William Golding's Lord of the Flies: Moral Choices

Moral Choices
In William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies, he questions the nature of man and origins of evil within human beings. The plot involves a plane full of young British boys, crashing on an isolated island. There, they are stranded without the supervision of adults and as time progresses, the upbringing of the boys regarding societal rules and morals are tested as they revert into a life of savagery. By creating this scenario, Golding poses the question of inherent nature of humans. Through the use of Biblical allusions of Christ and Lucifer, Golding shows the eternal struggle between good and evil within every human and how personal choice can either save or destroy mankind. One of the most important characters in the novel was that of Simon because he was portrayed as the Christ- figure who was martyred before he could save the boys from their fear. Throughout the novel Simon’s actions mimicked many of the miracles and deeds of Christ. For instance, one Bible story tells of Christ feeding a crowd of 5,000 with three loaves of bread and two fish. Simon likewise fed the littluns until they were satisfied: “ […] Simon found for them the fruit they could not reach, pulled off the choicest from up in the foliage, passed them back down to the endless outstretched hands. When he had satisfied them he paused and looked round. The littluns watched him inscrutably over double handfuls of ripe fruit. (56) Furthermore, like Christ, Simon too made prophecies when he predicted that Ralph would return to the civilized world, “You’ll [Ralph] get back to where you came from”. (111) Simon, being the Christ, represents the goodness within human nature. Without him, civilization was cease to exist, as it did for the boys after his death.
Ralph chose to follow the words of holy Simon and fought against his dark side. He clung to the rules of his childhood in hopes to return to the adult world since he knew that without those morals and ethics, their survival would be doomed. Ralph was on intent on following a set of rules that would work for the collective good, which would help prolong their survival, and make their life as pleasant as possible on the remote island. He along with Piggy believed in a democratic way of solving conflict. The conch was used as an instrument of democracy giving everyone a chance to speak their mind. Ralph used this to set up a signal fire on top of the mountain and all the boys took turns to look over the fire. Piggy cooperated in lending his glasses to help light the fire. This is another good example of how a good personal choice can lead to the benefit of all. In contrast, Jack for his own selfish gain tried to take the glasses by use of force, and depriving Piggy of his vision. The boys also established how to collect food, by allowing Jack and the hunters to hunt, which quickly spiraled out of control due to Jack and the hunter’s obsession with killing the pig and chanting, “Kill the pig. Cut her throat. Spill her blood.” The sight of blood and act of killing the pig transformed the boys into animals. It could have acted like a catalyst in bringing out these barbaric feelings. Jack used the hunt to influence others to follow his lead. Ralph was thoughtful enough to build huts for the littluns to provide a sense of protection to comfort them.
The power of personal choice is an archetype spanning the ages back to when Lucifer first decided to rebel against God. Jack is a personification of evil and easily lead astray by temptation to the detriment of all the kids on the island. He relies more on his instinct than his logic. Likewise, Jack and his tribe, followed suit and mutinied against the fundamental beliefs of right and wrong that had been instilled in them since birth. Though they had been taught the difference between good and evil, they succumbed to their sinister impulses of their nature and plunge headlong into a world of cruelty and murder. Its takes a civil society to keep a check on this savage impulse within all of us. It appears that it is easier to follow our baser instincts as shown by the majority of boys that follow Jack. It takes a person with great integrity and conviction of their principles to choose the righteous path.
Golding’s novel is a warning to society on what being human is and how everyone has the personal choice to do either greater good or horrible evil and with our choice, we hold the fate of the world in our hands. It is easier to give in to our baser instincts, eventually leading to anarchy. The choice of good is not easy and takes a person of strong will and good moral character to make the right choice.