Ever since the creation of mankind, opinions regarding humans’ reasoning behind their drive to achieve has continuously changed. From the prehistoric ages where science went undiscovered to the twenty-first century where the human brain is under constant surveillance, concepts of human instinct has never and will most likely never be correctly deciphered. Two people, Golding and Gibran, made their views rather clear in their literature. Both men believe that human beings are susceptible to evil; however, William Golding’s Lord of the Flies depicts the idea of “good” through the forces of nature and “evil” through the beast, whereas Kahlil Gibran’s "Good and Evil" describes purity and honesty as traits of a good person; thus, he believes failure
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For the duration of Lord of the Flies, the concept of the beast becomes rather confusing since it seems to switch forms based on the boys’ separate beliefs. In other words, some boys claim to have seen the beast, which indicates it is a physical creature, but others lean towards the idea of the beast being part of them. In the end, all suspicion is solved when the beast talks to Simon and explains, “Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill!...You knew, didn’t you? I’m part of you?” (Golding 143). Given this, the beast is proved to symbolize the impending loss of sanity the boys will endure while stranded on the island, which, according to Golding, represents the evil in the world. Contrastingly, William uses strong imagery and symbolism to depict nature as a force of good. Such imagery portrays nature as innocent, welcoming or a ‘safe haven.’ For example, when Golding writes, “The water rose farther and dressed Simon’s coarse hair with brightness. The line of his cheek silvered and the turn of his should became sculptured marble” (Golding 154). By using words like ‘brightness,’ ‘silvered,’ and ‘sculptured marble,’ Golding is able to display the sea in a form of elegance. Furthermore, this sense of beauty that engulfs Simon’s dead body, illustrates that safety for the boys was in the hands of nature, not of a ship that would bring them back to the war. …show more content…
Gibran utilizes the fact that the most commonly used traits to describe a good person are honesty and kindness in his poem when he writes, “You are good when you are one with yourself / You are good when you strive to give of yourself / You are good when you are fully awake in your speech / You are good when you walk to your goal firmly and with bold steps” (Gibran 6 - 18). In all four of these lines, Gibran states ways in which a person is good. Through the use of phrases like ‘one with yourself’, ‘strive to give of yourself’, ‘fully awake in your speech’, and ‘walk to your goal’, Gibran’s view that one is good when one is pure, hardworking, and honest is shown. On the other hand, Gibran believes failure to resist temptation corrupts a good person. He explains this by saying, “In your longing for your giant self lies your goodness: and that longing is in all of you” (Gibran 25). After reading this, one can infer that Gibran doesn’t believe evil is present when good is not, rather he believes that when good traits are not maintained, they can turn sour. In summary, Gibran displays his opinions of what makes a person good and evil in an attempt to console the human race over their insecurities and need to escape the clutches of
For the duration of Lord of the Flies, the concept of the beast becomes rather confusing since it seems to switch forms based on the boys’ separate beliefs. In other words, some boys claim to have seen the beast, which indicates it is a physical creature, but others lean towards the idea of the beast being part of them. In the end, all suspicion is solved when the beast talks to Simon and explains, “Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill!...You knew, didn’t you? I’m part of you?” (Golding 143). Given this, the beast is proved to symbolize the impending loss of sanity the boys will endure while stranded on the island, which, according to Golding, represents the evil in the world. Contrastingly, William uses strong imagery and symbolism to depict nature as a force of good. Such imagery portrays nature as innocent, welcoming or a ‘safe haven.’ For example, when Golding writes, “The water rose farther and dressed Simon’s coarse hair with brightness. The line of his cheek silvered and the turn of his should became sculptured marble” (Golding 154). By using words like ‘brightness,’ ‘silvered,’ and ‘sculptured marble,’ Golding is able to display the sea in a form of elegance. Furthermore, this sense of beauty that engulfs Simon’s dead body, illustrates that safety for the boys was in the hands of nature, not of a ship that would bring them back to the war. …show more content…
Gibran utilizes the fact that the most commonly used traits to describe a good person are honesty and kindness in his poem when he writes, “You are good when you are one with yourself / You are good when you strive to give of yourself / You are good when you are fully awake in your speech / You are good when you walk to your goal firmly and with bold steps” (Gibran 6 - 18). In all four of these lines, Gibran states ways in which a person is good. Through the use of phrases like ‘one with yourself’, ‘strive to give of yourself’, ‘fully awake in your speech’, and ‘walk to your goal’, Gibran’s view that one is good when one is pure, hardworking, and honest is shown. On the other hand, Gibran believes failure to resist temptation corrupts a good person. He explains this by saying, “In your longing for your giant self lies your goodness: and that longing is in all of you” (Gibran 25). After reading this, one can infer that Gibran doesn’t believe evil is present when good is not, rather he believes that when good traits are not maintained, they can turn sour. In summary, Gibran displays his opinions of what makes a person good and evil in an attempt to console the human race over their insecurities and need to escape the clutches of