Tara8

Humanity�s Natural Inclination Toward Evil and Violence

     William Golding wrote Lord of the Flies as an exploration into humanity�s dark, savage side possessed by the most civilized human beings. A group of English schoolboys are marooned on an uninhabited island during a nuclear war. As time goes by, the boys are led from hope to disaster when they give in to their inner evil. The arising theme is human being�s natural inclination toward evil and violence. Lord of the Flies proves that evil is not discriminatory, but resides in the spirit of all members of mankind.
     Jack�s tribe of choirboys-hunters represents this inclination to evil. Led by Jack, the boys are introduced as �a party of boys, marching approximately in step in two parallel lines and dressed in strangely eccentric clothing� (Golding 19). This is making connections between the uniformed military with the dark side of humanity. It also identifies Jack and his followers as an outspoken representation of aggression. The war occurring in the world around them is also evil, manifested in the countries� militaries. This is ironic because the war is the reason for the boys� evacuation and the resulting plane crash. The boys are supposed to be escaping from the war, but end up partaking in one of their own. During the chase, Ralph even ceases to view his enemies as human. He makes references to them as �those striped and inimical creatures� (Golding 187). They do so by choosing self-indulgent savagery and abandoning all ideas of civilized society.
     Another technique employed by Golding to explore the evils of humanity is the great contrast between the boys� evil, aggressive behavior and the reserved and civilized persona of the British. British schoolboys are looked upon as being innocent and pure. Their fall to evil perpetuates the idea that everyone has a dark side. Even Ralph, the representation of civility, falls to his inner evil during the mock hunt, which becomes a beating that injures Robert. After a pig hunt, the boys begin to play around, pretending to hunt Robert, but it gets out of hand. �Ralph too was fighting to get near, to get a handful of that brown, vulnerable flesh. The desire to squeeze and hurt was overmastering� (Golding 114-115). Ralph is overtaken by his own savagery, proving that evil lurks deep inside everyone.
     The natural inclination towards violence is still present in today�s society. It exists in the form of military and politics. A naval officer supposedly rescues the boys, but they are not really escaping any war. The boys are simply returning to a different one. The naval officer takes part in exactly what the boys are doing on the island. Ralph sees a �white drill, epaulettes, a revolver, a row of gilt buttons down the front of a uniform� (Golding 200). This is the officer�s war paint, differing only from the boys� by its social acceptance. The evil and violence is exactly the same. The officer�s ship performs manhunts for its enemy, just as Jack�s tribe does for Ralph. Although the boys are escaping the island, it is impossible to escape human evil.
     Ralph had not thought such an evil possible before he witnesses the actions of his fellow man. Lord of the Flies ends with Ralph grieving �for the end of innocence, the darkness of man�s heart� (Golding 202). The boys were either led deeper into their depraved mind of aggression and evil or realized the inclination towards evil in themselves. This realization is a self-discovery necessary for survival. The only hope we have as human beings is to escape from ourselves.