Lord Essay, Research Paper

Everyone, at one time or another, has dreamed of running away to a deserted island to get away from the life of the real world, but in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies this perceived dream of a deserted island is brought to reality. When the dream did come true for some English boys things don’t actually turn out as glorious as imagined. Human nature went into effect and let evil run wild. The Island paradise they once saw turned into a bloody nightmare. A message that ran rampant throughout the novel was that evil is inherited in everyone. By looking at three very important scenes, one can see how the effects of evil are permanently etched into everyone’s personality. Understanding those events are vital to understanding the overall theme of the book.

The constant reminder of inherent evil didn’t start off right away when the boys arrived at the island. Evil slowly crept into the open. This valid point invites me to show you one of the first moments where evil attacked. Henry (a little boy on the island) was playing on the beach when several triumphant splashes in the water surrounded him. It was the arm of Roger (a character that experienced evil more than anyone) who was throwing stones at the littlun. This key point in the book illustrated how Roger began to love the power he could have over other living things. He enjoyed this power, but was still living by the rules of the real world. I could see the good slipping away from Roger even though “there was a space around Henry, perhaps six yards in diameter, into which he dare not throw” (62). This was one of the many meetings with evil that Roger would join in on. This significant point in the book paints a clear image of how evil wanders in peoples souls.

As done with very intricate novels, things are hidden that you have to search for. These monumental points are found deep into the book. They don’t pop out right away. With the help of others, one of these symbolic moments trampled over our faces. The enjoyment that the boys had from killing a sow made a light bulb click on and we realized that that Golding made this event to appear like a rape. The words they used and the brutality of killing drew the evil out of them as if a rape would. When “the sow fell and the hunters hurled themselves at her” I knew the evil had gone full steam ahead (135). This event should be historic throughout this novel for its importance of clearly displaying how evil is in everyone deep down inside.

When the good turns to bad you know there’s something wrong. You feel almost as if there’s no place to go because the only place turn just became a lonely deserted road. The way Golding described one of these moments really got me thinking. When Ralph (one of the children who resisted the evil to the end) felt the “desire to squeeze and hurt” I knew that evil was close to capturing everyone (115). It seemed nearly impossible to me for Ralph to surrender to the temptations of evil, but there he was doing it. I felt like we failed. I knew then at that moment that evil could grab any one and destroy them at their weak points. This could have been one of the best argumentative points I had to give depth to my grasp of the way evil works.

In the end good did surpass evil and it cured all of the boys from the wrong temptations. I know now that evil does reside in the darkness of everyone’s sole. I’m prepared to watch out for it now and shove it back into its shadowy corner when it strikes. Roger suffered the most from evil, but turned to good in the end. I still can’t believe that the evil almost got Ralph. He was one of the strongest and held on until the end. If you understood those key events, then you know how evil is inherent in human nature and can be aware of it.