Comparison Essay: By the Waters of Babylon and Lord of the Flies

Imagine an orderly and humane world where every human being is unified as brothers and sisters. Now, add in the savagery of human nature and the consequences will unfold surreal and devastating. A humane world is virtually impossible to attain when the emotions of fear, anger, and frustration are fundamental aspects of human nature. These emotions begin with rivalry and feed into the triumph of evil as well as degrade society as a whole. Therefore, in both “By the Waters of Babylon” and Lord of the Flies, the clashing of opposing ideas eliminates the harmonizing forces of a unified brotherhood, preventing the development of an orderly civilization.    

In both “By the Waters of Babylon” and Lord of the Flies, the feeling of unity and civilization is tampered by the dividing effects of rivalry since humans possess conflicting ideals.  While the Hill people teach John how to become a priest, they also inform him of the inhumane lifestyle of the Forest people as they are “ignorant” because they “eat grubs from trees” and “hunt anyone” they encounter, while the Hill people remain civil and “stay true to god” (Benet 6, 20, 24). The ruthless lifestyle of the Forest people promotes chaos and division amongst the remnants of humanity, and the Hill people oppose their ideas of survival as they believe in a lifestyle of righteousness. The rivalry between the two groups led to division and destruction which prohibited the development of an orderly society and instead increased isolation. Similarly, although Ralph insisted on building “shelters” and igniting a “fire on top of the mountain” through civilized means of being rescued by a ship, Jack, on the other hand, felt that it is more important to satisfy his bloodthirsty need for “kill[ing] a pig” (Golding 38, 51, 69). Jack and Ralph both want to survive, however, Ralph wants to be rescued and Jack feels the strong urge of remaining on the island, ignoring the possibility of rescue. Jack’s savage ideas clashing with Ralph’s civilized ideas represent the contrast of personalities and spark the long-standing rivalry between the two, opposing the idea of a unified brotherhood and addressing the notion that unity cannot be attained. With the presence of contradictory ideas at hand, mankind will never be able to come together as a united front and restore structure of a divided society,

When the unavoidable feelings of disagreement and conflict outweigh the unified feeling of brotherhood, the concept of an orderly society cannot be realized. The belligerent deposition between Ralph and Jack, as well as the Hill and Forest people, have resulted in the formation of a dystopian society instead of a cohesive comradeship. Their situation also justifies the fact that rivalry and conflicting ideas are inescapable aspects of human society that cause destruction and inevitable defeat toward the development of a greater world.