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Compare and Contrast Theme from "Lord of the Flies" and "The Beach" Lord of the Flies by William Golding and The Beach by Alex Garland both encompass a wide array of interesting themes. However, of all those themes, one definitely stands out: the authors illustrate how humans, when forced to survive on their own, revert back to their basic animal instincts. They show how human beings do all kinds of wrongful things with one sole goal to survive whatever it takes. However, while Golding in his work places main emphases on the consequences of becoming a savage in order to survive, Garland, on the contrary, stresses the causes that push people into the circumstances under which they have to act like savages. Within the conceptual framework of this report, we will elaborate on how people revert to their basic animal instincts and see both the causes and the consequences of it, as illustrated by Garland and Golding, respectively. Upon reading the critically acclaimed novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding I became increasingly conscious of Golding's views on humans and their nature.
His debatable point of view is quite apparent, he believes humans are inherently savages and revert back to basic animal instincts when forced to survive. This novel is but a simple tool of Golden's to incline the reader towards his opinion that human nature is in fact one of malfeasance and evil. Perhaps the most obvious of these illustrations is the part of the novel in which Simon the Christ like figure makes the acquaintance of the Lord of The Flies, who is quite simply a symbol of the primordial evil inhabiting mankind. (Bergonzi, p. 89) Proceeding his confrontation with the evil in all humans, Golding has Simon try to spread his message of the evil to others in an attempt to cease their reverting into evil, primordial beings. Yet parallel to the life of Jesus Christ, Simon is killed in a disgusting tribal ritual performed by those who have in fact already succumbed to the power of the pernicious beast.
Also in the novel we see that in succession from those who contain the least amount of goodness to the most turn to the darkside. This is blatantly illustrated by the fact that Jack, Roger and the other hunters are the first to go. Yet the good characters (Ralph and Piggy) nearly fall prey to this later, as illustrated by the quote, Piggy and Ralph, under the threat of the sky, found themselves eager to take a place in this demented but partly secure society. (Handley, p. 79) Jack's ris to power first being when th your children's fars start to distort the surroundings: twigs bcom cars, shadows bcom does, tc. (Bergonzi, p. 114) Jack uss this far to bcom th your children's protector. If thy do what h says, th "bast" cannot gt thm. Jack soon did to form his own society. It bcom's based on this kind of colonial obeisance to himself and is shown by thos sacrifice by which th trib class its bast, they sanctifying th far and irrationality that given th children's actions. (Bloom, p. 67) Perhaps another portrait of evil in Golding's mind is the sickening ritual of the hunt, which eventually nearly all of the characters in the novel take part in. (Kulkarni, p. 126) It is my belief, judging by the vocabulary used in his description that Golding finds hunting to be one of the most sadistic / evil rituals of mankind.
Their practicing this atrocious art is also a blatant analogy for the fact that all humans are susceptible to becoming savage and evil, and reverting back to the basic animal instincts. In Lord of the Flies, the beast is present throughout the entire book. First seen by a little when he is frightened in the dark, the beast is seen everywhere by the boys, but only when they are afraid. Towards the end of the book, the boys begin to become more savage, their basic animal instincts are starting to become more important than their reasoning. They still believe the beast is a real being that is to be feared, but the reader begins to see that the true beast is not a physical being at all, but a savage side of the boys themselves. Many people would argue that the beast is an actual presence on the island, but I believe there is more to it and that the beast is the boys fear and the darker, savage side of human nature coming out.
They say it is the little uns fear that started it. Jack says at a meeting, you little uns started all this, with the fear talk. Beasts! (Golding, p. 82) Eventually, Jack and Ralph convince the boys to some extent that the beast is only their imaginations running wild. Jack also describes how he believes fear plays a major role. He says, Be frightened, because youre like that but there is no beast in the forest (Golding, p. 83).
By saying this, Jack shows how he sees that the beast is nothing more than fear; however, he swiftly loses this insight when his savage instincts take over. When the savages kill the pig and leave its head for the beast, their actions show how their darker, more primitive sides have caused them to become something other than what they originally were. Although they did not know there was not really a beast that could come up and eat them, they believed in it enough that they killed so it would not kill them. They all started believing in the idea of the beast, and Jack leaves a gift for the beast because he is starting to believe: This head is for the beast. Its a gift. (Golding, p. 147) It is ironic, however, that the gift for the beast was the thing that told Simon what the true beast was, but also a product of the beast in the boys. The pigs head told Simon that there was not exactly a real beast, but that the beast was an idea that was causing the boys to act the way they had been.
After this time, Simon hallucinates that the pigs head is talking to him, as the Lord of the Flies, and this hallucination brings many revelations about why the hunters were acting the way they had been. During this time, the Lord of the Flies tells him the true nature of the beast: Fancy thinking the beast was something you could hunt and kill (Golding, p. 143). This shows that Simon knows the truth about what the beast is, and also what the other boys had become. Jack and his hunters had turned completely savage by this point, so in effect they had become the beasts themselves. Simon is also tempted to turn to savagery in order to survive, which is shown when the Lord of the Flies tells him, There isnt anyone to help you. Only me.
And Im the beast (Golding, p. 143). Since the Lord of the Flies is only in Simons head, this shows how he, too, is tempted to believe in salvation through savagery; however, he does not live long enough for it to be shown whether or not he would have become a beast, too. When the boys kill Simon, they think that he is the beast, when they are in fact acting as the beast themselves. The being that they are so afraid is hunting them does not exist, but in their fear they become exactly what they are most afraid of. Golding shows this in the boys actions when he writes: Roger ceased to be a pig and became a hunter the complementary circles went round and round as though repetition would achieve safety of itself. There was the throb and stamp of a single organism (Golding, p. 152).
This illustrates clearly how the boys had allowed their primitive sides to take over and had become savages. Their chant further shows what they, in their fear, had become. Their cries of Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood! (Golding, p. 152) is not something that would be expected of young boys, and instead shows that they have just the kind of animal instinct that a beast would possess.
The appearance of the parachutist on the island is another clear example of how the true beast was simply the savagery amd animal instincts that human beings are capable of. In this case, though, it was not the boys but the outside worlds savage instincts that caused the problem. The dead parachutist was on the island because of the savagery of the people still living in the so-called civilized world. This is supported when Golding writes, a sign came down from the world of grownups, though at the time there was no child awake to read it.
There was a sudden bright explosion and corkscrew trail across the sky; then darkness again and stars (Golding, p. 95). If this truly was a sign, it was most likely a warning. The grownup world would have been cautioning the boys against giving in to their evil sides, although the irony is clear since the grownups themselves had not followed that advice. In any case, the boys did not listen, which slowly caused their demise. The beast in Lord of the Flies was nothing more than the darker side of human nature coming out in the boys. The evil presence they imagined was hunting them on the island did not exist; however, in their fear the boys became almost like beasts themselves.
That the true beast was the basic animal instincts of the boys was clearly shown throughout the book, and is most clearly summed up when the Lord of the Flies tells Simon, You knew, didnt you? Im part of you? (Golding, p. 143) Simon was the only one who knew the true nature of the beast. He knew that the beast was only a dead parachutist and not a danger to anyone. He also knew that the boys had been taken over by their primal instinct and had become, in effect, beasts themselves. One wonders if this same instinct is in all of us. And if so, if we were left to our own devices would we too become beasts?
Alex Garlands work is also very interesting; however he stresses the causes or things that motivate people to get themselves into a situation where they simply have to become savages in order to survive. One of the primary causes depicted by Garland in his work is curiosity. Searching for an x princ is as foolish as looking for th Garden of dn. (Finley, p. 44) In Th Bach, Alx Garland uss th character of Richard to mak fun of th popl who sarch for such foolish xprinc's, and show that sometimes the consequences might be really grave. Richard had watch many many war movis and has play many vido gams. Also h has watch too much TV.
After a will Richard sms to want to hav th sam xprinc's. (Weibner, p. 70) Thn Richard and his companions go in sarch of an x princ thy could only find in TV. Alx Garland is making fun of Richard because Richard thinks h found his war x princ but all h found was a reason to think h found it. Alx Garland sms to b mocking th popl, who try to find certain xprinc's through TV or movis, thn taking a vacation and forcing thmslvs to gain that sam x princ. Throughout th whol not Richard is constantly moved. Alx Garland sms to b making Richard look lik a little kid thn a grown adult. Just lik a little kid wanting to bcom a cop, Richard sms to b longing to b a hro in a war.
H is constantly turning v rything into a little gam, and complaining about v rything. Lik when h would walk on th bach trying to mak a price footprint. Or lik when h would go into th DMZ and try to go through th june and mak as little nois as possible. (Johnson, p. 118) If a twig book it many somthing and if h trip it many somthing ls. Alx Garland is making Richard sm lik a little kid with a vivid imagination.
Richard is a full grown man yt h acts lik an ight yar old. Alx Garland also mak's fun of Richard by having Richard always going off on his own. For som reason, Richard always gos off and has a cigarette by himself. Just lik a kid going off on his own and playing with the toys. Also Richard is always complaining about somthing. Actually Alx Garland is making fun of th popl who try to x princ v rything.
Popl who want to know what v rything is lik. Th popl who ar so ignorant about certain things but yt thy still think thy know v rything about certain things. Ths popl always sm to back out when it sms it is getting too rough. Thy think thy hav xprint it vn though thy only just bush th surface. Lots of popl vryday wish thy could hav th can to hav a gun and b abl to kill popl legally. (Richardson, p. 83) Garland is my saying, by having Richard and his companions searching for an x princ that can only b found on TV, that th popl of this world hav bcom lazy. W sit around and watch TV and gt rally into it.
W fl w ar thr. Thn w try to rural what w lik into our own world. Thn thr ar th popl that try to actually x princ it by going on vacations. What w all rally nd to do is stop watching somthing w would lik to do. W all rally nd to go out and find th x princ and follow through with it. Go all th way.
W cant just b lik popl playing vido gams and stop when w had too much. Lif is so much mor. W nd to x princ v rything to its full. Thn w all will truly hav an x princ of a lift. "As for m... I'm fin. I hav bad drams, but I nvr saw Mistr Duck again.
I play vido gams. I so a little dop. I got my thousand yard star. I carry a lot of scars. I lik th way that sounds. I carry a lot of scars." (Garland, p. 167) Ths ar th words which Richard uss at th nd of Th Bach to summary just how h fls after th xprinc's h had gon through during his tim set thr.
Just rating this conclusion alon instantly mak's m fl that a lot has hand to this character which has change th way his lif was running until thn. His curiosity has led him to a situation where he had to revert to his basic animal instincts in order to survive, because otherwise he would have been killed on the island. After rating th whol not, I discover that th vote which could this, not only mad him chang his thoughts on lif, but also could a breakdown of his mind which virtually ld to him becoming inn. Curiosity and ambition is mainly date with at th beginning of th not as it is hr that Richard finds out about th bach from th curious character, Mistr Duck. It is in th first chapter that w discover that Richard is a backpack and has bn all ovr th world, not knowing whr his nxt destination was going to b. (Finley, p. 62) This instantly class a sns of discovery and curiosity as h was willing to go whirr h flt that h would discover somthing different from what h was usd to back in ngland or whirr ls h had bn.
I would go anywhere, just name it. (Garland, p. 24) When Richard is first told about th bach, h rate in a way in which vn although h was user about xact what Mistr Duck was talking about; h was already slightly curious about what th big dal about th bach was. "I was curious, partly, just wanting to know what th big dal about what was with this bach of his." (Garland, p. 31) As soon as h mts Francois and time, h has to the thm about th map and th bach as if h do't think its right to kp it to himself. As if h would per to shar this x princ with othr instead of alon. This may suggest that vn at th beginning, Richard was not strong north to cop with this x princ himself. Or perhaps h thought it would b selfish to kp it to himself.
Ill show you everything, he says to his newly found companions. (Garland, p. 39) However, the idea did not turn out to be good and exciting, on the contrary, Richard had to go through numerous hardships on the island, and finally revert back to his basic animal instincts in order to survive there. Garland shows in his work how curiosity leads people to a situation where they have to become savages in order to save their lives. Words Count: 2, 858. Bibliography: Bergonzi, B. and Whitely, J. William Golding.
New York: Harper Collins, 1982. Bloom, H. William Golding's Lord of the Flies. New York: Random House, 1995. Finley, W. Alex Garland, his Life and Works.
London: Books, Inc. , 2001. Handley, G. Brodies Notes on William Golding's Lord of the Flies. Michigan: Zondervan Publishers, 1992. Garland, A. The Beach.
Michigan: Zondervan Publishers, 2000. Golding, W. Lord of the Flies. New York: Harper Collins, 1995. Johnson, T. A.
Garlands The Beach. New York: Harper Perennial, 2002. Kulkarni, P. William Golding: A Critical Study.
London: Scientific Press, 1994. Richardson, J. The Beach by Alex Garland: A Critical Study. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002. Weibner, A. Garlands The Beach Analyzing Main Themes.
New York: Random House, 2002.
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