In class, we have discussed about the battle between good and evil that has occurred with the boys as their days spent stranded on the island dragged on. This is one of the few major themes that is seen in the context of the book, and is depicted in how the boys interact with one another on the island. When discussed about the topic, one of the questions raised was: mankind has a capacity for both good and evil—which would a person choose?
Over the course of the story, there were plenty of scenes in the book where the boys had to choose between their own conscience or give in to the evil that was tempting them. I would have to say that I believe that between the battle of good and evil, the boys (humans) seemed to tend towards evil. We always have evil lurking deep within us, no matter how good or righteous we may believe ourselves to be. Even in our current society, where we do not have to suffer from the horrendous environment the boys from LOTF had suffered in, if we given a situation where we have to choose between our friend or ourselves, for example choosing to give a highly valued position to your friend or keep it for yourself, there would be no doubt that there will be that certain number of people that value themselves over others—the selfish thoughts that linger in their minds seem to pull them away from selfless thoughts and into thinking that they pose a much higher value than others and want to receive all the benefits and glory.
One example from the book would be when Piggy confessed to Ralph that he was hurt when Ralph exposed his nickname to Jack and the others which resulted in him being teased. Even though Ralph saw that Piggy was ‘hurt and confused’, he did not apologise right away. Instead, he ‘hovered between the two courses of apology or further insult.’ This clearly depicted the internal conflict Ralph was struggling with—the battle between good and evil. Also, instead of apologizing, he glossed over the issue by saying ‘better Piggy than Fatty’ with the ‘directness of genuine leadership’. Ralph could have easily chosen to apologise to Piggy directly and being genuinely sorry about it, but for the sake of protecting his ego, he had not done so.
This just comes to show that mankind can be selfish and only think of themselves, and this is even more evident when we are placed in a very tight situation and is only a matter of survival of the fittest. In times like this, chances of the good winning the battle are very bleak, if not almost impossible. Yes, even though there had been scenes in which the boys had shown signs of cooperation, harmony and mutual friendship, such as when they build the large fire together. Jack and Ralph even shown rare moments of ‘strange invisible light of friendship, adventure, and content’. However, as the story further progressed, it was evident that this friendship had been utterly destroyed when Jack chose evil over good so quickly and easily, proving my point that humans are more easily swayed by evil and thus allowing evil to win good in the battle.
In conclusion, I feel that even though during the class discussion there had been incidences of good winning and not all humans favour evil over good (such as Simon), we cannot overlook the fact that Golding had portrayed the Lord of the Flies to show the darkest and bleakest side of human nature, and that human nature itself is the root of all evil. Therefore I believe that when it comes down to the battle between good and evil, evil would most likely win.
No comments:
Post a Comment