What particular aspects of human nature are explored in Lord of the Flies; and how have the author's techniques and choice of content deepened your understanding of this matter?

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What particular aspects of human nature are explored in Lord of the Flies; and how have the author’s techniques and choice of content deepened your understanding of the matter?

In this essay, I will review the information I have gathered from the novel ‘Lord of the Flies’ by William Golding.

The main aspects of human nature explored are: Evil within man, Fear of the unknown, and The need for civilisation.

In the story, a group of schoolboys land on a deserted island due to a plane crash. They quickly set up a community and the boys are united in their quest for rescue. However, the lack of civilisation eliminates any common rules or morals, and the group soon starts to break apart. This brings out the evil which is within every human being. The constant fear of the unknown, represented as a ‘beast’, only increases the magnitude of this problem. Finally, the camp is split into two: The rebellious and ‘evil’ side, led by Jack; and the civilised and ‘good’ side led by Ralph, the original chief. The rivalry between Jack and Ralph forces this split, and their different opinions and priorities. This division finally results in the brutal murders of Simon and Piggy, with Ralph escaping narrowly from the clutches of Jack’s tribe.

William Golding uses characterisation to show the fear of the unknown in real life. The boys seem to have seen, or at least felt the presence of, a mysterious beast. They are haunted by the vision of this monster, and find it hard to relax. This fear is not of the beast itself, but perhaps their lack of knowledge of what actually IS there. The knowledge that you have no idea of what is around the next corner can turn anyone crazy.

The fear comes on the strongest in the dark, as it would, because of the reduced vision and, essentially, more of what is ‘unknown’ to the boys. The fear as it appears at night is described by a young boy, saying “The beast came in the dark”. The beast also scares them in daylight, but not to the extent which the night brings into the boys minds.

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They also feel as if this beast is observing them carefully, and waiting for the right moment to pounce. We all have this sensation of ‘being watched’, especially when we are unsure of our position and/or surroundings. It’s only human nature to be suspicious when you lack information. Jack remarks that “When you are out hunting it feels as like you are the one being hunted”. This shows that the boys feel followed by the beast and that he is everywhere they go, and results in all the boys being terrified and not daring to leave the camp at all.

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The Quality of Written Communication is brilliant. The candidate has shown a masterful hand over the English language and has used a wide range of linguistic devices to shape their answer and to make it interesting, has used a diverse variety of sentence syntax (short vs. long sentences), punctuation (semi-colons) and accurate grammar.

The Level of Analysis is very good. This question demands a lot of attention to detail. Being an allegoric novel, whereby symbolism plays a large part, human nature is presented in many ways and the candidate has done extremely well to identify how, with the destruction of society comes the destruction of civilisation. This linking creates a very flowing style of writing that few candidates can do well in an exam or even in coursework. It shows examiners there is an adeptness with the English language and that prior planning has taken place in order to make the answer the most accessible, concise and informative it can be. There could be more use of quotes, particularly at the centre of the response - the candidate does get very carried away in their analysis but this does not penalise them in any way because at all time the candidate focuses on the steer of the question. This is called effective digression - where external knowledge (that is, knowledge of the novel that does not come from the novel itself) and insight is introduced so long as it has a clear link to the question. Examiners love to see this, as it shows enthusiasm for independent research and an ability to think outside the box, as it were, rather than sticking to the conventional method of English essay writing by including nothing but what the novels tells us directly.

This is an excellent response to a very challenging question for GCSE candidates. This particular candidate has, from the very start and throughout the rest of their essay, shown a hugely insightful comprehension of human nature and how William Golding explores it in 'Lord of the Flies'. Identifying immediately the three main features of human nature explored as "Evil within man, Fear of the unknown, and The need for civilisation", this candidate's answer is very well-structured. I would argue that the need for society is a more appropriate wording to the last one though, as we see how civilisation is an imperative element of a social construct in the novel. Society's written and unwritten laws are abandoned the moment the boys unite, but civilisation takes more time to erode, but it would not do so if society's rules were enforced.