Nature versus Nurture and Island Essays

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Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding, shows how children would act if placed in an environment without any rules or guidance. It conveys that everyone needs guidance and help in their lives. Without them society would crumble and would end up like the disaster in the book. The children in the Lord of the Flies have conflict and it is basically always n the format of the peaceful, intelligent and "sane" children against the wild, rough and insane children. The one peaceful side tends to show the signs of nurturing similar to what was present back in their everyday lives. In contrast, the other group was much more keen on nature and hunting. These children wanted to have no part of the other group and were guilty of both murders that occurred on the island. If everyone on the island had been like the nurturing group, the children could have established a very organized civilization. When the boys first crash-landed on the island they still showed signs of being nurtured. They still had the views and principles of their old land and society. Ralph and Piggy seemed to be the only two children that enforced or still obtained the nurturing mentality throughout the course of the book.

In Lord of the Flies there is a subtle and yet powerful theme of nature vs nurture. when the boys are trapped on the island they soon become exposed to a world without rules and regulations and the powerful authority of adults. Therefore, they quickly show their true selves by the decisions and actions they make.

and the ways the boys behaved with rules, are their nurtured instincts, not to act against authority and whatnot. As seen with Jack-he represents true primitive behavior, and ralph, represnts the nurture point of view. so nature vs nurture could in turn be turned into Raplh vs Jack. i really did enjoy this book, it has so many great themes in it.

Before the crash, the boys have been taught to listen and trust adult authority. This is their nurtured instincts as it is the way they have grown up.

At the beginning of the novel, Golding portrays Jack as a upper-class choirboy who is already an established leader. By the end of the book, Jack has become a brutal savage, obsessed with h

ack represents evil and violence, the dark side of human nature. A former choirmaster and "head boy" at his school, he arrived on the island having experienced some success in exerting control over others by dominating the choir with his militaristic attitude. He is eager to make rules and punish those who break them, although he consistently breaks them himself when he needs to further his own interests. His main interest is hunting, an endeavor that begins with the desire for meat and builds to the overwhelming urge to master and kill other living creatures. Hunting develops the savagery that already ran close to his surface, making him "ape-like" as he prowls through the jungle. His domain is the emotions, which rule and fuel his animal nature.

The conflict on the island begins with Jack attempting to dominate the group rather than working with Ralph to benefit it. He frequently impugns the power of the conch, declaring that the conch rule does not matter on certain parts of the island. Yet he uses the conch to his advantage when possible, such as when he calls his own assembly to impeach Ralph. For him, the conch represents the rules and boundaries that have kept him from acting on the impulses to dominate others. Their entire lives in the other world, the boys had been moderated by rules set by society against physical aggression. On the island, however, that social conditioning fades rapidly from Jack's character. He quickly loses interest in that world of politeness and boundaries, which is why he feels no compunction to keep the fire going or attend to any of the other responsibilities
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