Lord Of The Flies Quotes

Improved Essays
Show More
Devil Dependencies

Just because something is not wanted does not mean it isn't essential. Lord of The Flies is a novel by William Golding, exploring the human condition in a tale of the survival of children on an island. In the story there is a made up monster that symbolises the evil inside of us all. Mankind has always needed a devil to show us our heroes, give us a place to direct our blame, and to control the masses of humanity. Humans need a devil to show us our “saints” persay. In Lord of The Flies we were given the embodiment of a made up devil conceived from the fear of the island’s civilization. The beast is a constant reminder that evil is out there. It takes this fear to remind the kids that there is also goodness and something …show more content…
Lord of The Flies exemplifies the idea of a monster, or metaphorical devil, being used as a scapegoat for the deeply rooted fears of loneliness from the children. The following quote shows that they recognise this, “I know there isn’t no beast- not with claws and all that, I mean- but I know there isn’t no fear, either” (Golding 99). It is a lot easier for all parties for them to embody evil into a single entity that is capable of destruction. It is far more painful to acknowledge the indisputable fact that evil is everywhere and there is no way to halt it. This phenomenon of blame shifting is also shown in the current political race. A quote from the current republican frontrunner shows this in, “The enemy right now is within the muslim community” (Donald Trump). It is far more painless for a candidate to cast blame on an outside individual, rather than looking introspectively on themselves and the real issues facing the nation. Going along with the scapegoating devil figures theme, devils are held over the masses heads in order to manipulate the public. This is extremely prevalent in Lord of The Flies, as jack uses the entire idea of a beast to manipulate the other children into succumbing to his wishes. "‘Jack's in charge of the choir. They can be—what do you want them

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    The Lord Of The Flies Dbq Questions And Answers
    • 388 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Lord Of The Flies Dbq Questions And Answers

    In the Lord of The Flies, a group of kids are stranded on an island in the Pacific Ocean, and are scared of the unknown. The term beast is defined throughout the story as several different things. The following writing will show what the kids really feared. The beast is first thought of as fear itself.…

    • 388 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Essential Illness In Lord Of The Flies
    • 419 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Essential Illness In Lord Of The Flies

    In Lord of the Flies, William Golding expresses mankind’s essential illness as the takeover of fear over a person’s personality and decision making. The boys in the novel let their fear of a fictitious “beast” figure dominate their lives on the island in which they inhabit, leading to their eventual demise into savagery. One of the boys, Simon, states “...maybe there is a beast... What I mean is... maybe it’s only us.”…

    • 419 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Identity In Lord Of The Flies
    • 1065 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Identity In Lord Of The Flies

    The 1954 novel Lord of the Flies encompasses the aftermath of World War 2 and draws heavy parallels to a post-World War 2. Written by Robert Golding, the novel is set on a dystopian island and illustrates that with the absence societal responsibilities, civilization degrades into fear and chaos by Jack’s dictatorial reign over the island. His rise to power originates through his evident denial of taking on his societal responsibilities. Naturally, human nature objectifies the strong and turns to them for guidance, Jack manipulates the others into sacrificing their freedom and sense of identity with his appeal to their needs of food and security. In turn, savagery and chaos ensue as everyone begins to blindly follow and conform to his ideologies.…

    • 1065 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Decent Essays

    Piggy's Important Events
    • 227 Words
    • 1 Pages

    Piggy's Important Events

    Important Events - The boys arrive on the island after their plane crashes during evacuation from an area later destroyed by an atomic bomb. - Piggy finds a conch - The first meeting is held and the boys specifically say what is needed for them to be able to survive on the island. - Ralph suggests a leader and he himself gets elected - Ralph throws rocks to Henry and on purpose misses - Ralph sees a boat on the horizon - Ralph and Piggy use the conch to call the others - Ralph, Jack, Simon climb the mountain and confirm they are on the island - Simon and Ralph build huts as a shelter - Jack and his group went hunting because he wanted to have fun - Simon discovers the beast is a man - Jack kills a pig - Sam and Eric are forced to join Jack’s tribe -…

    • 227 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
    Read More
  • Great Essays

    Theme Of Fear In Lord Of The Flies
    • 1523 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Theme Of Fear In Lord Of The Flies

    More than six millions Jews were brutally executed in Nazi Germany, but before Hitler had gotten control of Germany, he used the fear of communism to gain power and control. That fear would help forge a world of violence and savagery that will never be forgotten. Similarly, Lord of the Flies is a book in which Jack, uses the other boys’ fear of a beast to turn their society into disorder and cruelty. In Lord of The Flies, William Golding uses Jack and the symbol of the Beast to convey how fear ultimately brings the downfall of moral civilizations, and spawns violence and savagery as a method of combating the fear.…

    • 1523 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
    Read More
  • Decent Essays

    Racial Bias In Lord Of The Flies
    • 225 Words
    • 1 Pages

    Racial Bias In Lord Of The Flies

    A significant event that was the result of evil is the racial bias that takes place in modern day America. The evil nature within this event is people that don’t understand or don’t want to include these people in society without stereotypes. Also, a daily struggle to do everyday things without being discriminated against. This event transpired from a society that is lead by people that have racial bias. This has created an even bigger problem because of the children and young adults that grow up in a home around people that show an example for one another.…

    • 225 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Censorship In Lord Of The Flies
    • 786 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Censorship In Lord Of The Flies

    Censorship. It’s a word that gives some the sense of protection, however others feel thatsomething important is lost. Truth is, something is lost, truth. Many great works of literaturehave suffered from censorship and others have even been banned. The Lord of the Flies is noexception, a ban slowly creeps up, like a shadow obscuring truth.…

    • 786 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Who Is The Beast In Lord Of The Flies
    • 674 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Who Is The Beast In Lord Of The Flies

    In The Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, the character of the Beast embodies the basic human emotion of fear, and how it starts to develop into bigger extremes of fear over time. As fear builds up, savagery also begins to take hold of the boys. As the boys grow more vicious, the the beast becomes more real. The Beast develops first within the imagination of the boys, then it takes on physical shape, until finally, it becomes idolized as a totemic, god type figure.…

    • 674 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Compare And Contrast Young Goodman Brown And The Man In The Black Suit
    • 1088 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Compare And Contrast Young Goodman Brown And The Man In The Black Suit

    The Devil has been portrayed in thousands of stories, shows and movies. How this character appears varies from story to story. Some show the Devil as a red man with horns, others as a normal person. “Young Goodman Brown”, which portrays the Devil as the later, is about how everyone is sinful, while “The Man in the Black Suit”, which portrays the Devil as more of the former, is about how the Devil comes for us all. While both “Young Goodman Brown” and “The Man in the Black Suit” show the danger of Devil like figures, they both have different risks involved, demonstrating that stories with similar antagonists can still have very different themes.…

    • 1088 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Savagery In Lord Of The Flies Essay
    • 818 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Savagery In Lord Of The Flies Essay

    As Simon is depicted as Jesus, envisions the Lord of The Flies, who is the embodiment of the devil himself, saying, “I am a part of you”,(133) manifests the idea that even the holiest of beings has darkness resonating within. Evil is real, it is alive and it lives in every single one of us. The only true beast is yourself as shown when Simon states, ‘...maybe there is no beast... maybe it's only us”(50).Golding seems to imply that no matter what name you give to evil , be it sin, the devil, terrorism, or just sheer destruction, it is a trait that is inside mankind. This idea can be confirmed when Simon discovers the beast truly is a man in the form of a downed parachutist.…

    • 818 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Superior Essays

    Lord Of The Flies Symbolism Analysis
    • 1237 Words
    • 5 Pages
    • 1 Works Cited

    Lord Of The Flies Symbolism Analysis

    “‘If a ship comes near the island they may not notice us…We must make a fire.’ … At once half the boys were on their feet.” (Golding 37). When the first fire is lit, the boys are all caught up in the excitement of starting a fire and potentially being rescued, and the fire soon grows out of their control.…

    • 1237 Words
    • 5 Pages
    • 1 Works Cited
    Superior Essays
    Read More
  • Decent Essays

    Demons In Lord Of The Flies
    • 187 Words
    • 1 Pages

    Demons In Lord Of The Flies

    "We all have our demons" is a common saying, but what does this phrase particularly mean. To many, it may mean struggles or the facing of adversity, such as drugs or alcohol abuse, severe-depression and anxiety, or the type of horrific childhood trauma, that would cripple even the strongest throughout adulthood. To the superstitious, demons could be the mythological spirit known for its inherent wickedness, however, in this case, the latter definition would not hold true. With the former in mind, William Golding's The Lord of The Flies, deals with the natural evil that is within all humanity. The main antagonists, Jack and Roger, reveal to the reader and to the other characters that society has made them civil, rather than the idea of existing…

    • 187 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    DBQ Essay: Lord Of The Flies
    • 1045 Words
    • 5 Pages

    DBQ Essay: Lord Of The Flies

    However, just because Simon is perceived as the beast does not mean that he is the one acting the most beastly, like in “Document F” when it states, “At once the crowd surged after it, poured down on the rock, leapt on to the beast, screamed, struck, bit, tore” (Doc. F). These actions show the savagery of the children even though they are not the beast. Although, the boys think they saw a beast, who was actually Simon, they still acted more savage than the so called “beast”. These actions of the boys towards the beast and in finding out what the real “beast” is show what the true nature of man is. Lord of the Flies is a book that shows what can happen to those who have been cradled by civilization, once they are devoid of all that comfort and left to fend for themselves.…

    • 1045 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    The Beast Lord Of The Flies Dbq Analysis
    • 739 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Beast Lord Of The Flies Dbq Analysis

    The Beast Everyone is fearful of something although in the book "The Lord of the Flies," the most feared thing happens to be a beast. This is like how little kids are fearful of a monster under their bed. In this story the boys happen to be stranded because of a failure to evacuate them away from world war 2. The boys get stranded on an island and try to have structure but civilization is quickly lost especially because of a beast that is supposedly on the island. In the book the beast adapts throughout the story as more events happen to the boys on the island.…

    • 739 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Humankind: Good Or Inherently Evil
    • 1655 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Humankind: Good Or Inherently Evil

    Throughout history, the human race has struggled with whether it is essentially good or inherently evil. Even the greatest minds have had difficulty finding a definitive answer to this perplexing conundrum. Saint Augustine of Hippo, Hobbes, and Nietzsche all pondered this and were unable to come up with a simple answer. Fortunately, the debate that has lasted for millennia is coming to a halt. However, in order to successfully analyze the ways of humankind, a clear framework must be established.…

    • 1655 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More

Related Topics

Ready To Get Started?
Discover
Company
Follow
©2024 Cram.com
Privacy Policy |  About Ads |  Site Map |  Advertise  | 
  • Cookie Settings