Lord of the Flies/heart of darkness

“Man is a fallen being. He is gripped by original sin. His nature is sinful and his state perilous”(Golding, “Fable”, The Hot Gates and Other Occasional Pieces, Harcourt, Brace & World, New York, 1965, page 61). This quote by William Golding sums up his view of the soul of mankind. This feeling is shared by many authors, especially modern ones. In his book The Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad explores man’s inner darkness as he travels through the Congo in search of another trader named Kurtz. Later he relates his dark, hopeless story to a group of friends. In the book The Lord of the Flies, William Golding relates the story of a group of English school boys stranded on an island. The island paradise quickly collapses into a chaotic, horrible scene. The two books share a great deal in common, especially in tone and theme. The stories The Heart of Darkness and The Lord of the Flies, through their dark, hopeless, and horrible descriptions of life, present the common theme that man, at his heart, is an evil, violent, and “fallen” being.

William Golding’s own experiences with a devastated world led in part to the dark picture of humanity painte

“Going up that river was like traveling back to the earliest beginnings of the world, when vegetation rioted on the earth and the big trees were kings…The air was warm, thick, heavy, sluggish. There was no joy in the brilliance of sunshine. The long stretches of the waterway ran on, deserted in the gloom of overshadowed distances.”

The Lord of the Flies can be read as an allegory, a story in which the characters are used to symbolize a deeper meaning (Introduction to Lord of the Flies). Golding uses his characters to create a microcosm on the island. In the story, Ralph is the protagonist, and is used to symbolize some degree of common sense. He is seen as the last person holding on to civilization. He has defects however, and his earlier rudeness to Piggy, “If I say anything’, cried Piggy, ‘you say shut up; but if Jack or Maurice, or Simon –‘” shows him to be much more like the other boys. Ralph is also a weak leader. He is not prepared to lead with total authority. Immediately after his election he addresses Jack “The choir belongs to you, of course.” He is not willing to step in and demand that others listen to him. This in turn brings the fall of the society. Simon is somewhat saintly and represents religion and spirituality. During his conversation with the “beast” Simon learns the truth of what is happening on the island. However, “Simon became inarticulate in his effort to express mankind’s essential illness”, and ends up being killed by the tribe. His death symbolizes a major turning point for the tribe on the island and reinforces the theme in that the society turns its back on true spirituality in favor of barbaric blood lust. Piggy represents reason and order. Early in the book he is described as “the fat boy with asthma.” These characteristics make Piggy seem like an unpopular and unattractive person. Golding uses Piggy to symbolize society’s resistance to reason and order. His death represents the final collapse of the society into barbarianism. Jack is the personification of the human evil. He is portrayed as an extremely violent individual. “He snatched the knife out of the sheath and slammed it into a tree trunk. Next time there would be no mercy” Jack practically starts off in the barbarian form. His violent impulses make him an example of Golding’s corrupt soul. SamnEric, represent the common folk. Although in the beginning they are part of the society, when things begin to fall apart they do not hesitate to join up with Jack’s hunters. They also represent man’s survival instinct, “Memory of their new and shameful loyalty came to them.” They are not afraid to do whatever is necessary to survive. All of the boys, with the exception of Simon demonstrate traces of evil. Ralph gives away Piggy’s name when he has promised not too. Piggy, along with Ralph, helps kill Simon. Jack and Roger become connected with evil from the time they kill their first pig. At the same time, all of these characters cling to their English heritage as a reason to maintain society. “After all, we’re not savages. We’re English; and the English are best at everything. So we’ve got to do the right things”. The ultimate irony in this statement is that the adult society has already plunged itself into a nuclear war and has unraveled all around them. Golding uses the boys to create a microcosm by which he traces the evil in society back to the flaws of the individual characters.

The wandering narrative is being recounted by Marlow, some number of years after it originally happened. This discredits Marlow to some extent, for he might have forgotten or edited his story during this time (Lothe, Jakob. Page 26.). The tone towards the cannibals becomes much lighter. They are no longer quite the man-eating savages the Europeans perceived them to be. The narrative method also allows for Marlow to describe in full detail what has been happening. The length of these thoughts also len

Some topics in this essay:
Conrad Golding, Joseph Conrad, Lord Flies, English English, Press Oxford, Maurice Simon, Golding Piggy, Jack Ralph, Jakob Page, Ralph Piggy, lord flies, lothe jakob, heart darkness, william golding, lothe jakob page, jakob page, joseph conrad, sentence structure, inner evil, man’s inner, throughout book, boys stranded island, lord flies william, flies william golding, golding sentence structure,