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| Essay 1 |
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| "Good Versus Evil" William Golding is the author of Lord of the Flies. The main theme in the novel is "the attempt to trace the defects of human nature." He does a great job at this throught the characters, Ralph and Jack. They are perfect examples of good versus evil. Ralph represents goodness. He cares about having shelter and keeping the fire going constantly so a plane or ship will see them, and they will get rescued. "...If a ship comes near the island they may not notice us. So we must make smoke on top of the mountain. We must make a fire"( Golding pg. 38). He sets up rules for all of the boys to follow so they can be organized. He is elected leader because he is the one who blows the conch which causes all the boys to come together. Simon foreshadows his getting rescued when he says"...you will get rescued..."(Golding pg. 27) Simon's prophesy comes true at the end of the book. To begin with, Jack is a representative of evil. He only cares about hunting and later hurting people. He could care less about getting rescued. When Ralph scolds him for letting the fire go out he replies,"we needed meat" (Golding pg.71). Jack becomes very primitive-like. He starts painting his face, hunts all the time, and starts using words almost completely. He gets almost everyone from Ralph's group to join his group because he offers them meat to eat and protection from the beast. The defects in society go all the way back to the defects in human nature because Eve ate the apple from the tree of good and evil and then gave some to Adam. This deals with the novel because the island in Lord of the Flies is an allegory of the Garden of Eden. Even though Ralph represents goodness he does have some evil in him. He participates in Simon's death and pokes a little boy with a spear. And Jack has a small amount of goodness in him because he does try to get the boys meat to eat. In conclusion, everybody has good and evil inside theirself. |