Preview

Humans Are Essentially Good In Lord Of The Flies

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
480 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Humans Are Essentially Good In Lord Of The Flies
In The Lord of the Flies by William Golding published in 1954, the idea that humans are essentially good is showed by the actions of Simon and Ralph. Martin Luther King Jr. can also be a great example of showing that humans are essentially good. Simon is the one character that represents God, his name means ‘listen’ in Hebrew. Ralph represents order and leadership. “The thing is- fear can’t hurt you any more than a dream”.

In Lord of the Flies, Simon is a great example to show that humankind is essentially good. For example, when “Jack had meant to leave him in doubt, as an assertion of power; but Piggy by advertising his omission made more cruelty necessary. “You didn’t hunt.” “No more did Ralph,” said Piggy wetly, “nor Simon.” He amplified…Ralph

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    In Lord of the Flies, William Golding depicts morals and the boundaries of society in the form of characters. This essay will compare and contrast the differences between four pivotal characters: Ralph, Jack, Simon and Roger. The goodness and order in society is portrayed by Ralph and SImon. The darkness in human nature is explained through Roger and Jack.…

    • 700 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “And in the middle of them, with filthy body, matted hair, and unwiped nose, Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man's heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy.”…

    • 759 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Simon is an overall really kind person who always thinks of others, and it respectable. In part II of the movie, the hunters finally killed the pig, and after a while of not eating, they could finally enjoy a meal. Everyone got to eat besides Piggy, and when Piggy asked for food, Jack sternly told him no. Simon offered his part of the pig to Piggy, and he accepted. Simon shows how sincere he is in part II of the movie. After the assembly about whether or not there is a ghost, Jack went against the rules and split up from Ralph because he was angry that Ralph opposed going after the beast. Ralph wanted to give up on being chief, but Simon decided to stay back with him and encourage Ralph not to give up on being the leader. Simon constantly does what he thinks is best for not just himself, but everyone else…

    • 898 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Human nature isn’t perfect and has many negative aspects to it. The novel Lord of the Flies written by William Golding includes many negative aspects like greed, ill treatment, and jealousy that are portrayed through the outcome of the characters. These negative views of humanity are shown through the outcome of the characters Jack, Simon and Ralph.…

    • 747 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    In “Lord of the Flies” William Golding portrays many biblical examples through various characters. One character is named Simon which portrays Jesus and another character is named Roger which portrays the devil. One example that I think Simon acts like Jesus is when Simon, was sitting between the twins and Piggy, he wiped his mouth and shoved his piece of meat over the rocks to Piggy, who grabbed it (Golding 74). This shows that Simon gave his food to Piggy who was not able to have any and I related this incident to Jesus because he gave bread and food to the homeless which is biblical and shows that he has the same traits as Jesus did. Another example of Simon containing the actions of Jesus happened when Simon told Ralph that he would get…

    • 611 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    This quote describes a great flaw of mankind: That when a certain flaw goes unchecked by the morals and laws of society, it will ultimately corrupt the individual. Golding addresses this topic in the novel, Lord of the Flies, describing a group of boys who get stranded on an island by themselves. Escaping the moral structures of society, the boys are left to fend for themselves and quickly begin to reveal their dark nature through their decisions. Throughout the novel, Golding uses a group of innocent British schoolboys to demonstrate the flaws of mankind through the personal transformations of Jack, Roger and Ralph.…

    • 1127 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The author of Lord of the flies, William Golding, uses literary elements such as characterization to support his argument that man’s capacity for evil is revealed in his human nature. Golding uses his main characters- Jack and Ralph- as examples of inner evil. Jack is shown as unjust, mean and self-involved when “[he] took a step and…stuck his fist into Piggy’s stomach” (Golding 71). Additionally, Golding describes Jack as asticious, inimical, and down-right terrible.…

    • 74 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    They gather and decide that a certain few will go hunt while others build shelter and tend to the fire. Ralph at this point is shown as the leader and guides others into their places. “We've got to have rules and obey them. After all, we're not savages. We're English, and the English are best at everything.” While hunting, it is shown that Ralph could come to kill a small boar. He remained innocent and his morals and innocence still prevented him from doing so. Later on the day, the hunters kill a small pig and bring it back cheerfully and wildly happy. This was the hunter’s first taste of blood which leads to them losing their innocence. "He began to dance and his laughter became a bloodthirsty snarling." The boys soon realize hunting is their only way of sufficient way for food. “Kill the pig! Cut his throat! Kill the pig! Bash him in!” While they began dancing, Simon went into the forest and went looking. At first, Simon appreciates the…

    • 447 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The English author William Golding was a former Navy Officer, who as the conflict of good and evil throughout his service. He used that experience to create the classic novel Lord of the Flies. The novel focuses on human nature’s way of civilization and society through children. The characteristics of three important characters show the sides of human nature. Jack represents the evil, Piggy the innocent, and Ralph the good. Golding takes a closer in depth look at whether evil is in everyone or not. These 3 children in the Golding’s novel symbolize the picture of humanity on a larger scale then the microcosm of the small tropical island in Carol Sea.…

    • 774 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout human history, the issue of power has been the source of countless wars and violence, and so has it sparked inspiration in many philosophers to develop potentially better systems of government. The Age of Enlightenment saw many philosophers sprout with new ideas on forms of government to replace or refine the archaic norm of absolute monarchy; one such controversial thinker was Thomas Hobbes. In his widely-recognized book, The Leviathan, he claimed that, because human beings are naturally selfish and evil, one must cede his or her rights to the absolute monarch so that peace can be established and maintained. However, if all human beings are cruel, then monarchs are not any different from the evil of those he rules. In William Golding’s 1954 novel The Lord of the Flies, Golding reflects Hobbes’ ideas about human nature as he depicts the governing of a cluster of stranded boys on an island, from the lack of cohesion of Ralph’s attempt to rationally lead them back to civilization, to Jack’s manipulation of the children into savagery. William Golding thus qualifies Thomas Hobbes’ position, supporting that humans are naturally selfish and evil but refuting his claim that an absolute ruler would make “wise” decisions through his illustration of Jack’s greed for power, hostile acts to Ralph and Piggy, and manipulation of his followers.…

    • 1210 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Golding's theme of "Every man is born savage and learns to be civilized" is shown often through the entire novel of Lord of the Flies. Throughout the story, the boys become more and more savage. They realize its not going to be easy living on this island alone as young boys and they begin to become selfish and dangerous. The boys begin to torture and injury animals, pick on each other, ditch each other, outvote one another, and the worst, even kill one of them. They become so hypnotized and don't even realize what they did when they killed Simon. They were thinking of it as a game and got carried away and ended up killing him for their own selfish desire. Golding demonstrates how easy it is for people to revert back to savagery after becoming civilized. A reason Golding wrote this novel was to teach the readers how to prevent it from happening again. This example proves the quote by John Steinbeck to be valid because its showing that its easy to make mistakes and easy to fail, but one has to learn how to take those mistakes and learn from them in order to become new people and in this case become…

    • 706 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “Human nature is complex. Even if we do have inclination toward violence, we also have inclination to empathy, to cooperation, to self-control.” Steven Pinker.…

    • 939 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Each individual is acknowledged as good or bad, but is there such a thing as good and bad? Golding, who has written the Lord of the Flies, expresses and shows how people react towards each other. The Lord of the Flies shows the image of civilization and influence. Golding articulates each and every individual in detail. Around the 1700’s, two men named Hobbes and Locke had an intriguing conversation, “What are humans?”, “Were we meant to be savages?”, “What would ourselves be without laws?” These questions are yet to be answered by your own opinion. ‘The Lord of the Flies’ has many situations relating to the nature of humanity. The nature of humanity describes the characteristics such as society, influence and individuality.…

    • 997 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Human nature is a double-sided coin. On one side there is the incredible capacity to love and care for others, the willingness to put one’s own needs aside and lay down for the good of his fellow man. But on the other. On the other side, there always remain the horrendous capacity for destruction despite any attempt to bury it within. William Golding exemplifies the darker aspects of human nature in his book Lord of The Flies. He accomplishes this by using characters like Jack, Ralph, and Simon as tools to convey deeper symbolic messages. Golding uses his characters allegorically consistently throughout his novel. Through them he conveys viewpoints on the political viewpoints, as well as the physical representation of many of mankind’s inherent…

    • 2497 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Simon, a Christ-like figure in Lord of the Flies, is a significant example in proving that humans are essentially good. For example, Simon cares about the well-being of the other boys: "...he turned to the poor broken thing that sat stinking by his side. The beast was harmless and horrible; and the news must reach the others as soon as possible" (Golding 147). Simon wants the other boys to be aware of the dangers that are actually facing them on the island so the boys do not put themselves or other boys in danger over a made up entity while they are trying to survive on the island. He does not want anyone to be overexerting themselves to try to kill the fictitious beast. Simon shows generosity when he volunteers to hike across the island: "'Someone's got to go across the island and tell Piggy we'll be back after dark.' ...Simon pushed his way to Ralph's elbow. 'I'll go if you like. I don't mind, honestly'" (Golding 117). Simon possesses a helpful nature even faced with the difficult task of surviving on an island with multiple other boys. Perhaps he volunteers to save the other boys from the trouble of this long walk. Simon proves that humans are essentially good by showing generosity and care while the act of the other boys forming friendships also proves humans are good.…

    • 229 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays