Human Nature In Lord Of The Flies Essay

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In the book “ Lord of the Flies” William Golding shows that human nature is basically evil through the symbolism he uses. The entire novel is full of hidden meaning, and many of the items and people are facets of human nature. Most of the symbols represent either good or bad characteristics, and because the theme of the novel is evil human nature, the symbols that represent evil become more prevalent than the ones that represent good. The symbols that represent good include: the conch and the platform. The representations that have evil connotations are: the Pig’s head and the beast.

The conch and the platform all essentially represent the same thing and their abandon or destruction contribute to the theme of the novel. These two things …show more content…
The conch was the thing that brought all the boys together,“Ralph found his breath and and blew a series of short blasts.” The place where they all came together was the platform. For a brief moment in the span of the book there is unity among the boys, because of the conch and the platform. Ralph is able to keep the boys in check, by using the conch as his power, and the platform where he made his decisions. This general peace just sets a stark contrast for the end of the novel. The conch is slowly disregarded as Jack rises to power. This is shown when Jack says,“The conch doesn't count on top of the mountain.” What is also somewhat interesting is when he uses the conch to achieve his own gains,“Jack held out his hands for the conch and stood up….” I think that Golding is trying to show that the evil human nature that we all have will twist the good things around itself to its own advantage. Jack uses the conch when he starts to take control. When he eventually has all the power and no longer needs it he treats it as nothing. “When I saw Jack I was sure he’d go for the conch…,”; I

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