The Evil Inside You

English 30 - Mrs. Adams
October 9th, 2013
The evil inside you

All humans consist of natural good and natural evil. In extreme situations, a primal instinct causes humans to act for their survival, which often leads to acts of violence and immoral behaviour. These types of reactions demonstrate man’s capacity for evil, within human nature. In the novel, Lord of the Flies, William Golding portrays the theme of innate evil through a group of British schoolboys, who were stranded on an inhabited island and must fend for themselves. Through examples from this novel, Golding uses various characters and symbols to express that evil is an inborn trait of mankind.
Humans are often aware of the evil that resides internally, but they do not always act upon it. In Lord of the Flies, Simon is one of the older boys on the island but unlike the two alpha males, Jack and Ralph, who have complete opposite opinions, Simon embodies a type of spiritual goodness and kindness. His personality demonstrates natural good but he understands the evil that is found within each individual. At one of the late night assemblies, while the boys discussed which beast that they feared, Simon said, “maybe it’s only us” (96). None of the boys accepted this statement because they truly believed there was a physical beast lurking around the island. Throughout the entire group, Simon was the only one who understood that the beast was simply inside each of the boys hearts and minds, rather than being a physical creature. He attempted to explain that there was no beast but “became inarticulate in his effort to express mankind’s essential illness” (96). Simon understood that evil occupied the thoughts of each of the boys, causing them to act violently and harshly. Golding used Simon’s character to explain how difficult situation can cause a natural instinct for survival, to show the inherent evil in humans. Evil is linked to acts of violence and immoral actions committed by a person. Jack, one of the older boys, is a strong-willed, egomaniacal character who represents violence, selfishness and arrogance. Before arriving on the island, Jack was a choir leader who was civilized and musical but he immediately abandoned the thought of civilization and turned towards acts of savagery and chaos once on the island. Jack and his hunters often chanted, “Kill the pig. Cut her throat. Spill her blood.” (72) as they hunted the pigs. This is an unusual chant for a twelve year old child, showing the will and desire to kill. Rather than eating fruit and surviving on the food they had, Jack was excited by the fact he got to kill and commit a violent act. The desire for death, is part of the inborn trait of evil that has taken over Jack’s character. His “laughter became a bloodthirsty snarling,” (66) as he painted his face and disguised himself to allow his acts of savagery to be explainable. The fact that Jack went from a peaceful choir boy, to a death wishing savage supports the fact that humans are born with evil inside of them which can be triggered in difficult situations. Golding represents the theme of natural evil through various symbols in the novel. An important symbol, the lord of the flies - a bloody, severed sow’s head - that Jack placed on a stick as an offering to the beast, represents the power of evil within the characters. As this trait takes over each individual, they slowly loose civilization and turn toward savagery. The sow’s head speaks to Simon saying, “I’m part of you? Close, close, close! I’m the reason why it’s no go? Why things are what they are?” (158) which demonstrates the evil inside everyone. The lord of the flies spoke again, “you know perfectly well you’ll only meet me down there – so don’t try to escape!”(158). Since this figure represents the corruption and evil of each of the characters it is explaining that it is found in each individual. It is impossible to escape it since it was born into each and everyone. Golding uses the personification of the lord of the flies to explain the innate evil which is found in every individual.
In conclusion, all humans are born with an evil trait within their personality. With the use of examples from William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies, it is evident that each individual possesses a type of immoral thought or behaviour in their nature. The schoolboy’s characters and the symbols found in the novel support strongly the theme of innate evil in human nature. Often, actions of evil are portrayed and represented when found in a difficult or extreme situations. Each human contains a portion of good and evil within their human nature.