Savagery In Lord Of The Flies Essay

In Lord of the Flies, Golding discusses the complex relationships between society, morality and human nature. He examines two central concepts in Lord of the Flies: the nature of evil and civilisation vs. savagery, and both are intrinsically linked with each other. Within the topic of the nature of evil, Golding develops various ideas, the most important of which is that human nature is innately evil. This idea is closely related to the conflict of civilisation vs. savagery (or good vs. evil). Golding implies that the condition of society (i.e. the balance between civilisation and savagery) is very dependent on how much moral integrity its inhabitants have (i.e. the capacity of its inhabitants to embrace their natural instincts of evil). In
Golding explores the concept of the human nature being innately evil through symbolism, and Biblical allegory and allusion. The beast is a powerful symbol of the natural evil within the human spirit. The true meaning of the “beastie” is explained during Simon’s hallucination: ‘“Fancy thinking the beast was something you could kill!” said the head. ... “You knew, didn’t you? I’m part of you? Close, close, close! I’m the reason why it’s no go? Why things are the way they are?”’ This quote is from the Lord of the Flies, and it finally reveals who the beast really is. It is not an evilly-intended external force; it is the primal savagery within the boys themselves. Lord of the Flies is also a Biblical allegory, with many scenes in the novel draw parallels with scenes from the Bible, and this is definitely one of them. In the context of the Bible, therefore, Simon, one of the only characters who seem to possess an innate natural goodness rather than evil, is very similar to Jesus, and the Lord of the Flies recalls the Devil. In fact, the “Lord of the Flies” is actually a literal translation of Beelzebub, an alternative name to Satan. The Bible is