Essay: Human capacity for wickedness – Lord of the Flies

Countless works of literature, most notably the Bible, have described humans as inherently evil, tending to resort to acts of selfishness, greed, and violence when left to their own devices. Author William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies, is one of the most powerful narrative depictions of the human capacity for wickedness, documenting a group of young and innocent British boys in the midst of World War Two as they navigate being marooned on a tropical island. While at first the boys attempt to stay calm and maintain some level of order, they soon collapse into fear and chaos. They are forced to grow up quickly as they witness savage, animalistic behavior manifesting in their friends, culminating in the violent deaths of two of the boys. The concept of man’s inherent evil nature is the primary theme conveyed by Golding in Lord of the Flies, as it encapsulates many of the secondary themes of the novel, such as the conflict between civilization and savagery, the boys’ loss of innocence, and the pervasive sense of fear on the island.
Ralph, the embodiment of civilization in the novel, and Jack, the embodiment of savagery, are constantly at odds with one another, yet Golding does not depict their conflict as pure savagery versus pure civilization. This indicates a continuum better described by human nature and response to cruel instinct. As the boys split up between Ralph’s leadership and Jack’s leadership, Ralph clarifies his intent for civilization to his followers, “‘The fire’s the most important thing. Without the fire we can’t be rescued. I’d like to put on war-paint and be a savage. But we must keep the fire burning.’” (142) With these statements, Ralph not only asserts his goals of establishing order and ensuring survival, but also, in a true moment of humility, expresses his own weaknesses. He acknowledges that he has savage desires just as Jack and his followers do, yet Ralph suppresses his savagery with the sole goal of rescue in mind. Therefore, it is not necessarily accurate to describe Ralph as pure civilization; rather, he admits his instinctive violent nature and responds to it with the reality that only by rejecting his savagery will the boys have a chance at being rescued. In contrast, Jack takes on his new leadership and lavishes in all of its glory. Golding describes that “The chief led them, trotting steadily, exulting in his achievement. He was a chief now in truth; and he made stabbing motions with his spear. From his left hand dangled Piggy’s broken glasses” (168). Jack’s deep longing for power and influence is evident from the beginning of the novel, but the extent to which he will go to maintain the power he receives is only made clear when he begins to assert himself as the chief of the savage boys. In spite of portraying the fearsome Beast as a godlike figure, Jack demands just as much reverence for himself, ultimately guiding the savage boys to no longer refer to him by his name, but as “The Chief”. He rules with an iron fist and an aura of fear that dares any of the other boys to challenge his unrivaled power. His savagery has no limits, and Jack’s unemotional manner of stealing and destroying indicates the depth to which man’s inherent evil nature can take someone with insecurity or a desire for influence. While some may claim the conflict between Ralph and Jack as evidence for “Civilization versus Savagery” being the main theme of Lord of the Flies, savage tendencies lie within all of the boys, yet some choose to reject their nature and work toward civilization, and thus survival.
Despite entering the island as young, naive little British boys, the residents of the island leave tainted and scarred by their capacity for evil. While their loss of innocence throughout their time on the island played a large role in their ever increasing violence, the largely disturbing transition from simply eating fruit to partaking in violent pig hunts to slaying their own friends is far too significant not to be credited to man’s inherent evil nature. In their first large outbreak of violence, the older boys group together to kill a sow, a plentiful source of meat. In the process of ending the sow’s life, Golding illustrates, “The spear moved forward inch by inch and the terrified squealing became a high-pitched scream. Then Jack found the throat and the hot blood spouted over his hands. The sow collapsed under them… The butterflies still danced, preoccupied in the center of the clearing” (135). Although the shift from consuming fruit to hunting for pigs symbolizes the boys’ loss of innocence, it is important to note the manner in which their violent natures manifest themselves during the hunt. It was possible for them to simply kill the sow for the purpose of consumption, yet they felt a deep and inexplicable desire to approach the situation with brutality. The boys tortured the sow and forced her to experience an extremely painful and stressful death. This ruthlessness is not merely an aspect of losing innocence; rather, it comes from human nature that is curious about violence and viciousness. Additionally, Golding utilizes irony in this portion of the novel by juxtaposing the intense murder of the sow with the butterflies floating above the murder scene. The killing of the sow is one of the first key steps in the general loss of innocence of the boys, and they leave the island dangerously grown-up. Butterflies, viewed as elegant and innocent creatures, represent the boys’ physical youth in spite of their emotional loss of innocence. They may be able to commit such atrocious murders on the island, but in the real world, they are still little boys. Towards the end of the novel, the boys progress again from the vicious killing of pigs to the unimaginable slaying of their own friends. The twins, Sam and Eric, hurriedly inform Ralph of the violence to come when he is isolated and in critical danger on the island, nervously explaining, “‘They hate you, Ralph. They’re going to do you.’ ‘They’re going to hunt you tomorrow.’” (188) In a civilized society, it is virtually impossible to imagine hunting humans, yet the boys’ innate evil nature has taken them to a point beyond what is perceived as social law. At a young age, children are taught in accordance with these social laws, yet in an alternate society where these laws are no longer taught nor enforced, children may rise above social law just as adults learn to do. However, their limited understanding of the world may lead them to extreme methods of dealing with negative emotion. Furthermore, the twins also subtly mention that “‘Roger sharpened a stick at both ends.’” (190) Roger, the most violent and sadistic boy on the island, is perhaps most in tune with his inherent evil nature, and to him, there is no difference between hunting pigs and hunting humans, as violence is violence. The twins’ statement is extremely significant as they describe Roger’s capacity for evil. By “sharpening a stick at both ends”, Roger is planning to murder Ralph, decapitate him, put his head on a stick, and bury the other end in the ground: exactly what was done to the sow in the aftermath of its murder. As the boys transform from a vegetarian community with an unwillingness to kill any living creature into a maniacal tribe devoted to slaying pigs in a gruesome manner, and later into a terrifyingly savage cult with no qualms about murdering their own, their innocence dwindles, yet this loss of innocence is generated by the boys’ human nature that leads them to horrendous and unthinkable violence.
Throughout the novel, fear of a mysterious and violent beast is rampant among the boys, and rising tensions result in civilized ideas and savage ideas butting heads. The boys’ understanding of the beast grows throughout the novel, coming to a climax as they realize that the beast is not quite what they imagined at all. Simon, the most altruistic and untainted boy on the island, encounters the result of the boys’ fear: a sow’s bloody and frightening head on a stick offered up as an animal sacrifice to the beast. Due to dehydration and improper nourishment, Simon begins to hallucinate that the sow’s head, or the Lord of the Flies, is speaking to him. The Lord of the Flies taunts, “‘Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill!’ said the head… ‘You knew, didn’t you? I’m part of you? Close, close, close! I’m the reason why it’s no go? Why things are what they are?’” (143) With these words, it is evident that the beast is not a tangible creature that the boys need to physically fear. Instead, the beast is their own evil nature, which should perhaps be feared even more than a physical beast. Their beastly nature gives way to savagery, conflict, and violence, proving that without the beast inside them, none of the events of the novel would have even occurred. It acted as an ever present watchful eye that would lash out if provoked, which presents similarities to the human condition. It is instinctive of humans to put themselves above others and often resort to violence. In the last few chapters of Lord of the Flies, Ralph is constantly fearful, as he loses his greatest allies, either by death or betrayal, to the savagery promoted by Jack. Ultimately, an island-wide manhunt is put in place in order to kill Ralph, and the savage boys set the island on fire, jeopardizing their own chances of survival in order to satisfy their evil urges. The fire with the intent to kill, ironically, is ultimately what attracts rescuers, and British naval officers come to the island to save the boys. Ralph’s fear, at a climax, is put on hold, and in spite of his relief, the horrors that took place on the island begin to finally set in as he is overcome with emotion. Golding describes,  “…With filthy body, matted hair, and unwiped nose, Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy” (202). All of the fear that was so prevalent on the island, the innocence that was lost due to the never-ending violence, and the desire for power that took some of the boys beyond redemption resulted from man’s inherent evil nature. The boys’ capacity for evil should have warranted the most fear throughout the boys’ time on the island, yet, ironically, it is human nature for the boys not to realize their own human nature.
The inherent evil nature of humanity is the primary theme of Lord of the Flies as it encompasses every event of the novel and drives many of the secondary themes, such as the battle between civilization and savagery as characterized by the battle between Ralph and Jack, the boys’ loss of innocence as a result of their violent instinct, and the raging fear on the island that, in reality, was a fear of their own selves. Although humans are inherently evil, it is important to be aware that a conscious choice can be made to detach oneself from savagery, selfishness, and other characteristics that come with human nature. By making the decision to go against human nature, it is possible to build a constructive society in which the behavior of the boys in Lord of the Flies does not manifest itself.