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How does Golding show mankind's inner evil? Do you agree with his assumption that man is basically evil? The creation of a world where nothing seems a utopia, where everything will go wrong isnt a creation too hard to believe. This intended creation was the creation of our world. The human race in which we live in, is the world where delusions of grandeur are placed on those who conjure up ideas, which they truly believe in, that civilisation, is beyond doubt our true nature. But there are those who oppose these optimists and are degraded as pessimists.
Pessimists have been assumed as cynical, unenthusiastic people with a depressive outlook upon life. But what hasnt occurred to the optimists and idealists is that maybe, pessimists just accept the truth about humanity. The author of Lord of the Flies, Golding, believes that civilisation is merely a veneer, and if we were to let go of the self-control that which we harbour, gradually our innermost temperaments will start to show. The existence of civilisation allows man to remain innocent or ignorant about his true nature.
Although man needs civilisation, it is important that he also be aware of his more primitive instincts. Only in this way we can reach true maturity. Golding implies that the loss of innocence has little to do with age but is related to a person's understanding of human nature. Painful though it may be, this loss of innocence by coming to terms with reality is necessary if humanity is to survive. William Golding's claims that even the most suitable environmental conditions will not suffice to overcome mans innate cruelty.
He placed a group of highly educated British schoolboys, the oldest being 12 and the youngest 6, on an island. Almost immediately battles for supremacy takes place. Violence and death follow. Although the boys begin by electing a leader, Ralph, and call frequent meetings, using a conch shell as a symbol of authority, their attempts at recreating civilisation quickly disintegrate.
Their story begins with the innocent sound of the shell and ends with the evil cry of the hunters. The boys try to organise their lives on the island, but they fail. Their circle of rituals and traditions is broken, and therefore they are unable to control the development of their society. They do not have anything to limit their evil natures, such as laws and rules. They try to exercise control by allowing privileges to the person who holds the conch, but the conch eventually explodes into a thousand pieces, as does their society. Golding's purpose is to show that evil in society arises out of mans very nature, his instincts.
When a plane of young boys crashes into an island, nobody could anticipate what these civilised boys would turn into in a matter of time. From proper, clean-cut, disciplined schoolboys they reveal their savage nature and ironically, they morph into almost a contradictory individual in comparison to their initial character. We travel through the world with the illusions of secure places and choices, because to acknowledge otherwise would make living impossible. The recognition that we have of the world has been misguided by aspirations for our future, which have been influenced by media and our religion.
If we were to open our eyes and look at the world surrounding us, we would realise that the world isnt the refuge that we imagined. Our world has been destroyed by war and poverty. Conflicts have generated a sea of hatred between countries, where it seems that the only choice left is to declare war. War is an invention of mankind, there seems to always be a battle ahead, no matter how many battles we have lost.
The reiteration of the neurotic need for power is probably a cause of this desire to declare war, and gain domination. Liberation from this neurotic need for power will come when the power of love will replace the love of power. Many in positions of power take up such posts in the fulfilment of a neurotic need to exercise power over others. Although our psychosocial surroundings do influence our morality and immorality, we are born with a simple potential of evil. There are those who show great intelligence, albeit imply it foolishly. But these people are usually those who suffer from insecurities from which their parents or mentors have made them somewhat inferior.
This is when inferiority can lead to a yearning of power. In the case of Jack, we know not much of his background, but from the theory above, it can be suspected that though he may go to a private school, his parents may expect too much of him. Insecure, afraid, those who must maintain control like Jack are, indeed, lonely and frightened. Their awful sense of vulnerability is a disease of the psyche. It is marked by a dark smouldering misery. Such people most frequently treat their disease with massive doses of power that manifests itself in anger, cruelty and aggression.
Our world is forever changing. Sometimes, we cannot do anything to stop it from changing. This is when impotence can lead to so many things that we would not normally do, but do it impulsively because we feel we cannot do anything else. At this very moment there are people in our world without a home to live in, without clothes to wear, without food to fill their aching stomachs, without someone to love and without anyone to love them. And some of us, we take our lives for granted and dont appreciate what has been given to us. In all of creation, all things great and small, there should be nothing and no one that surpasses any other entity.
But despite, some of us wanting joy, peace and a content life, we cannot achieve this, because I know, along with many other pessimists, that these things that we want are beyond comprehension. This is why we have an entrenched negative state of mind, or a permanent expectation of the worst under all circumstances. Because if we expect the worse in all situations, and they do turn out bad, there will be no disappointments. No great expectations, no disappointments. We go through life wondering if there is anything else to it. And when we are so able to experience such extreme emotion pain, it makes you wonder why we go on living.
And this quote by Dorothy Parker might just explain why. Razors pain you Rivers are damp Acids stain you And drugs cause cramp. Guns aren't lawful Nooses give Gas smells awful You might as well live. But what happens when we dont want to live. What happens when others dont want to live?
Are we going to be cowardice and commit suicide? Are we going to practise an illegal act by euthanatising? Some of these are considered to evil. So what do we do if we are evil? From a quote in the movie Kingdom of Heaven: To kill an infidel is not murder, it is the pathway to heaven. If we all believed that, nearly all the population would be wiped out in a matter of seconds.
There are so many people who would object to my opinions, but maybe they just havent realised their true inner desires. Some say the world will end in fire, some say in ice. From what Ive tasted of desire, I hold with those who favour fire. (Robert Frost Fire and Ice).
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Research essay sample on Loss Of Innocence Declare War
