Theme of Evil in Lord of the Flies Essay Example

The embodiment of evil, that is the first thing that came to mind when I read the words, Lord of the Flies. According to Judith Dunkerly-Bean Lord of the Flies’ literal translation, is The Prince of Darkness. He uses this and other symbols to show man’s darkness of the heart. This shows that “Golding was absolutely convinced that the true nature of man was evil” (Dunkerly-Bean 2). This doesn’t mean that he is a full John Hobbs believer because he did show the flaws of tyranny and monarchy, but I do believe that he thought that man was evil. This is why he literally named the title after Hebrews devil. The Lord of the Flies was one major symbol of evil, and it impacted the story in a major way, leading people astray. Which ends up killing someone. The Lord of the Flies is one that has all of the answers, but they don’t choose to tell. It is always evil in a story, and I think that one of this story’s embodiments of evil is the Lord of the Flies.

“Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill!” said the head “You knew, didn’t you? I’m a part of you? Close, close, close! I’m the reason why it’s no go? Why things are what they are.” (Golding 201). This first off proves Simons theory that the beast is within, and is not literal but metaphorical. Also, I think that this shows that the real evil is the darkness of a man's heart, and how people can be so ruthless at times. This also shows that the pig head is evil because it even tries to tell Simon he is evil, even though he is the kind person in the whole book, and he is also just a symbol of humanity and civilization. When the Lord of the Flies says “I’m the reason why it’s no go? Why things are what they are” (Golding 201). This quote is a significance of an individual's evil, and how the darkness of man cannot be killed. This again proves to me that the Lord of the Flies symbolizes the devil and symbolizes the loss of innocence in a man or woman or whatever.

“Well then,” said Lord of the Flies “you’d better run off and play with the others. They think you’re batty. You don’t want Ralph to think you’re batty, do you? You like Ralph a lot, don’t you? And Piggy, and Jack?” (Golding 200). In this quote, the Lord of the Flies is trying to convince Simon that he really is crazy and that he doesn’t want anyone else to think that he is crazy. The Lord of the Flies also talks about how Simon doesn’t want them to think he is crazy, even though Simon is the least crazy person on the island. This shows again that the Lord of the Flies is trying to tap into the darkness of Simons's heart, and trying to bring out the worst in him, and make him do evil because he is the only one that has not been tipped to the deep end yet. He also is the person that is the balance between evil and good, and if he goes crazy along with Ralph and Piggy the whole island will be just chaos, and the devil wants that to happen.

“Or else,” Said the Lord of the Flies “we shall do you? See? Jack and Roger and Maurice

and Robert and Bill and Piggy and Ralph. Do you. See?” (Golding 202). I thought that this was a great foreshadow, and I thought that shows that he believes that man is evil even more because the Lord of the Flies says we shall do you, and then he continues to list of the friends of his that cannibalize him. As Ralph said, “The skull regarded Ralph as one who knows all the answers and won’t tell. A sick fear and rage swept him.” (Golding 260), and I thought it is interesting how the Lord of the Flies said that we shall do you, and didn’t hint to Simon really a lot, and reading back I thought that the author should have foreshadowed more to pronounce that the Lord of the Flies really knows all.

Jack makes the Lord of the Flies, and while he does that he asks the pigs head questions that turn out to have terrible consequences (Golding 190-192). When I read this I knew that all the questions he asked would have evil to come because just the image in my mind of what the Lord of the Flies looks evil, and when I pictured what it looked like I knew it symbolized. Even some of the questions he asks end up killing people. I think that asking those questions made the pig head embody the devil, and be the one that knows all of the answers but won’t tell. Also, Roger sharpened a stick at both ends to make the Lord of the Flies, he also was going to do the same thing to Ralph, and since the Hebrew devil knows all the answers, and knew that was coming, it decided to embody the pig head and be known as the Lord of the Flies.

The Prince of Darkness takes over a man's heart and takes innocence away in a spilled second, and makes you go affray. The Prince of Darkness is the one that comes when the night is dark and the authority is away. It is he that is one that makes killing okay. It is he that makes the story really about the reality of humans. That poem is truly what the Lord of the Flies is, and what it embodies, the lord of death, and the darkness of a man's heart. Throughout the book, there were tons of references to the darkness and cruelty of a man's heart, but I didn’t think they really hit close to home except the Lord of the Flies because it was the one that had so many different places where it demonstrated true evil.