From good to evil in ”The Lord of the Flies” by William Golding

The Lord of the Flies by William Golding is tale of a group of young boys who become stranded on a deserted island after their plane crashes. Intertwined in this classic novel are many themes, most that relate to the inherent evil that exists in all human beings and the malicious nature of mankind. In The Lord of the Flies, Golding shows the boys’ gradual transformation from being civilized, well-mannered people to savage, ritualistic beasts.

From the time that the boys land on the island, both a power struggle and the first signs of the boys’ evil, Piggy’s mockery, occur. After blowing the conch and summoning all the boys to come for an assembly, an election is held.

“‘I ought to be chief’ , said Jack with simple arrogance, ‘because I’m chapter chorister and head boy'”(page 22). This represents the beginning of civilization in all of the kids (which is changed later.)

After Ralph is Chief, Jack envies his position and constantly struggles for power with Ralph throughout the rest of the novel, convincing the rest of the boys to join his tribe rather than to stay with Ralph. Also, soon after the boys arrive at the island, Piggy, a weak character, is mocked by the other boys. After trying to recount all of the liluns’ names, Piggy is told to “Shut up, Fatty,” by Jack. Ralph remarks by saying, “He’s not Fatty. His real name’s Piggy.” All of the boys on the island, except for Piggy, laugh and make themselves more comfortable at Piggy’s expense.

“A storm of laughter arose and even the tiniest child joined in. For a moment the boys were a closed circuit of sympathy with Piggy outside”(page 21). That quote shows that they are starting to become uncivilized.

The boys become more comfortable with one another after Piggy’s mockery and create a bond, leaving Piggy on the outside.

Along with inherent evil, man is also capable of being good and kind. While Jack and Ralph are exploring the island, they encounter a piglet which Jack supposedly attempts to kill. After gaining the courage to kill the baby pig, Jack talks about it by saying “I was just waiting for a moment to decide where to stab him (page 31).” This event clearly illustrates the good in Jack, since he is hesitant to kill something. Jack almost couldn’t kill the pig, because he felt bad doing it.. Jack’s mercy is short-lived, however, and when they encounter another pig, Jack and his hunters are relentless. They return to beach ritualistically chanting “Kill the pig. Cut her throat. Spill her blood,” where they excitedly explain the details of the hunt.

“I cut the pig’s throat,’ said Jack, proudly, and yet twitched as he said it (page 69). Jack is internally struggling between his civilized teachings and savage instincts in this example, in which he both proudly exclaims his murder and twitches while doing so.

Another example of the boys’ inherent evil is the brutal murder of the sow. Without any regard for the sow’s newborns, Jack commands his tribe to attack it. The boys “hurled themselves at her. This dreadful eruption from an unknown world made her frantic; she squealed and bucked and the air was full of sweat and noise and blood and terror” (page 135).

The weird behavior of the boys in this example show that evil is starting to drive into them. After the death of the sow, the boys play with its blood and ritualistically celebrate their kill. The boys show no mercy for the sow and behave like savages. The murder of the sow allows the boys to revert back to their evilness and lose all traces of guilt and conscience.

Ralph shows fatigue, a good causer of anger and dislike. He momentarily forgets the reasons why the signal fire is so important. “He tried to remember. ‘Smoke, he said, we want smoke. Course we have. The smoke’s a signal and we can’t be rescued if we don’t have smoke. I knew that!’ shouted Ralph” (page 172). Ralph begins to lose his initial cheerfulness and enthusiasm and replaces it with disinterest and hate.

Piggy and Ralph separate themselves from Jack and his tribe. However, when Jack and his tribe kill a pig and invite Ralph and Piggy to join their feast, the two accept and cannot resist the temptation of the meat. Later on in the celebration, Jack and his tribe perform a ritualistic dance, in which Piggy and Ralph later join.

“Piggy and Ralph, under the threat of the sky, found themselves eager to take a place in this demented but partly secure society” (page 152). They realize that the dance fueled the boys to murder Simon, and later deny their participation in it.

“We left early, said Piggy quickly, because we were tired” (page 158). Ralph and Piggy recognize the evil in the dance, and know that if the others found out about their participation in it, then the boys would claim that Piggy and Ralph would be going against their own beliefs. Also, by not admitting their partaking in the dance, Piggy and Ralph are denying their involvement in Simon’s murder and their inherent evil. They do not believe that evil exists within them and believe that it will “disappear” if they do not believe in it.

Simon and Ralph represent goodness and reason, and both encounter the Lord of the Flies. The Lord of the Flies is the head of a pig which is sacrificially given to the beast in order to preserve the boys’ safety. Simon is the first to talk with the Lord of the Flies ,and when he does, he learns that the beast (evil) is not in an animal out in the woods, but in the boys themselves.

“Fancy you thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill. You knew didn’t you? I’m part of you,” (page 143) says the Lord of the Flies to Simon. The Lord of the Flies even says that the Beast is part of Simon, the symbol of goodness, suggesting that all human beings are born with both some evil and goodness. Later on while Ralph is fleeing from Jack and his tribe, he stumbles upon the Lord of the Flies.

“Little prickles of sensation ran up and down his back. The teeth grinned, the empty sockets seemed to hold his gaze masterfully and without effort” (page 185). Soon after, Ralph hits the pig’s head and smashes it into pieces. By destroying the Lord of the Flies, Ralph denies his internal evil and primitive instincts. The difference between Ralph’s and Simon’s encounter with the Lord of the Flies is that Simon accepts The Lord of the Flies and listens intently to what it is saying to him. However, Ralph destroys it and then walks away from it. Both Ralph’s and Simon’s experience with the Lord of the Flies states that all men are capable of evil, and that evil is in all humans.

“The Lord of the Flies” illustrates the capabilities of evil in all things. All of the boys on the island are tempted by evil, but not all of them give in to the craving. However, along with the evil that lies within all people, there is also a little bit of goodness, suggesting that all people have the free will to choose their destiny. The book clearly shows how people can turn into savage beasts.