Human Flaws In Lord Of The Flies

Humanity’s goal since the beginning of time has been, more or less, achieving heaven on earth and total harmony between human beings. This goal has never been fully realized because of key human flaws, the most important one being the crucial difference between short and long term goals. We see evidence of this factor’s penchant for ruin in William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies, and Henrik Ibsen’s play An Enemy of the People. Piggy of Lord of the Flies comments on this indirectly when he says “What makes things break up like they do?” (Golding 139). The differing opinions of the two main characters in each work wreck any chance they have at maintaining a perfect society.
Both works have incredible potential for the characters to build successful, thriving societies. In Lord of the Flies, one of the first things Ralph notices when he wakes up on the island is that there are “no grownups” and a lack of repercussions for misbehavior. He says it is “a good island” and they “have food and drink, and … [they] can have a good time” (Golding 34). There is potential here for a
Peter Stockmann can think of nothing else but how much money he and the town can make off of the Baths in as little time as possible. He is more worried about the possibility that people won't “come near the place after [gets around] that the water [is] dangerous” than about the people who might come while they are dangerous and get very sick, which would eventually shut the Baths down permanently (Ibsen 183). Doctor Stockmann attempts to help the town by spreading the news of the water pollution, but Peter prevents him from doing that and turns the Doctor into the enemy, saying that he must be “an enemy to [the] community” (Ibsen 190). Peter goes on to spread horrible things about the Doctor’s idea for the Baths, even though it is the best plan for the town in the long