How Does Golding Present The Evil In Lord Of The Flies

Sir William Golding was, among other things, a British novelist who is best known for his novel Lord of the Flies. His father advocated scientific rationalism, and his mother campaigned for suffrage for women. One of the many subjects that Golding studied was Philosophy. During World War II, Golding joined the Royal Navy. While in the Royal Navy, he undoubtedly experienced the chaos of war, and this likely had a profound psychological effect on him. His experiences in WWII, along with what he studied, have both contributed in notable ways to the fruition of Lord of the Flies. Lord of the Flies is capable of effectively convincing readers of the potential rapid psychological reversion of human civility when the worst aspects of human nature aren’t kept in check by a well-structured society. One of the reasons that Golding wrote Lord of the Flies was in reaction to the novel The Coral Island by R. M. Ballantyne. Lord of the Flies is the opposite of the themes in The Coral Island.
In The Coral Island, the characters encounter evil. In Lord of the Flies, the characters believe that the evil is not within them, but is a beast that stalks them. In the end, the beast was proven to be themselves. “But the beast is within, and the children are defined by the very objects they seek to destroy.” ('Men of a Smaller Growth': A Psychological Analysis of William Golding's 'Lord of the Flies) Outside of being a reaction to The Coral Island, Golding’s experiences during World War II likely contributed much to the existence of Lord of the Flies, as he may have observed patterns of human behavior and psychological effects that he wanted to make a point about in one way or