Golding has showed us the true nature of human beings. From the evidence displayed to us throughout this novel such as the conch, fire, and the beast it is clear to us that Goldings belief that mankind is evil is true. The three symbols, the conch, fire, and the beast express the true intentions of mankind. The conch symbolizes the collapse of society and self-destruction. The fire symbolizes the hopelessness of mankind. The beast represents the fear of the unknown and the instinct of violence. These three symbols help us realize that mankind is truly evil and made in the likeness of evil. The symbols provided by Golding have given us insight on the true intentions of mankind. Therefore when children are left to fend for themselves they turn to violence and self-destruction thus proving Goldings point that mankind is evil from birth.