Battle of the soul
Satan appearing in the form of a pig's head; the essence of Christ projected into a boy; young boys struggling between good and evil while roaming around on an Eden like island. These are the images that William Golding depicted in his book Lord Of the Flies, the story of a group of English boys stranded alone on a deserted island after their plane crashes. Golding makes Biblical allusions to the Garden of Eden, Christ, and the battle between good and evil, showing the reader, that without a balance of good and evil in the human soul, evil will triumph. To start off with, the island in Lord of the Flies is both a wonderland and a nightmare to the boys. At first view the island is a paradise surrounded by ocean and beaches, fruit trees, forests, animals, tropical flowers, flamboyantly colored birds, and a mountain right in the middle. As in the Garden of Eden, the boys seem to have no worries and see no need for explanations, until the serpent appears and a question is asked, "Beastie?" "A snake-thing. Ever so big. He saw it." "Where?" "In the woods," (36). The introduction of a snake-thing into the scene brings a feeling of uncertainty to the boys. Their eyes are opened to the truth that they might not be alone and there is
Next, there are two sides to everything in the book Lord of the Flies. William Golding focuses on the difference between light and dark, and good and evil, in both objects and people. First of all, Golding elaborates on the idea that even in the midst of utter beauty there is an essence of darkness in all objects. For example, in the beginning while Ralph is exploring the island, the first creature he sees is " a vision of red and yellow, flashed upwards with a witch-like cry;" (7). Even in the presence of a beautifully colored bird the essence of evil lurks in it's voice. Another example of good and evil is the mountain, whose two sides are described as friendly and unfriendly, showing the coexistence between light and darkness. Just as in the Garden of Eden, the first image of paradise masks the underlying evil. In conclusion, William Golding uses allusions to the Garden of Eden, Christ, and the spiritual and human battle between good and evil to expound that in the depths of their souls, humans would rather succumb to temptation and simplicity rather than make hard efforts to achieve a goal. The battle between good and evil, light and darkness, as portrayed by the characters in this bleak and depressing book is a battle shared by all humanity. In addition, the balance between good and evil lies in a fragile balance and Lord of the Flies, by William Golding shows how easily that balance is shifted. In addition to the descriptions, the roles of good and evil are apparent in Ralph and Jack as they battle over power. Jack is power-hungry, manipulating the others gives him power. Jack feeds the boys' needs to be blood thirsty and, using that influence, he draws the boys to his side. Jack also uses physical intimidation on the boys in his tribe to keep them under control. He accomplishes this by beating Wilfred, one of the older boys for no apparent reason. Ralph, on the other hand, is a smart, reality-oriented boy, who keeps a level- head and tries to be fair with the boys by ruling without extreme force or intimidation. Continuing on to the topic of good and evil between characters, the boys Ralph and Jack display these differe
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1452
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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