What is human nature like? There have been numerous arguments of this issue since the time human beings started to care about the origins of mankind. The ancient Chinese sage, Mencius, asserted the innate goodness of the individual with his famous sayings:
“People at birth, / Are naturally good / Their natures are similar / Their habits make them different”
- Three character Classic - Wang Yinglin (Ancient Chinese author – Song Dynasty) –
However, the following author had quite a different view of human nature from that of Mencius. His name is William Golding. His work, Lord of the Files, completely reflects his pessimistic view of human nature, which he described in the work as Devil.
The book is about a group of boys whose plane crashed bringing them to an isolated island with no adults. At first, they tried to work together with the leadership of Ralph (the protagonist), with the help of wise Piggy, to build shelters and gather food and water. But soon that small ‘society’ was ruined by Jack (the antagonist) and the boys became corrupted. A boy named Simon was cruelly killed by spears and stones when Jack’s “tribe” mistook him with the “beast” (that was what they called the thing they feared). Piggy was smashed by a rock dislodged by savages. And Ralph would probably be killed without the appearance of the adults at the end of the story.
The first impression that any reader may meet when reading this book is, perhaps, about the title of the book, “Lord of the flies”. Chapter VIII revealed that the “lord of the files” of this book was a pig head swarmed with scavenging flies, created by the children as a “gift” for their “beast”. It was this “lord of the flies” that told Simon (in his hallucination) that the beast was created inside everyone.
“- Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill … You knew, didn’t you. I’m part of you? Close, close, close! I’m the reason why it’s no go? Why things are what they are?” (Lord of the flies to Simon, chapter VIII, page 200)
As mentioned in the beginning, he thought that we were all born in sin or would fall into sin. His book was written to imply the darkness of man’s heart. Thus he called his work, describing the progress of innocent and well-educated boys becoming corrupted and, perhaps, animalistic, “lord of the flies”, an implied symbol of Beelzebub (in Christianity, it is Satan).
The most interesting character of this book may be Piggy. He is a stout, asthmatic, shortsighted and wise boy. He is the knowledge of the party. He knows what mistakes might lead to in an unknown island and tries many times to stop the children from making mistakes although almost all the boys look down on him:
“- I got the conch! Just you listen! The first thing we ought to have made was shelters down there by the beach. It wasn’t half cold down there in the night. But the first time Ralph says ‘fire’ you goes howling and screaming up this here mountain. Like a pack of kids! … How can you expect to be rescued if you don’t put first things first and act proper? … Then when you get here you build a bonfire that isn’t no use. Now you been and set the whole island on fire. Won’t we look funny if the whole island burns up? …” (Piggy in the assembly, Chapter II, page 56 and 57)
Piggy is the symbol of human intelligence, however, since Golding implied too much on the darkness of man’s heart, Piggy has to receive a terrible ending, being knocked through the air under a rock. His skull cracks and his brains spill out.
“The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee … Piggy, saying nothing, with no time for even a grunt, traveled through the air sideways from the rock, turning over as he went … Piggy fell forty feet and landed on his back across the square red rock in the sea. His head opened and stuff came out and turned red. Piggy’s arms and legs twitched a bit, like a pig’s after it has been killed…” (Chapter XI, page 253 and 254)
“Lord of the flies” is a serious book about human nature, warning us that children, even those well-educated, would easily fall into sin without the guidance of adults. His book helps the grownups “to be more compassionate, to help Ralph, respect Piggy, control Jack and lighten a little the darkness of man’s heart” (E.M. Foster, King’s College, Cambridge May 14,1962).
“People at birth, / Are naturally good / Their natures are similar / Their habits make them different”
- Three character Classic - Wang Yinglin (Ancient Chinese author – Song Dynasty) –
However, the following author had quite a different view of human nature from that of Mencius. His name is William Golding. His work, Lord of the Files, completely reflects his pessimistic view of human nature, which he described in the work as Devil.
The book is about a group of boys whose plane crashed bringing them to an isolated island with no adults. At first, they tried to work together with the leadership of Ralph (the protagonist), with the help of wise Piggy, to build shelters and gather food and water. But soon that small ‘society’ was ruined by Jack (the antagonist) and the boys became corrupted. A boy named Simon was cruelly killed by spears and stones when Jack’s “tribe” mistook him with the “beast” (that was what they called the thing they feared). Piggy was smashed by a rock dislodged by savages. And Ralph would probably be killed without the appearance of the adults at the end of the story.
The first impression that any reader may meet when reading this book is, perhaps, about the title of the book, “Lord of the flies”. Chapter VIII revealed that the “lord of the files” of this book was a pig head swarmed with scavenging flies, created by the children as a “gift” for their “beast”. It was this “lord of the flies” that told Simon (in his hallucination) that the beast was created inside everyone.
“- Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill … You knew, didn’t you. I’m part of you? Close, close, close! I’m the reason why it’s no go? Why things are what they are?” (Lord of the flies to Simon, chapter VIII, page 200)
As mentioned in the beginning, he thought that we were all born in sin or would fall into sin. His book was written to imply the darkness of man’s heart. Thus he called his work, describing the progress of innocent and well-educated boys becoming corrupted and, perhaps, animalistic, “lord of the flies”, an implied symbol of Beelzebub (in Christianity, it is Satan).
The most interesting character of this book may be Piggy. He is a stout, asthmatic, shortsighted and wise boy. He is the knowledge of the party. He knows what mistakes might lead to in an unknown island and tries many times to stop the children from making mistakes although almost all the boys look down on him:
“- I got the conch! Just you listen! The first thing we ought to have made was shelters down there by the beach. It wasn’t half cold down there in the night. But the first time Ralph says ‘fire’ you goes howling and screaming up this here mountain. Like a pack of kids! … How can you expect to be rescued if you don’t put first things first and act proper? … Then when you get here you build a bonfire that isn’t no use. Now you been and set the whole island on fire. Won’t we look funny if the whole island burns up? …” (Piggy in the assembly, Chapter II, page 56 and 57)
Piggy is the symbol of human intelligence, however, since Golding implied too much on the darkness of man’s heart, Piggy has to receive a terrible ending, being knocked through the air under a rock. His skull cracks and his brains spill out.
“The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee … Piggy, saying nothing, with no time for even a grunt, traveled through the air sideways from the rock, turning over as he went … Piggy fell forty feet and landed on his back across the square red rock in the sea. His head opened and stuff came out and turned red. Piggy’s arms and legs twitched a bit, like a pig’s after it has been killed…” (Chapter XI, page 253 and 254)
“Lord of the flies” is a serious book about human nature, warning us that children, even those well-educated, would easily fall into sin without the guidance of adults. His book helps the grownups “to be more compassionate, to help Ralph, respect Piggy, control Jack and lighten a little the darkness of man’s heart” (E.M. Foster, King’s College, Cambridge May 14,1962).
