Essay About Criticism Of Lord Of The Flies And Jesus Christ

True Human Nature (Criticism Of Lord Of The Flies)
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Reading Lord of the Flies, one gets quite an impression of Goldings view
on human nature. Whether this view is right or wrong, true or not, is a
point to be debated. This image Golding paints for the reader, that of
humans being inherently bad, is a perspective not all people share. This
opinion, in fact, is a point that many have disagreed with when reading
his work. There are many instances throughout Lord of the Flies that
state Goldings opinion suggesting an evil human nature. Each of these
instances are the bricks holding together his fortress of ideas that are
constantly under attack.
Lord of the Flies is but an abstract tool of Goldings to construct the
idea of human nature in the minds of his readers. Throughout the novel,
it is stated that all humans are evil. It is said that this evil is
inescapable and will turn everyone evil. At one point in the book, when
the Lord of the Flies is representing all evil, this theory is stated as,
“The Lord of the Flies was expanding like a balloon” (Golding 130). Along
with this idea is the religious symbolism that is used for ineffectively
confronting the evil. At a point in the book, Golding has Simon, symbolic
of Jesus Christ (a Christian deity), confront the Lord of the Flies. This
is a pigs head on a stick that is imagined to talk and represent the evil
in all humans. Simon tries to act and spread the knowledge of this evil
to others but is killed. This is a direct reference to the death of
Christ, alluding to the Holy Bible.
At many points throughout Lord of the Flies, Golding writes for the
characters to become gradually more and more evil. This attribute even
reaches the symbols of goodness and order, such as Ralph. Once, when
Ralph and Piggy go to the feast on Jacks beach, they begin to meld with
the others and their evil ways. “Piggy and Ralph, under the threat of the
sky, found themselves eager to take a place in this demented but partly
secure society” (Golding 138). This really only proves their common
longing for a place with others, not any depth of evilness. Golding also
has all of the characters eventually participate in the hunts, his
representation of an evil ritual that humans perform. By having all of
the characters practice this, he illustrates his belief of everyone being
susceptible to turning evil. This fact is not necessarily true. Humans
develop their own dedications to their own beliefs, morals, and ethics.
Each person has the decision of acting how they wish. Many acts are
considered “bad” by the ruling body of government and are punishable.
Other acts are considered “good” and are rewarded. However, it must be
seen that each individual decides for himself what is “good” or “bad” for
him to do. Thus, most people act on what they consider good. This can
seem unusual, for a serial killer may consider brutal murder a good act
and helping a friend as an extremely evil action. One must see, that some
people also act on what they consider bad. This