Lord of the Flies Descriptive Good or Evil Essay Example
Lord of the Flies
The novel The Lord of the Flies is based on one significant question that
philosophers have been puzzled by for centuries – are humans essentially good, or are
they evil? Jean-Jacques Rousseau, a famous French philosopher, theorized that humans
are instinctively good, however, when given an aggravating situation, then their minds
become warped and are set into a bad state. Thus, humans are naturally good, but it is
society that demeans them. On the other hand, another great influential thinker, Thomas
Hobbes, believed that humans are inborn evil, but it is society that subdues the evil ways.
Many studies led to the assumption that humans are born with evil inside, and it is human
nature to act upon evil impulses, as in what Hobbes believes. Many believe that evil
behavior in people is something that is learned, as in what Rousseau demonstrated. There
is no answer to the dispute, yet, but it is based on one’s opinion derived from their
overview of society. The author of the novel, William Golding, seems to agree with
Hobbes’ perspective, for the children in the book are good when society is around, but
when they are on their own, they alter to self-destructive ways. Its plot is subjected on an
assembly of boys that are stranded on an island during WWII, but the longer they are
away from civilization, the more animal-like they become.
Golding uses many symbols within to book to express society nowadays. One of
the first symbols is the main setting, the island. Its main representation is the isolation
of the boys from civilization. Since they are separated, there isn’t a chance that society could influence them to be evil. The island is distinguished as “a coral reef, and beyond
that the open sea was dark blue. Within the irregular arc of coral the lagoon was still as a
mountain lake--blue of all shades and shadowy green and purple" (8). At first, it seems
as if
The novel The Lord of the Flies is based on one significant question that
philosophers have been puzzled by for centuries – are humans essentially good, or are
they evil? Jean-Jacques Rousseau, a famous French philosopher, theorized that humans
are instinctively good, however, when given an aggravating situation, then their minds
become warped and are set into a bad state. Thus, humans are naturally good, but it is
society that demeans them. On the other hand, another great influential thinker, Thomas
Hobbes, believed that humans are inborn evil, but it is society that subdues the evil ways.
Many studies led to the assumption that humans are born with evil inside, and it is human
nature to act upon evil impulses, as in what Hobbes believes. Many believe that evil
behavior in people is something that is learned, as in what Rousseau demonstrated. There
is no answer to the dispute, yet, but it is based on one’s opinion derived from their
overview of society. The author of the novel, William Golding, seems to agree with
Hobbes’ perspective, for the children in the book are good when society is around, but
when they are on their own, they alter to self-destructive ways. Its plot is subjected on an
assembly of boys that are stranded on an island during WWII, but the longer they are
away from civilization, the more animal-like they become.
Golding uses many symbols within to book to express society nowadays. One of
the first symbols is the main setting, the island. Its main representation is the isolation
of the boys from civilization. Since they are separated, there isn’t a chance that society could influence them to be evil. The island is distinguished as “a coral reef, and beyond
that the open sea was dark blue. Within the irregular arc of coral the lagoon was still as a
mountain lake--blue of all shades and shadowy green and purple" (8). At first, it seems
as if