The main theme of Lord of the Flies is that a lot of evil in the world comes not from a few leaders who lead many others astray; it comes from within almost every human,

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Where does evil come from? What is the source of human evil, and why does it emerge? This has been a very philosophical TOK question for a very long time. The book, Lord of the Flies, attempted to seek a possible answer to this question.

The main theme of Lord of the Flies is that a lot of evil in the world comes not from a few leaders who lead many others astray; it comes from within almost every human, from people acting on their desires to dominate, to hurt, and to destroy weaker things. The actions of the characters Roger, Ralph, Henry, and Simon clearly illustrate this main theme of Lord of the Flies.

Much of the evil in Lord of the Flies is seen in Roger. Roger is a sadistic character. Roger wants power because he likes the idea of hurting others. In the beginning of the story, his desire was still held back by society rules. He intentionally missed Henry with the rocks can clearly illustrate this point (Golding, 1954, p75-76). However, as time went on the evil within Roger started to emerge. � Roger found a lodgment for his point and began to push till he was leaning with his while weight.  The spear moved forward inch by inch and the terrified squealing became a high-pitched scream� (Golding 1954, p.167-168) From this description of Roger, his desire to seek for ways to torture others can be easily seen. He used prods with spear not to kill, but to hurt. Another incidence that illustrate the evil within Roger  took place in chapter eleven. �High overhead, Roger, with a sense of delirious abandonment, leaned all his weight on the lever� (Golding 1954, p.222) Even though Roger wasn�t instructed to do so, he triggered the rock and eventually killed Piggy. He gained satisfaction and pleasure from inflicting pain and tormenting others. His act upon his evil desires, representing the brutality and cruelty that Golding believed to be present in all human beings.

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While characters like Roger portray evil in a clear, obvious manner, evil is not as apparent in other characters. Ralph, the protagonist in the story, is also capable of evil. Similar to Roger, at first, Ralph was held back by civilization. He even attempted to set rules and reconstruct a society structure among the boys. However, as time went on, he started to be tempted by evil. During the game which Robert acted as the pig while the other tried to hunt him down, the following description was stated: �Ralph too was fighting to get near, to ...

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