Indestructible Evil -- Lord of the Flies
Indestructible Evil
In the novel Lord of the Flies, William Golding presents the view that the underlying true nature of humans is primitive and ultimately evil. Ralph, Jack and Simon are the three main characters of the island. They each have different qualities that allow Golding to express the theme in a more creative manner. From a psychological perspective, Jack represents the id (impulse to do what is desired), Simon represents the super-ego (complete logic and good sense), and Ralph represents the ego (a combination of both). As an adolescent who increasingly desires authority, the evidence shows Jack’s passionate thirst for blood as the novel advances. Ralph stands for the savagery that takes over his original civilized being. Similarly, good-hearted Simon stands as an example of a sacrifice made to prove how evil can efficiently take over a person. All the events prove that every human is a skilled actor and only a “defect” of society can tear away the thin layer of kindness which conceals an unconscious evil instinct and nature. Golding tries to manifest this belief by revealing this darkness through Ralph, Jack and Simon’s different perspective on life and the length of time it takes to erase the social conditioning that has encapsulated them.
With the primitive urges of the id, Jack becomes forceful, violent, and bloodthirsty. In their corrupted society, he recognizes the invisible attraction between authority and violence; which he uses to his advantage. He is also one of the first people to realize that when people are free of society’s rules and face no consequences for their actions, they will choose to be barbaric rather than sensitively logical. His human characteristics slowly give way to his obsession to kill. As he becomes morally corrupted, he masters the skill of killing without any sorrow, and the narrator compares this to a mother pig who is still feeding her piglets by stating that: “‘She was black and pink; and the great bladder of her
In the novel Lord of the Flies, William Golding presents the view that the underlying true nature of humans is primitive and ultimately evil. Ralph, Jack and Simon are the three main characters of the island. They each have different qualities that allow Golding to express the theme in a more creative manner. From a psychological perspective, Jack represents the id (impulse to do what is desired), Simon represents the super-ego (complete logic and good sense), and Ralph represents the ego (a combination of both). As an adolescent who increasingly desires authority, the evidence shows Jack’s passionate thirst for blood as the novel advances. Ralph stands for the savagery that takes over his original civilized being. Similarly, good-hearted Simon stands as an example of a sacrifice made to prove how evil can efficiently take over a person. All the events prove that every human is a skilled actor and only a “defect” of society can tear away the thin layer of kindness which conceals an unconscious evil instinct and nature. Golding tries to manifest this belief by revealing this darkness through Ralph, Jack and Simon’s different perspective on life and the length of time it takes to erase the social conditioning that has encapsulated them.
With the primitive urges of the id, Jack becomes forceful, violent, and bloodthirsty. In their corrupted society, he recognizes the invisible attraction between authority and violence; which he uses to his advantage. He is also one of the first people to realize that when people are free of society’s rules and face no consequences for their actions, they will choose to be barbaric rather than sensitively logical. His human characteristics slowly give way to his obsession to kill. As he becomes morally corrupted, he masters the skill of killing without any sorrow, and the narrator compares this to a mother pig who is still feeding her piglets by stating that: “‘She was black and pink; and the great bladder of her