Good and evil both have a place in the world and in the heart of man, but very rarely are they in perfect balance. To determine which one outweighs the other, philosophers and writers alike have delved into various historical events and speculated what would happen if humanity was stripped of civilization. In his novel Lord of the Flies, Golding conveys the notion that human nature is mainly evil. However, a natural goodness is much more predominant in people as shown by select characters in Golding’s book as well as in To Kill a Mockingbird and the article The Real Lord of the Flies. Through characterization and symbolism, Golding displays the dark side of human nature. From the moment the boys learned Piggy’s name “a storm of laughter arose …show more content…
Even though they still have many of their rules from civilization ingrained in them, they are insensitive, with not one of them caring to ask Piggy’s real name. Considering that even the youngest child, who is not yet aware of good and evil, takes part in the viciousness, conveys a natural evil. This escalates to the boys taking joy in killing; even the main protagonist experiences “the desire to squeeze and hurt” while pretending that Robert is an animal (Golding 115). Overbearing urges take hold over the boys, no matter how rooted they are in civilization, and compel them to participate in malicious things without regard to morals or ethics. Ralph is one of the characters that most advocates civilization compared to other boys like Jack yet is still overcome by the dark nature that Jack represents, showing that human nature is evil. Additionally, Golding uses the symbol of a pig’s head on a stick given the name Lord of the Flies to highlight the natural darkness that lies within individuals. While suffering from dehydration, Simon’s illusion of the inanimate creature conveys …show more content…
Firstly, Simon is depicted as a Christ-like figure, displaying the morality and natural kindness humans possess. For example, Simon is the only one to help Ralph to make a shelter in order comfort the children and provide a sense of safety and security (Golding 50). Simon is portrayed as selfless by devoting his time to helping, and he later helps the children get “fruit they could not reach” and “pulled off the choicest from up in the foliage”, giving them “to the endless, outstretched hands” (Golding 56). Consistently, Simon is putting his efforts toward the good of the group and the children. By building the shelters with Ralph, he is supporting the whole group and contributing to something bigger than selfish desires. Then, Simon stops and spends his time helping the children even when he doesn’t have to, showing his good heart and kindness. There is no ulterior motive to his generosity and actions, showing the virtue of human nature, where people help others just because they can. Likewise, Piggy is motivated by these good intentions. From the very beginning he is concerned about the others in the crash and shows the courtesy of asking everyone what their name is (Golding 18). He has the natural instinct to bring everyone together, and cares enough to memorize the others’ names illustrating his amiability. As a
1: Because the boys are unsure of how to behave without adult supervision, they attempt to recreate social order by electing a leader to make decisions. From the start, the boys’ child-like instincts pose a threat to their society. They cruelly taunt Piggy; and as example, gave him this name. Name calling is something child-like; and it should not be the first action when trying to establish order on
Piggys mentality is more on the good side rather than having an evil savagery mentality. Another given proof on how Piggy is on the good side is when he refused to help Jack and the boys to hunt and kill the pig, when Jack was forcing Piggy to join them. Not only was piggy on the good side but so was Ralph. Throughout the book Ralph and Piggy have been trying to convince the other boys to behave and stop acting like savages.
He asks each of the boys for their names, repeats them and shouts them to Ralph “who is not interested”. When Piggy, someone who puts that much time and effort in remembering everyone’s names, does not receive a name, he becomes the outsider. Piggy clearly recognizes the importance of a name. He repeats Sam and
Jack’s influence among the boys is gradually growing, and calling his own meeting grants him with more immediate power than he has ever had before. Jack instantly abuses this power by criticizing Ralph and challenging his authority. Jack here is also making fun of Piggy, saying that he has no power and is weak, therefore so does Ralph. Jack is beginning to show more power than Ralph, showing the boys who the true leader of the group is. Jack's decisions are based on the return to civilization.
Well the other boys reacted to this badly and a ¨war¨ broke out. Jack said some mean things and Ralph said some mean things and Simon said some mean things and they all were related to Piggy, but what I don 't understand is that piggy was the only one who was actually doing the right thing he was the only one with the specs and he started the fire and helped them to get rescued because of him, without Piggy the boys would still be on the
In the first chapter, Piggy and Ralph ally. With other boys joining the group, the creation of their “society” begins and, subsequently, a union exists between them all. While they all depended on each other, the group’s relationship was not caring for each other. This lack of a bond indirectly causes the departure of many older boys, in favor of Jack’s hunter group. The slow collapse of Ralph’s group follows since there are not enough people to do the many duties within the camp.
In an ideal society, there is order and peace. However, William Golding’s Lord of the Flies displays disturbing pictures of violent rituals and godless figures. As the book progresses, the boys lose themselves and their religious roots become less and less apparent. Golding shows how lack of religion leads to loss of morality and destruction of societies through symbolism of the Devil, references to the Bible, and allusions to ritualistic worship and breaking of the First Commandment.
Simon is shy, kind, willing to work for the good of the community. He has a strong moral compass and always wants to do the right thing. He is the only one in the book that does not engage in violence. Simon represents goodness. Piggy is chubby and a victim of bullying amongst his peers.
Piggy is the first boy who encounters Ralph on the island and remains his right-hand man throughout the story. Piggy mainly represents rationality and the scientific side of humanity. Simon is very shy and withdrawn and is often seen as odd or strange by the other boys. He is deeply connected to nature, and he is the only one who realizes that the “beast” isn’t a real creature, but rather a representation of the
Piggy is very intelligent, he comes up with ideas on how to help the boys survive on the island from the moment they crashed on it. Ralph starts begins to admire him for this clear focus on their rescue off the island. “ we can use this to call the others. Have a meeting. They'll come when they hear us” (Pg 16)
In Lord of the flies, Mr.William Golding uses the theme of human nature to show how easily a small society of british young men can tear apart, and how dangerous humans can be towards themselves, how a civilized human can turn into a filthy crazy savage. Mr. Golding’s fundamental
Piggy influences the novel in several ways. Although he was not much of a leader, his virtue benefits the boys. He is intelligent and mature, therefore he was able to indicate the true nature of humanity and the evil that is inside each of
Piggy valued civilization most out of all the boys, as he always sought the option that would support the entire group, and keep them all safe. The safest that the group of boys had been was when Ralph was appointed as the leader, and he and Piggy had gotten the entire group to work on getting them back home safely. The group isolated Ralph, Piggy, and Simon and eventually attacked them, despite their efforts to bring order and rules: “Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man's heart, and the fall through the air of a true, wise friend called Piggy.” pg 202. Piggy and Simon were killed by Jack’s boys, and with that, the most thoughtful and civilized of all the boys were gone and they lost their chance to be saved.
Ralph, Piggy, and Simon are three characters who truly bring out these themes. Ralph represents the characteristic of being orderly and strategic. He makes a continuous attempt to keep order around the island and prioritizes being saved, rather than hunting and having fun. During one of the tribe's earlier meetings, Ralph makes points on the fact that they need specific “people for looking after the fire.” so that they can be saved by an incoming ship (Golding 42).