Compare and Contrasta Theme from “Lord of the Flies” and “The Beach” Lord of the Flies by William Golding and The Beach by Alex Garland both encompass a wide array of interesting themes. However, of all those themes, one definitely stands out: the authors illustrate how humans, when forced to survive on their own, revert back to their basic animal instincts. They show how human beings do all kinds of wrongful things with one sole goal to survive whatever it takes. However, while Golding in his work places main emphases on the consequences of becoming a savage in order to survive, Garland, on the contrary, stresses the causes that push people into the circumstances under which they have to act like savages. Within the conceptual framework of this report, we will elaborate on how people revert to their basic animal instincts and see both the causes and the consequences of it, as illustrated by Garland and Golding, respectively. Upon reading the critically acclaimed novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding I became increasingly conscious of Goldings views on humans and their nature. His debatable point of view is quite apparent, he believes humans are inherently savages and revert back to basic animal instincts when forced to survive. This novel is but a simple tool of Goldens to incline the reader towards his opinion that human nature is in fact one of malfeasance and evil.
Perhaps the most obvious of these illustrations is the part of the novel in which Simon the Christ like figure makes the acquaintance of the Lord of The Flies, who is quite simply a symbol of the primordial evil inhabiting mankind. (Bergonzi, p. 89) Proceeding his confrontation with the evil in all humans, Golding has Simon try to spread his message of the evil to others in an attempt to cease their reverting into evil, primordial beings. Yet parallel to the life of Jesus Christ, Simon is killed in a disgusting tribal ritual performed by those who have in fact already succumbed to the power of the pernicious beast. Also in the novel we see that in succession from those who contain the least amount of goodness to the most turn to the darkside. This is blatantly illustrated by the fact that Jack, Roger and the other hunters are the first to go.
The Essay on How Is The Theme Of Evil Presented In Lord Of The Flies?
In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, young boys are left to fend for themselves due to a fighter plane crash they were in. They are secluded from a nuclear war occurring in the ‘outside world’. Lord of the Flies is an allegory of World War 2 and is used as a basis to explore the theme of evil. Golding believes that evil is innately within us and in civilization’s absence, will grow and lose its ...
Yet the good characters (Ralph and Piggy) nearly fall prey to this later, as illustrated by the quote, Piggy and Ralph, under the threat of the sky, found themselves eager to take a place in this demented but partly secure society. (Handley, p. 79) Jack’s ris to powr first bgins whn th youngr childrn’s fars start to distort thir surroundings: twigs bcom crprs, shadows bcom dmons, tc. (Bergonzi, p. 114) Jack uss this far to bcom th youngr childrn’s protctor. If thy do what h says, th “bast” cannot gt thm. Jack soon dcids to form his own socity. It bcoms basd on this kind of crmonial obisanc to himslf and is shown by thos sacrifics by which th trib crats its bast, thrby sanctifying th far and irrationality that govrn th childrn’s actions. (Bloom, p.
67) Perhaps another portrait of evil in Goldings mind is the sickening ritual of the hunt, which eventually nearly all of the characters in the novel take part in. (Kulkarni, p. 126) It is my belief, judging by the vocabulary used in his description that Golding finds hunting to be one of the most sadistic/evil rituals of mankind. Their practicing this atrocious art is also a blatant analogy for the fact that all humans are susceptible to becoming savage and evil, and reverting back to the basic animal instincts. In Lord of the Flies, the beast is present throughout the entire book. First seen by a littleun when he is frightened in the dark, the beast is seen everywhere by the boys, but only when they are afraid. Towards the end of the book, the boys begin to become more savage, their basic animal instincts are starting to become more important than their reasoning.
The Essay on Boys Jack Ralph Simon
... the idea that man becomes a savage, is shown by the way Golding designs each character and the ... realizes that the only beast that is present is the beast inside everyone. e. Simon "speaks" to the Lord ... pass by not noticing the stranded kids. ii. Boys choose Jack's tribe because they are now uncivilized and ... are exposed to natural dangers c. Jack changes all the boys outlook on how to live on ...
They still believe the beast is a real being that is to be feared, but the reader begins to see that the true beast is not a physical being at all, but a savage side of the boys themselves. Many people would argue that the beast is an actual presence on the island, but I believe there is more to it and that the beast is the boys fear and the darker, savage side of human nature coming out. They say it is the littleuns fear that started it. Jack says at a meeting, you littleuns started all this, with the fear talk. Beasts!(Golding, p. 82) Eventually, Jack and Ralph convince the boys to some extent that the beast is only their imaginations running wild. Jack also describes how he believes fear plays a major role. He says, Be frightened, because youre like thatbut there is no beast in the forest (Golding, p.
83).
By saying this, Jack shows how he sees that the beast is nothing more than fear; however, he swiftly loses this insight when his savage instincts take over. When the savages kill the pig and leave its head for the beast, their actions show how their darker, more primitive sides have caused them to become something other than what they originally were. Although they did not know there was not really a beast that could come up and eat them, they believed in it enough that they killed so it would not kill them. They all started believing in the idea of the beast, and Jack leaves a gift for the beast because he is starting to believe: This head is for the beast. Its a gift.(Golding, p.147) It is ironic, however, that the gift for the beast was the thing that told Simon what the true beast was, but also a product of the beast in the boys. The pigs head told Simon that there was not exactly a real beast, but that the beast was an idea that was causing the boys to act the way they had been.
After this time, Simon hallucinates that the pigs head is talking to him, as the Lord of the Flies, and this hallucination brings many revelations about why the hunters were acting the way they had been. During this time, the Lord of the Flies tells him the true nature of the beast: Fancy thinking the beast was something you could hunt and kill (Golding, p. 143).
This shows that Simon knows the truth about what the beast is, and also what the other boys had become. Jack and his hunters had turned completely savage by this point, so in effect they had become the beasts themselves. Simon is also tempted to turn to savagery in order to survive, which is shown when the Lord of the Flies tells him, There isnt anyone to help you. Only me.
The Essay on “Beast” by Richard Wilbur
In “Beast” by Richard Wilbur, Wilbur uses poetic structures, paradox and the idea of balance between nature and humanity to display in the reader’s mind that nature is something that should not be looked down upon rather should be feared. In the first few stanzas, Wilbur displays the natural process that nature goes through, for example, he introduces paradox when the “ripped mouse” is “safe in ...
And Im the beast (Golding, p.143).
Since the Lord of the Flies is only in Simons head, this shows how he, too, is tempted to believe in salvation through savagery; however, he does not live long enough for it to be shown whether or not he would have become a beast, too. When the boys kill Simon, they think that he is the beast, when they are in fact acting as the beast themselves. The being that they are so afraid is hunting them does not exist, but in their fear they become exactly what they are most afraid of. Golding shows this in the boys actions when he writes: Roger ceased to be a pig and became a hunterthe complementary circles went round and round as though repetition would achieve safety of itself. There was the throb and stamp of a single organism (Golding, p.152).
This illustrates clearly how the boys had allowed their primitive sides to take over and had become savages. Their chant further shows what they, in their fear, had become. Their cries of Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!(Golding, p. 152) is not something that would be expected of young boys, and instead shows that they have just the kind of animal instinct that a beast would possess. The appearance of the parachutist on the island is another clear example of how the true beast was simply the savagery amd animal instincts that human beings are capable of. In this case, though, it was not the boys but the outside worlds savage instincts that caused the problem.
The dead parachutist was on the island because of the savagery of the people still living in the so-called civilized world. This is supported when Golding writes, a sign came down from the world of grownups, though at the time there was no child awake to read it. There was a sudden bright explosion and corkscrew trail across the sky; then darkness again and stars (Golding, p. 95).
If this truly was a sign, it was most likely a warning. The grownup world would have been cautioning the boys against giving in to their evil sides, although the irony is clear since the grownups themselves had not followed that advice. In any case, the boys did not listen, which slowly caused their demise.
The Report on How Do You Think Golding Makes This Moment in the Novel so Frightening?
In the book Lord Of The Flies by William Golding the boys that have been abandoned on an island have a fear that there is a beast on the island. Different characters take it differently, some are more frightened than others. Golding makes this part of the novel particularly frightening by building up tension on a trip out to try to decide conclusively whether the beast exists. Golding sets the ...
The beast in Lord of the Flies was nothing more than the darker side of human nature coming out in the boys. The evil presence they imagined was hunting them on the island did not exist; however, in their fear the boys became almost like beasts themselves. That the true beast was the basic animal instincts of the boys was clearly shown throughout the book, and is most clearly summed up when the Lord of the Flies tells Simon, You knew, didnt you? Im part of you? (Golding, p. 143) Simon was the only one who knew the true nature of the beast. He knew that the beast was only a dead parachutist and not a danger to anyone. He also knew that the boys had been taken over by their primal instinct and had become, in effect, beasts themselves.
One wonders if this same instinct is in all of us. And if so, if we were left to our own devices would we too become beasts? Alex Garlands work is also very interesting; however he stresses the causes or things that motivate people to get themselves into a situation where they simply have to become savages in order to survive. One of the primary causes depicted by Garland in his work is curiosity. Sarching for an xprinc is as foolish as looking for th Gardn of dn. (Finley, p. 44) In Th Bach, Alx Garland uss th charactr of Richard to mak fun of th popl who sarch for such foolish xprincs, and show that sometimes the consequences might be really grave.
Richard had watchd many many war movis and has playd many vido gams. Also h has watchd too much TV. Aftr a whil Richard sms to want to hav th sam xprincs. (Weibner, p. 70) Thn Richard and his companions go in sarch of an xprinc thy could only find in TV. Alx Garland is making fun of Richard bcaus Richard thinks h found his war xprinc but all h found was a rason to think h found it.
Alx Garland sms to b mocking th popl, who try to find crtain xprincs through TV or movis, thn taking a vacation and forcing thmslvs to gain that sam xprinc. Throughout th whol novl Richard is constantly mockd. Alx Garland sms to b making Richard look lik a littl kid thn a grown adult. Just lik a littl kid wanting to bcom a cop, Richard sms to b longing to b a hro in a war. H is constantly turning vrything into a littl gam, and complaining about vrything. Lik whn h would walk on th bach trying to mak a prfct footprint.
The Term Paper on Beethoven Bach And Bartok Comparisons
Baroque Composers Still Being Played Frequently Monteverdi Lully Corelli Pachelbel Scarlatti Purcell Couperin Albino ni Vivaldi Telemann Rameau Bach Handel Gluck Baroque and Classical Orchestras DifferencesBaroque Orchestras Classical Orchestras String section and basso continuo central to the orchestra. Other instruments are occasional additions. Standard group of four sections: strings, ...
Or lik whn h would go into th DMZ and try to go through th jungl and mak as littl nois as possibl. (Johnson, p. 118) If a twig brok it mant somthing and if h trippd it mant somthing ls. Alx Garland is making Richard sm lik a littl kid with a vivid imagination. Richard is a full grown man yt h acts lik an ight yar old. Alx Garland also maks fun of Richard by having Richard always going off on his own. For som rason, Richard always gos off and has a cigartt by himslf.
Just lik a kid going off on his own and playing with thir toys. Also Richard is always complaining about somthing. Actually Alx Garland is making fun of th popl who try to xprinc vrything. Popl who want to know what vrything is lik. Th popl who ar so ignorant about crtain things but yt thy still think thy know vrything about crtain things. Ths popl always sm to back out whn it sms it is gtting too rough.
Thy think thy hav xprincd it vn though thy only just brushd th surfac. Lots of popl vryday wish thy could hav th chanc to hav a gun and b abl to kill popl lgally. (Richardson, p. 83) Garland is mrly saying, by having Richard and his companions sarching for an xprinc that can only b found on TV, that th popl of this world hav bcom lazy. W sit around and watch TV and gt rally into it. W fl w ar thr.
Thn w try to rcrat whatvr w lik into our own world. Thn thr ar th popl that try to actually xprinc it by going on vacations. What w all rally nd to do is stop watching somthing w would lik to do. W all rally nd to go out and find th xprinc and follow through with it. Go all th way. W cant just b lik popl playing vido gams and stop whn w had too much.
The Essay on King Richard Iii The Character Of An Usurper
Richard III The Character of a Usurper The Tragedy of Richard the Third was first published in quarto in 1597 with the title: The Tragedy of King Richard the Third. Containing, his treacherous plots against his brother Clarence: the pitiful murder of his innocent nephews: his tyrannical usurpation; with the whole course of his detested life, and most deserved death. Through his development of the ...
Lif is so much mor. W nd to xprinc vrything to its fullst. Thn w all will truly hav an xprinc of a liftim. “As for m… I’m fin. I hav bad drams, but I nvr saw Mistr Duck again.
I play vido gams. I smok a littl dop. I got my thousand yard star. I carry a lot of scars. I lik th way that sounds. I carry a lot of scars”.
(Garland, p. 167) Ths ar th words which Richard uss at th nd of Th Bach to summariz just how h fls aftr th xprincs h had gon through during his tim spnt thr. Just rading this conclusion alon instantly maks m fl that a lot has happnd to this charactr which has changd th way his lif was running until thn. His curiosity has led him to a situation where he had to revert to his basic animal instincts in order to survive, because otherwise he would have been killed on the island. Aftr rading th whol novl, I discovrd that th vnts which causd this, not only mad him chang his thoughts on lif, but also causd a brakdown of his mind which vntually ld to him bcoming insan. Curiosity and ambition is mainly dalt with at th bginning of th novl as it is hr that Richard finds out about th bach from th curious charactr, Mistr Duck. It is in th first chaptr that w discovr that Richard is a backpackr and has bn all ovr th world, not knowing whr his nxt dstination was going to b.
(Finley, p. 62) This instantly crats a sns of discovry and curiosity as h was willing to go whrvr h flt that h would discovr somthing diffrnt from what h was usd to back in ngland or whrvr ls h had bn. I would go anywhere, just name it. (Garland, p. 24) Whn Richard is first told about th bach, h racts in a way in which vn although h was unsur about xactly what Mistr Duck was talking about; h was alrady slightly curious about what th big dal about th bach was. “I was curious, partly, just wanting to know what th big dal about what was with this bach of his”.
(Garland, p. 31) As soon as h mts Francois and tinn, h has to tll thm about th map and th bach as if h dosn’t think its right to kp it to himslf. As if h would prfr to shar this xprinc with othr instad of alon. This may suggst that vn at th bginning, Richard was not strong nough to cop with this xprinc himslf. Or prhaps h thought it would b slfish to kp it to himslf. Ill show you everything, he says to his newly found companions.
(Garland, p. 39) However, the idea did not turn out to be good and exciting, on the contrary, Richard had to go through numerous hardships on the island, and finally revert back to his basic animal instincts in order to survive there. Garland shows in his work how curiosity leads people to a situation where they have to become savages in order to save their lives. Words Count: 2,858.
Bibliography:
Bergonzi, B. and Whitely, J.
William Golding. New York: Harper Collins, 1982. Bloom, H. William Goldings Lord of the Flies. New York: Random House, 1995. Finley, W. Alex Garland, his Life and Works. London: Books, Inc., 2001.
Handley, G. Brodies Notes on William Goldings Lord of the Flies. Michigan: Zondervan Publishers, 1992. Garland, A. The Beach. Michigan: Zondervan Publishers, 2000. Golding, W. Lord of the Flies. New York: Harper Collins, 1995.
Johnson, T. A. Garlands The Beach. New York: Harper Perennial, 2002. Kulkarni, P. William Golding: A Critical Study. London: Scientific Press, 1994. Richardson, J.
The Beach by Alex Garland: A Critical Study. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002. Weibner, A. Garlands The Beach Analyzing Main Themes. New York: Random House, 2002..