Lord of the flies - What according to Golding is mankind's essential illness and how does he convey this in the novel?

Golding also conveys his views on mankind’s essential illness through association with characters. Golding gets the reader to associate with Ralph throughout the book.  He does this by describing Ralph more than the other characters and by making him the “good guy”. The reader tends to relate to Ralph rather than other characters, such as Jack, because of the dialogue and imagery that Golding uses with each character. Jack uses coarse language such as “bollocks” (on page 100) whereas Ralph uses language such as “whizzoh” (on page 13). The contrast in dialogue and vocabulary between the two characters makes the reader want to associate more with Ralph. Golding has also described Ralph as “the average, rather more than average, man of goodwill and sense” and if he can do evil then so can everyone. Just when the reader feels that they would act like Ralph,  the plot has Ralph taking part in Simon’s murder. It is shown that Ralph wants to take part in the group because on page 152 Ralph’s thoughts are such that he is “eager to take a place in this demented but partly secure society”. This thought results in Ralph taking an active part in Simon’s death on page 168. As Ralph has taken part in an act of evil, it portrays Golding’s thoughts and conveys to the reader that we all have within us the ability to do evil. These actions portray what mankind’s essential illness is according to Golding and he further proves that this exists by the number of murders that are committed and the increasing barbarity of each murder.

The first death is a young child who was burnt in the fire. This was more of an accident than  a murder, but many people forget this death. The second death is a murder, but is initially described as an accident. On page 168 Simon is mistaken for the beast and murdered by the tribe but later Ralph’s conversation with Piggy suggests that they knew it was Simon but couldn’t stop. They share  some  characteristics of the Lord Of The Flies. One characteristic that the tribe and the Lord Of The Flies share is the language they use. On page 159 the Lord Of The Flies says, “We shall do you”. Compare this to page 168 where the boys, when killing Simon, add to their chant the words “Do Him In”. Simon’s death is followed by Piggy’s murder on page 200. Piggy’s death was not an accident since Roger deliberately triggered a rock-lever-system with the intention of squashing Piggy.  Piggy’s murder and the fact that no one had any remorse for his death suggests that the boys are consumed by mankind’s essential illness. Although this is the last death in the novel, it is closely followed by the attempted murder of Ralph. On page 208 it is made clear that the tribe is to hunt Ralph and use him as a sacrifice. Samneric are now part of the tribe and are using the same vocabulary as the Lord Of The Flies and on page 208 they say, “They’re going to do you”. The murders are progressively more savage and turn from accidents to deliberate murders. This suggests that the boys are inclined to return to primitive and savage animal instincts.  This shows that Golding believed that mankind’s essential illness will prevail over  civilised rational behavior no matter  how good the person may seem.

Foreshadowing the murders of the boys is the hunting of the pigs. As the deaths became  more and more barbaric, so too did  the hunts. The hunts start off on page 53 for the practical reason of the tribe needing food.  But as the novel progresses,  phrases such as “Wedded to her in lust” (on page 149) show that the boys hunt not for food, but for fun. The fact that the boys get immense enjoyment from killing and show no remorse suggests that they want to act this way especially since  there is no society or rules to prevent their actions. Without the rules of society Golding believes that every man will give in to a tendency  to do evil. The hunts devolve from hunting pigs to hunting Ralph.

Lord Of The Flies delivers a pessimistic outlook  which shows that man is inherently primitive and needs society and law. Without it, humans would likely revert to savagery. This is clearly conveyed in Golding’s novel by the primitive, lawless circumstances that the schoolboys find themselves in and their resulting actions and thoughts.