Lord of the flies
Uploaded by Paul_MC on Mar 04, 2002
Question: “The Lord of the Flies” by William Golding might be described as a novel that explores ‘The darkness of man’s heart’. Discuss.
The question I have chosen to do this essay on is to discuss the way the novel is described; it is described as exploring ‘the darkness of man’s heart’. The novel is set in the not too distant future where war is waging between nuclear powers in the world. Because of these circumstances a large number children have been evacuated from their homes but before they reach their destination their plane is shot down and the survivors land on a tropical almost paradise like island, unspoiled by man. This island is a microcosm representing the world. On the island the survivors all meet together and create a chief Ralph. Things soon go wrong due to members of the original group creating trouble and they decide to form their own tribe with a new chief Jack. I am going to look at how the events on the island have created an idea that the novel is exploring ‘the darkness of mans heart’.
There are many areas within the novel which give evidence to support the view that the main theme is about “the darkness of mans heart.”. The first part of the novel is a very important part as it sets the scene of how these boys have such beautiful surrounding’s and how they are keen to think of ways to be rescued and just the pleasures of day to day life they enjoy. During the opening stages you can sense that the boys still have a strong memory of law and order and how to conduct themselves. One thing that shows this is when Roger an almost non existent character with little dialogue throws stones at a small child, not to hit him as he is circled with ‘the taboo of old life’
Another time when we are shown the way the children have been restricted in their basic instincts due to the fact that they have been subjected to society’s rigid rules, is when they go on their first hunting expedition. Jack could not bring himself to kill the pig because of “the enormity of the knife descending and cutting into living flesh; because of the unbearable blood”. All these games are all right to begin with but “the darkness of mans heart” ie the evil which many are...