Critical Lens Essay Example

Kris Dias Critical Lens Essay “The evil that is in the world almost always comes of ignorance, and good intentions may do as much harm as malevolence if they lack understanding.” - Albert Camus. In the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding, a group of British schoolboys become stranded on a deserted tropical island after their plane is shot down. Without the rules and structure of civilization the boys quickly descend into savagery. Some of the boys who are led by Ralph, the group’s chosen leader, are peaceful and work together to achieve common goals. The others led by Jack are hunters who act selfishly and indulge in violence. William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, tells the story of Macbeth, a brave Scottish general, who receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will be the King of Scotland. His ambitious thoughts and influence from his wife spurs him to murder King Duncan and seize the throne. Macbeth becomes a tyrannical ruler and is forced to commit more murders in order to protect himself from suspicion. In literature, evil seems like a good choice and is slightly successful but in the end it is proven to be less than good, possibly even harmful. The idea that evil often triumphs but never conquers in literature is true. This is shown in Golding’s Lord of the Flies and Shakespeare’s Macbeth. In Lord of the Flies, Ralph is chosen the leader and sets the goal of getting rescued using a signal fire to attract ships. Jack is the leader of the hunters and wishes to use authoritarian rule over democratic rule. Jack is ruled over by evil through his selfishness in wanting to hunt and forget about the fire. He hides behind a mask and quickly moves towards complete savagery. He never gets that far since the boys are rescued by a naval officer. In Macbeth, the main character, Macbeth is persuaded by his wife, Lady Macbeth, to murder the king of Scotland so he will take the throne. Lady Macbeth makes Macbeth feel unmanly and cowardly so he