Evil in Lord of the Flies

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Evil in this novel is shown through the actions of the characters such as Jack and Roger.

There is a message that the author was trying to convey in this novel too: Golding was writing pessimistically about what had happened in the 1930's in Europe; Hitler and Mussolini, the collapse of democracy and the rise of fascism. He shows in 'Lord of the Flies' how attempts by the more rational and thoughtful boys to bring order and democracy to the island fail. The mob (the mass of the younger boys), like the ordinary people in Germany and Italy and most other countries, are easily led by rabble rousing speakers and promises of excitement and the good things in life. They do not want to listen to boring ideas about what might be best for them.

Also, they can easily be swayed to violence and cruelty against those who preach a more sensible and duller path, e.g. Ralph and Piggy. They are also shown as quick to turn against anyone who seems at all different (just as they were turned against the Jews and against Jesus). Try to think of the points in the novel where Jack and Roger in particular show cruelty to the other boys. There is no need for it, especially when Ralph offers a more harmonious existence, but some of the characters are crazy for power and will stop at nothing to ge it. Golding believed that this capacity for evil was not brought about by external influences. It was not the fault of a bad upbringing or because they were bored or anything like that. He believed that all humans had the capacity to do terrible things.

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Simon, in the Lord of Flies, is probably the most mysterious of the characters in the novel, but the author has made him mysterious deliberately. Though he features in the plot much less than the key characters like Piggy, Ralph and Jack, his role is symbolically very important.

Golding's story is not just about boys stranded on an island. As you probably know it is about man's behaviour towards his fellow beings. The author has tried to parallel our start in the Garden of Eden (Bible) by making his characters very young boys in a situation where they ...

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