William Goldings Exploration of Evilness in Children
In the article “Why Boys Become Vicious,” William Golding explores human nature and his beliefs on the viciousness of boys. Golding references his novel Lord of the Flies to affirm his view that “evilness” is a trait that derives itself from different aspects of a person's environment and personality. In his article, he states that a person is born with a certain capability for evilness but they can be changed by their surroundings as they grow and mature as well as elements of chaos and fear in individual situations..
One of Golding’s points is that people are born with an inherent evil quality. A great example of this is when, in chapter 8 of Lord of the Flies, Simon speaks with the pig head in the middle of the jungle. It appears that Simon is able to speak with the pig head due to some sort of hallucination; this conversation gives great insight into Golding’s feelings on evilness . The pig head is a symbol for the human evilness that is in all of us and is referred to as the “Lord of the
Flies.” At one point in the conversation, “The Lord of the Flies” taunts Simon and tells him that there is no escaping him, meaning that people are never able to escape their inner evilness. Golding believes that good people can find them doing evil things do to the chaos of a situation. The character Ralph is considered a “good” person because he usually looking out for other with no intention to harm others but when he goes hunting the the “hunters” he is suddenly overwhelmed by the intensity and chaos of the hunt and feels the urge to kill the hog. He tries to keep himself from hurting the animal but eventually gives in, saying that “the desire to squeeze and hurt was overmastering.” This shows that even the nicest of people has a bit of hate in their bodies. Another point that Golding makes repeatedly is that fear can affect how a person acts in a situation. On the island people are very afraid of the “beast” that many have said they
One of Golding’s points is that people are born with an inherent evil quality. A great example of this is when, in chapter 8 of Lord of the Flies, Simon speaks with the pig head in the middle of the jungle. It appears that Simon is able to speak with the pig head due to some sort of hallucination; this conversation gives great insight into Golding’s feelings on evilness . The pig head is a symbol for the human evilness that is in all of us and is referred to as the “Lord of the
Flies.” At one point in the conversation, “The Lord of the Flies” taunts Simon and tells him that there is no escaping him, meaning that people are never able to escape their inner evilness. Golding believes that good people can find them doing evil things do to the chaos of a situation. The character Ralph is considered a “good” person because he usually looking out for other with no intention to harm others but when he goes hunting the the “hunters” he is suddenly overwhelmed by the intensity and chaos of the hunt and feels the urge to kill the hog. He tries to keep himself from hurting the animal but eventually gives in, saying that “the desire to squeeze and hurt was overmastering.” This shows that even the nicest of people has a bit of hate in their bodies. Another point that Golding makes repeatedly is that fear can affect how a person acts in a situation. On the island people are very afraid of the “beast” that many have said they