Lord of the Flies Nature of Man free essay sample

Lord of the Flies: The Nature of Man William Golding’s Lord of the Flies is a gritty allegory of adolescence, innocence, and the unspoken side of human nature. Countless social issues are portrayed, however one of the most reoccurring is the nature of man. Throughout the novel there is an ever-present focus on the loss of innocence amongst the boys, shown by the deterioration of social skills and their retrogression into a barbaric form of society. Also portrayed is the juxtaposition of a cruel, evil main character and a more classically good counterpart, and their eternal rivalry for power and authority over their younger subjects. Does society or the lack thereof create evil in human nature, or simply magnify a pre-existing condition? The protagonists of the novel are all boys no older than preteens, all from presumably wealthy backgrounds. When they first arrive on the island, they have a youthful innocence and naivety that wears thin as their isolation continues, turning trust into doubt and ultimately pitting them against each other. We will write a custom essay sample on Lord of the Flies Nature of Man or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page As they begin to realize that there is no longer anyone enforcing the rules they lived by for so long, they begin to break what is left of society’s hold on them and search for ways to alienate themselves from conformity: â€Å"Denied the sustaining and repressing authority of parents, church, and state, they form a new culture the development of which reflects that of the genuine primitive society, evolving its gods and demons (its myths), its rituals and taboos (its social norms). (Rosenfield 1). They accomplish this through disrespecting their newly appointed authority figure, Ralph, along with other obscenities such as defecating where they please and participating in violent rituals to release built up rage. As the savagery of their once playful hunts increases, so does their disillusionment with their former ways, drawing them further from the schoolboy demeanor they once had. The prospect of killing a living creature becomes tantalizing to the boys, slowly manifesting into not only a drastic change in behavior, but also a dramatic physical change amongst the formerly refined choir boys. By covering themselves in body paint and disregarding any form of personal hygiene, these young boys begin to morph into savages. They hide behind the masks, creating new identities for themselves in an attempt to avoid the possible repercussions of their actions: â€Å"And the mask was a thing on its own, behind which Jack hid, liberated from shame and self-consciousness. (Golding 64). In this sense, they still posses enough integrity to understand that what they are doing is not only morally wrong but goes against the rules put in place by their newly appointed leader. However, they have been so deeply affected by their new found freedom that they disregard their morals and blindly follow urges and desires that their former society forced them to repress. At first, Jack shows hesitation in killing an animal, and despite the perfect opportunity he is unable to follow through. As time progresses, he represses those doubts and insecurities, allowing himself to become a barbaric killer, hunting for joy as opposed to purely out of need, as though embracing his true intentions: â€Å"To acknowledge the presence of this darkness in one’s own heart is a necessary but devastating condition of growing up, of becoming fully and yet flawedly human. † (Boyd 1). He then proceeds to lead a younger group of boys away from Ralph, who represents integrity and the upholding of society’s standards, and into a violent, lawless tribe. Jack, the narcissistic antagonist, represents the new found lawlessness the boys crave to embrace. In comparison, Ralph represents the familiar, comfortable, lawful society that the young boys have known their entire lives. Jack arrives on the island with obvious character flaws, which develop throughout the novel as the world around him deteriorates. They have grown up living in a similar fashion to that of Ralph’s tribe, therefore in this new found paradise the desire to rebel runs strongly enough to drive them to near utter chaos. Jack, negatively portrayed in comparison to Ralph, tempts the boys with an array of forbidden treats, indulging their most violent, suppressed desires in an attempt to lull them away from the security of Ralph. In a sense, Jack is negatively compared to Ralph throughout the novel, and is often portrayed as confused and violent, very aware of the evil inside of him: â€Å"The real problem that arises among the boys involves their own inner nature†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Johnston 2). When his plan fails, Jack feels as though his seat of power is threatened and therefore resorts to terrorizing, threatening and essentially forcing the boys to join him and align themselves against Ralph, alienating them from their former, comfortable life-style and thus making what they once failed to appreciate all the more desirable. Once these boys join Jack’s tribe, they are forced to follow his orders, committing heinous atrocities against their former friends in a desperate attempt to avoid the physical punishment Jack inflicts on those who disobey him. Jack rules his subjects through fear and intimidation, and yet lures them in by playing on hidden desires unbeknownst to them. Jack is often shown acting cruel and menacing towards the other boys, however is he also shown as being self-conscious and a bit insecure: â€Å"Boys are desperate to distract from their own helplessness and do so by projecting their fear of subjection onto an even weaker other. While bullying appears as a reliable strategy of expressing ones superior masculine composure, a self-conscious admission of fear would threaten their integrity as boys. (Schoene-Harwood 3). In a way, Jack knows his subjects better than they know themselves, while at the same time he is oblivious to their distrust and false intentions. In reality, Jack has one truly loyal, model subject, who believes in similar ideals and misbehaves in similar fashions. Roger, Jack’s sadistic partner, is ultimately the one who murders Piggy, a member of Ralph’s group. Piggy symbolizes i ntelligence, something many of the younger boys lack, purely due to their age. Also, Piggy is overweight and in need of glasses, causing the fit boys to look down upon him, perceiving themselves as better purely due to their physical nature and attempting to hide their insecurities over Piggy’s superior intellectual capabilities. These differences alienate Piggy from the others, leaving him unappreciated, and although Jack is the antagonist, Ralph is able to relate to Jack more so than he is to Piggy. The murder of Piggy however, ultimately draws the line between Jack and Ralph, finally forcing them to face off in a battle to the death, initiated by Jack: â€Å"The water boiled white and pink over the rock; and when it went, sucking back again, the body of Piggy was gone. This time the silence was complete. Ralph’s lips formed a word but no sound came. † (Golding 181). After Piggy’s untimely death, Ralph finally comes to the realization of the strength of the friendship between them, and the numerous abuses Piggy suffered at his own hand. From the beginning of the novel, Roger is always testing the boundaries of society’s rules, exhibiting the classic behavior of a paranoid sadist: â€Å"Roger stooped, picked up a stone, aimed, and threw it at Henry- threw it to miss. †¦ Roger gathered a handful of stones and began to throw them. † (Golding 62). He desires to inflict pain and suffering on those around him, however he has lived in a conforming, regulated society for far too long. At first, he is apprehensive about the repercussions of his malignant actions, however as he grows closer to Jack, he gradually becomes more open, violent and obscene, ultimately resulting in the death of Piggy. Roger’s violent urges can be traced back to far before the other boys were openly abusing each other, allowing the reader to believe that he was simply born with evil intentions, which were increasingly repressed by society until they were finally allowed to break free and manifest on this biblical paradise island. The island upon which these adolescents are stranded enables them to break free of the restrictions of their former society and release their most repressed desires. In some cases, this resulted in cruel, sadistic actions and incomparable crimes of jealousy, rage and hatred. However in other cases this resulted in a desire for order, in addition to the attempted restoration of regulations that were prominent in the society that they were so familiar with.