Lotf_Essay

The Natural Evil Evil has taken many forms when shown throughout the world. It can be constrained by many different factors including the society one would live in. When these factors are no longer present the natural evil that lies in everyone is revealed. In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, Golding takes away these factors for a group of young boys stranded on an island. As time progresses they are no longer constrained by the society that they once lived thus revealing Golding’s view that humans are naturally evil but constrained to do good by society. The character “Jack” in Lord of the Flies becomes less constrained by society the longer he stays on the island. At first on the island Jack is a refined choir boy who was respectful and shows no sign of evil. “He was intimidated by this uniformed superiority and the offhand authority in Merridew’s voice” (Golding 18). This is an example of how Jack is not evil and that he still is refined even though, he is a little rude he still shows no evil. Later in the book Jack is no longer constrained by the society he once came from and speaks and act as follows. “Immediately after this, there came a gasp, and a squeal of pain... One of the twins was there outside the thicket, with Jack and Roger” (Golding 177). Jack’s torturing of one of the twins for information shows that Jack has no care for life. The squeal could be a squeal of anything getting injured or even of one getting killed. This means that Jack’s true nature has been revealed. Along with Jack no longer being constrained Roger, who becomes just as, if not more savage as Jack. is there torturing or killing one of the twins. Roger was never as constrained as the other children in the group. He was always more aggressive and did more things on the “evil” side. Roger’s evil is shown best in chapter 11, castle rock, as he kills Piggy. “High overhead, with a sense of delirious abandonment, leaned all his weigh on the lever” (Golding 167). This is how the rock is plunged down at Piggy and given a deadly blow. “The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee... Piggy, saying nothing, with no time for even a grunt, traveled through the air sideways from the rock... Piggy... landed on his back across that square red in the sea. His head opened and stuff came out ad turned red... [his] legs twitched a bit, like a pig’s after it has been killed... [and then] the body of Piggy was gone” (Golding 167). The severity of this scene shows how the natural evil that Roger has was released and it can no longer be constrained. That when there is nothing to stop someone’s evil it is relentless in violence. Throughout the course of William Golding’s Lord of the Flies the characters change as they lose the constraints that at one point had held their natural evil. Golding speaks of human nature and how one always has a natural evil that is constrained to be good by society. This evil has to be held into place or there are severe consequences for others as Golding represents in the scene where Piggy is killed by Roger with the giant rock. Other instances are when Jack is torturing one of the twins to find Ralph. Lord of the Flies shows how human nature changes dramatically and that true human nature is not good but evil.