Human Nature and Evil in William Golding's Lord of the Flies Essay Example

The events of World War II altered many people’s perspectives of humanity. William Golding, who witnessed some of these events, expresses his belief that humans are inherently evil in his book, Lord of the Flies. The book tells the story of a group of boys who crash on an uninhabited island and descend from civility into savagery. Humankind is naturally very diverse in types of people; there are savage people, civilized people, and those in between.

Ralph and his allies best retain their civility relative to the rest of the boys on the island.  Ralph, who represents civilization, is the original leader of the boys on the island. In his role, his objectives were rescue, order, and morality. Explaining his priorities to Jack’s newly formed rival group, he says, “The fire’s the most important thing. Without the fire we can’t be rescued. I’d like to put on war-paint and be savage. But we must keep the fire burning.” (Golding 142). Ralph and his remaining friends, Piggy, Simon, and Samneric, preserve their determination to make efforts to get rescued. They still value this and the conch, which represents civilization, despite its bad condition. Except for Samneric, they are resistant to the peer pressure of Jack’s much larger group, which encourages acting on bloodlust, avoiding work, and embracing mob mentality. Ralph does not descend into savagery without guilt, and he tries to recover himself from any darkness that he senses within himself. He especially is self-aware and reflective regarding his actions and their consequences.

Jack is the most savage character in the book. Throughout the book, he gets progressively more affected by the island, fear of the beast, his annoyance with Ralph's authority, and his desire to kill. All of the boys but a few join him in his ideas about beast worship, the importance of meat, and finding a new identity in a mask. Under Jack's leadership, one of the boys in his tribe is described as “...a savage whose image refused to blend with that ancient picture of a boy in shorts and shirt.” (Golding 183). Members of Jack’s tribe are no longer associated with their past innocent identities but are instead depicted as cruel barbarians, which is their chosen presentation. These “savages” have lost sight of the importance of rescue, rules, and organized gathering and planning. In contrast to Ralph's group's civility and morality, Jack’s group prioritizes bloodlust and primal desire.

Out of the characters that remain civilized, Simon is the most humane and ethical in nature. Simon helps the little kids on the island, assists Ralph with his projects, and doesn’t start any drama. After encountering the Lord of the Flies, a pig’s head on a stick, and recognizing what the boys believe to be the beast as a dead parachutist, Simon concludes, “The beast was harmless and horrible; and the news must reach the others as soon as possible.” (Golding 147). Simon is the most introspective and intuitive out of all the characters. He represents purity, love, and sacrifice. Ultimately, although it seems that Simon is defeated by sin and evil when he is murdered, Simon was a good person. He was the first and only one to understand that the beast had no physical manifestation, but rather had a mental hold on the boys of the island using fear and bloodlust. Jack’s tribe had already fallen victim to these forces before Simon came with the news. He serves as a martyr for morality and goodness.

Although both Jack and Ralph struggle for power throughout the book, Ralph is more dedicated to his cause than Jack is to his. At the end of the book, Ralph is hunted by Jack’s tribe, which has taken initiative to try to kill him. The tribe sets the island on fire in their efforts to succeed, and this draws the attention of a passing British warship. When the naval officer asks who the leader is, the text states, “‘I am,’ said Ralph loudly. A little boy who wore the remains of an extraordinary black cap on his red hair and who carried the remains of a pair of spectacles at his waist, started forwards, then changed his mind and stood still.” (Golding 201). Ralph’s declaration alongside his survival suggest that he is ultimately successful in preserving his civility despite previous events. Jack, however, abandons his efforts for leadership in the face of rescue and outside forces. He is once again a “little boy”, and his savage persona is no longer projected. He stops being passionate about his tribe and sense of self-importance when he is faced with the reality of the situation, the morality of civilization, and the judgment of the outside world.

In addition to this, after the boys begin to all sob mournfully over their shared traumas, the last line of the book states, “[The naval officer] turned away to give [the boys] time to pull themselves together; and waited, allowing his eyes to rest on the trim cruiser in the distance.” (Golding 202). This action draws parallels between the events on the island and the events of the world, while simultaneously displaying society’s preference to ignore atrocities and emotional displays. At both the scale of the island and the scale of the world, groups are at war. Elements of savagery are present in developed civilization, despite its vastly different conditions from those present on the island. It should be noted that Golding writes from a British male perspective about only British male characters, which does not effectively encompass all of humanity’s nature. However, as almost all of the world is patriarchal, these characters’ natures can be applied to the broader scale of the world.

Although there are many savage characters, which consist of Jack and his followers, there are also those that are civil, including Ralph, Simon, and Piggy. Characters like Samneric and the naval officer are in between the two extremes, with noble ideals but lackluster actions. Golding identifies and comments on humanity’s innate evilness and points out its flaws in his book. However, the characters act on this evil to widely varying degrees. It can be concluded that humanity is diverse in nature and there is no singular all-encompassing human nature.