Lord of the Flies

Abraham Lincoln once said that “Human nature can be modified to some extent, but human nature cannot be changed”. In William Golding’s book Lord of the Flies there are perfect examples to agree with that statement. The book is about a group of British school boys who are stranded on an island after their plane crashed. All the boys must work together to help live and get rescued. Golding got the idea to write the book after his experiences in World War II. Humans can be changed to a certain extent by restrictions placed on them, natural state of humans, and fear of being evil. When a group of boys are left stranded on a deserted island, there are no adults around and the true nature of the boys begins to show. “The hunters’ thoughts were crowded with memories, of the knowledge, that they had outwitted a living thing, imposed their will upon it, taken away its life like a long satisfying drink” (Golding 63). When there were adults around in the world restrictions were placed on the boys, almost like a censorship. If a boy did something that “broke the rules” then he would be in trouble. But with the adults gone the boys could become their natural born state of savages. Adults could modify the human nature of the boys to a certain extent. Though what they learned in the real world was not all for broke. It is just there is the so called beast in every one of us and there is nothing we can do about it. Through censorship who we are is no longer who we really are. We all become the same. All the boys on the island were classy, British school boys. Brought up in a nice household their parents probably laid down strict laws. Back early in the book the most savage of the boys, Jack, had a chance to kill a pig but does not. He still feels the restrictions of the real world and still has some sense of civilization. A few chapters later he is out killing pigs and even trying to kill humans. The main concern for the boys on the island is a so called “beast”. Trying