Consumed by Evil
In Lord of the Flies by William Golding, evil selfishness is something that pulls the boys apart and pits them against each other. Although Roger started out as a minor character, as the novel progresses, he is later established as Jack’s sadistic right-hand man. His natural tendencies for violence and a disregard for the consequences of his actions ultimately lead him to fall from the arms of civilization.
As a young child, the morals and ethics that come with civilization had not yet been fully engrained in Roger’s character. He had been taught by society to hide his evil desires and thusly became a “slight furtive boy whom no one knew, who kept to himself with an inner intensity of avoidance and secrecy” (Golding 18). Roger had learned what morals were correct but had not fully understood why, causing him to only be motivated by the fear of material consequences or the fear of judgement from his peers, initially leaving him in the ego …show more content…
However, our society still has just as much of a dog-eat-dog culture as the island the boys crashed into. The “savagery” that Roger fell to is much like the “civilized” culture that we’ve created through governments, businesses, and other institutions. Wars are fought between countries, religions, families, football teams, brothers and sisters because of clashing ideas and evil that has been allowed to consume our actions. We so often push away the needs of others to fulfill our own needs for approval, money, and dominance that we find ourselves tearing others down. This kind of savagery has become socially acceptable in today’s world. As Golding experienced this through the World Wars, he began to realize “the darkness of man’s heart” and the kind of destruction our evil can do (Golding 238). Golding created Roger to symbolize this darkness and the selfish, short-sighted nature that Golding believes all humans
In Lord of the Flies by William Golding, evil selfishness is something that pulls the boys apart and pits them against each other. Although Roger started out as a minor character, as the novel progresses, he is later established as Jack’s sadistic right-hand man. His natural tendencies for violence and a disregard for the consequences of his actions ultimately lead him to fall from the arms of civilization.
As a young child, the morals and ethics that come with civilization had not yet been fully engrained in Roger’s character. He had been taught by society to hide his evil desires and thusly became a “slight furtive boy whom no one knew, who kept to himself with an inner intensity of avoidance and secrecy” (Golding 18). Roger had learned what morals were correct but had not fully understood why, causing him to only be motivated by the fear of material consequences or the fear of judgement from his peers, initially leaving him in the ego …show more content…
However, our society still has just as much of a dog-eat-dog culture as the island the boys crashed into. The “savagery” that Roger fell to is much like the “civilized” culture that we’ve created through governments, businesses, and other institutions. Wars are fought between countries, religions, families, football teams, brothers and sisters because of clashing ideas and evil that has been allowed to consume our actions. We so often push away the needs of others to fulfill our own needs for approval, money, and dominance that we find ourselves tearing others down. This kind of savagery has become socially acceptable in today’s world. As Golding experienced this through the World Wars, he began to realize “the darkness of man’s heart” and the kind of destruction our evil can do (Golding 238). Golding created Roger to symbolize this darkness and the selfish, short-sighted nature that Golding believes all humans