Human Nature

Many people have pondered the question "what is basic human nature?" Many ancient philosophers have written on this topic, and their ideas differed greatly. Debate on which view of human nature is correct has raged for centuries, with no winner so far. Human nature is such a sensitive issue because it helps to define morality and savagery. William Golding's story Lord of the flies, has added much to the ongoing debate over human nature, because it speaks a lot on the topic of human nature. Reading Lord of the Flies, one gets an impression of Golding's pessimistic view on human nature, that humankind is inherently evil. I think that way as well for it is so simple to observe in the novel how easily society can collapse and how self-destructive human nature can be once the constrains of civilization are gone. To my mind Golding is doing his best to illustrate that theme in the novel.

At four major points throughout Lord of the Flies, Golding has the characters become gradually more and more evil. The pig's death indicates the appearance of evil on the island. Meat is not necessary for the boys' survival, yet Jack and his hunters become obsessed with killing pigs. They enjoy having the power of life and death over another living creature and sadistically torture the sow while they slaughter her. The sow symbolizes motherhood and nurturing, the boys' murder of her signifies their gaining of savage and barbaric characteristics and their lessening concern for life. Jack rubs the blood over Maurice's cheeks, while Roger laughs that the fatal blow against the sow was up her ass. The boys cut off the pig's head and leave it on a stick as a gift for the beast at the mountaintop. Jack's feeling toward the kill as satisfying and enjoyable makes it easy to forecast the further decline of humanity in the novel. Evil gradually appears.

Despite the harsh brutality and savagery of Jack and his tribe, almost all the boys follow him. The boys sneak out and leave Ralph's group during the night and by morning the only boys who are with Ralph are Samneric, Piggy, and some of littluns. They join Jack's tribe because he wants to "Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!" (Golding 188). The idea of being able to kill anything that causes fear is a very appealing idea, because it brings a sense of security and safety, even if the security is false. The defection of the boys to Jack's tribe shows how easily people forget their civility and how savagely they act when they are living in fear.

Simon is the silent, calm listener and the symbol of hope in boys' island society. He recognizes the decline that is occurring speedily in the social structure and in the peaceful beauty of the island. Simon is one of the few on the island who has an ability to understand the danger of such degeneration. His death signifies a tremendous decline of humanity and the disappearance of hope for the boys. This killing is also a culmination of the violence among Jack's band of hunters, who finally move from brutality against animals to brutality against each other. But even after the death of Simon Jack and his tribe did not feel any penitence to what they had done, killing to them had become second nature.

Another step towards savagery is characters' thinking of the present, not of the future. All Jack cares about is filling the boys' stomachs with tasty pig-flesh. He does not care about being rescued or planning for future events. The decline of civilization is also shown by the eventual destruction of the conch shell by the savage tribe. The conch shell, which symbolizes control, order, and civilization, is used to unite the boys to action. That is why drawing away from and final destruction of the conch symbolizes the loss of civilization. This loss of civilization