Lord of the Flies :: essays research papers

"It is a populaces own mind, not his enemy or foe, that lures him to evil ways." (Buddha) Is man basicall(a)y good or is man basically evil? In the popular novel, Lord of the Flies, William Goldings shows that man is basically evil, but that man can overcome those instincts if he tries. Simon, Ralph, and boorish are prime examples of keeping their good character. In each of them in that respect is a desire to do good. They show throughout the novel that it is possible, tied(p) when surrounded by evil, to put aside desires and keep good morals.Simon is the virtuously good boy. His selfless(prenominal)ness and goodness comes from within. He is kind to the little boys, and servicings the outcasts. For example, when no(prenominal) of the boys want to give Piggy meat from the first pig, Simon steps up and takes him meat. "Simonwiped his mouth and shoved his piece of meat over the rocks to Piggy"(p.74) While everyone else is brutish to the young ones, he helps the & quotliluns" grab meat from the trees when they cant reach. "Simon found for them the fruit they could not reach, pulled off the choicestpassed them back to the endless, outstretched hands." (p.56) Simon helps those whom no one else is kind to, peradventure remembering that he was looked down upon once. He realizes what its like to be scorn and to be the "little one", so he tries to make it less miserable for the outcasts by being kind to them. He wants to always help others, so when he discovers the beast is inside of everyone, not external, as they had imagined, he instantly runs down the mountain to tell him. He helps others even to the heighten of death. Simon is not the only one to demonstrate selflessness in the book. Ralph is the shows his benignity and goodness at the very beginning of the book. As leader, he desires for all of the boys to be safely rescued and for them to be taken care of. "If this isnt an island we office get rescued straight awa yeveryone must stay just about here and wait and not go away." (p. 22) He starts out with the vanquish intentions in mind, and wants to have the best for everyone. As the novel continues, and evil intensifies, Ralph wont enter in the wickedness of others. He keeps away from evil by having allay times by himself and keeping his goal, to be rescued, in front of himself.