Lord of the Flies: Final Essay Exam By: Are the defects of society traced back to the defects of human nature? The defects of society, and how it relates to the defects of human nature can be explained with the savagery that drives the defects of society and the same savagery that drives the defects of human nature. In this story, Lord of the flies, Golding shows the id, ego, and superego within the characters in the book. Golding represents the id with Jack, whereas the id says “I want, and I want it now,” and Jack constantly wants and needs power, and wants his way in every situation. He represents the ego with Ralph, whereas the ego says “Well, maybe you can have some of it – later,” and Ralph tries to be or is the re mediator by always trying to make everything go right, and trying to enforce rules. Golding also represents the superego with Piggy, whereas the superego says “You can’t have it; it’s bad for you,” and Piggy yells at the people disobeying the rules, and demands that the others can not do the things that they do. A theme within this novel is the loss of innocence.
The existence of civilization allows man to remain innocent, therefore when the characters lost their innocence, the civilization was gone or corrupt. One example of the loss of innocence would be when Jack was unable to stab the pig during the hunt. At that moment, he lost his innocence which enabled him to kill without a recollection of civilization. Another example of the loss of innocence was when Roger was throwing stones and rocks at the other children below him. Roger was unable to actually hit them purposely because he still had his innocence, but this moment was the beginning of his inability of understanding human nature.
The Essay on 'Lord Of The Flies' By William Golding: The Evil Of Human Nature
Jack, as a “former chorister” and “head boy” (22) at his school arrived on the island eager to make rules and punish those who broke them, although, he constantly broke the rules himself when he felt it was needed to further his own interests. The freedom Jack had on the island allowed the dark side of his character to be revealed from under his outer shell of a civilized ...
The next theme in Lord of the Flies is the loss of identity. Civilization separates man from animals and makes them think, and when civilization disintegrates, man’s identity slips away, and he resorts to a more primitive nature. An example of this is shown when the boys paint their faces which hides their identity and allows them to kill and murder. The loss of a personal name personifies the loss of identity. The twins, Sam and Eric, cite a case of the loss of personal name when the others on the Coral Island begin to refer to the twins as one, .
When the boys lose their identity, not only does it allow them to kill without a conscience, but they also are diminishing the society by not obeying the rules of Ralph’s democracy. The subsequent theme in this novel is the fear of the unknown. The fear of the unknown is central to the story, as the boys fear the beast. But, one of the novel’s deepest meanings is the realization that no real beast exists, only the power of fear, which was the realization Simon made before he was killed, by those who still held the fear. Your own mind has a major role in creating this fear within yourself of these unknown phenomenons. When the boys saw these odd occurrences on the island, their imagination started to work by creating the vision of a beast.
This simply was a natural or explainable occurrence, but was never a so called beast. The beast was an unknown, because they had no theoretical explanation of what had happened. Therefore the boys, like many of us, have a fear of the unknown. The question, are the defects of society traced back to the defects of human nature, can be answered or proven in the savagery that lies in the boys. Savagery is very evident when the boys are hunting and Maurice rubs the blood all over his face. This act relates to murder in society today, because they both have the same savagery driving them.
Another example of how savagery leads to murder is when Simon is killed and everyone is chanting “Kill the beast,”Cut his throat,” and “Spill his blood.” Their excitement of this instance depicts the savageness of their animal being. In conclusion, murder, or the defects of society, can be traced back to the savagery within human nature. The boys, especially shown in Jack, want power on the island. The main theme, the defects of society can be traced to the defects of human nature, can also be proven through the examples of savagery in each individual and the lust for power that is within all of us.
The Essay on How Does Golding Explore the Boys’ Steady Degeneration Into Savagery and Violence
How does Golding explore the boys’ steady degeneration into savagery and violence? Golding explores the boys’ steady decline from a fairly just society to one with few rules and little respect for any individual, in many ways because it is a key feature and underlying meaning or parable of this book. It is to show how society is never stable even when it feels that does at its most, this is ...
Society has trained us to suppress these desires, but nobody knows when they may force their way through.
