Evil In William Golding's Lord Of The Flies

Golding’s dark and provocative Lord of the Flies delves deep into the soul of man in a ruthless tale meant to explain the essence of why evil exists within us all, and how that evil is coaxed into action. In this insightful story, a group of schoolboys crash lands on an island during an evacuation in the midst of a future war. At first, all is well and order is established with assemblies guided by the elected Chief, Ralph, and the power of a conch shell, which grants the boys a turn to speak. Yet after a while, structure disintegrates as the thirst for pig’s blood rises in proportion. The main hunter, Jack, is a confrontational, rebellious boy who kills the sows regardless of the endless supply of fruit on the island. Little by little, chaos ensues in the form of …show more content…
Later, Simon has a deeply meaningful conversation with The Lord Of The Flies, a sow’s head that is meant to be a sacrifice for the beast. Ralph and his intuitive yet unpopular companion, Piggy, are set on the idea of rescue and do all in their power to alight hope in the form of a fire. Jack soon finds “a perfect fort” and takes up residence on a castle-shaped rock on the other end of the island. Out of spite for Ralph’s popularity and power, he eventually coaxes the majority of the boys (including a sadistic boy named Roger, who is Jack’s future sidekick) to Castle Rock with the promise of pig meat and defiant fun. After a nasty confrontation between Ralph and Jack, which ends with Piggy’s murder at the hands of Roger, an all-out war is declared on Ralph. Running for his life, the island on fire behind him, Ralph and the boys are suddenly discovered by a naval officer and rescued. Throughout the book, we are given a literary illustration of how the darkness in our hearts is fed by power and control. This theme is chiefly symbolized by the conch, the sow head, and the conflicting representations of the rescue