Lord Of The Flies:
How can humans be so evil? This question was explored in the text ‘Lord of the Flies’ about the idea of evil of man’s heart. Written by William Golding, he used language features like diction, religious fallacy , symbolism and characterization to help my understanding the evil humans can possess as well as evoking emotions of fear and guilt because we are all part of humanity .
Firstly, Golding cleverly establishes the idea of the evil of man’s heart through the effective use of diction. Golding originally uses nouns like ‘uniform’ when speaking about the boys’ clothing when they first arrived on the island. The change ‘rage’ and ‘hut’ signifies both the literal passing of time and the boys’ lack of care for their clothes which subtly shows the sign of immaturity and priorities as well as the symbolic degradation and descent into what Thomas Hobbes would call a ‘state of nature’. Clearly Golding’s intentions here was to warn readers about the dangers of how society can be if we continue as well as highlight the fact that civilization is a fragile thing but also very special. The word choice of ‘worms’ is subtly used by Golding to compare Ralph to a small animal from the bottom of the food chain which brings a negative connotation because worms are typically associated as weak and tiny. In the same way, Ralph was losing his respect, his leadership title and his voice in the group was being diminished by Jack who was the embodiment of evil on the island. William Golding purposely uses diction to present the idea of what our destination may be if we continue to blatantly follow evil which links into John Locke’s theory ‘nature vs nurture’.
Furthermore, Jack and Ralph were used by William Golding to explore characterization and further his goal of exposing the “evil of man’s heart.” Ralph was introduced in the book as a natural leader with ideal physical characteristics that gave Ralph an innocent appearance. However, Ralph “wept of innocence,” highlighting the fact that Ralph was no longer innocent because he had chosen to ignore the deaths of his friends Piggy and Simon, when they were saved by the naval officer. While suffering, Ralph witnessed “a wise companion called Piggy’s” horrifying death. Ralph knew he would never be the same because of the savagery and evilness that had grown within of him, thus his desire to be saved was not equivalent to the happiness of being saved. This demonstrates the author’s point about the evil that lurks in man’s hearts because even a good leader like Ralph realized that he harbored evil after seeing the deaths of friends. Jack was harsh and deceptive throughout the entire passage. He developed and resembled savages more. Jack serves as a tool for Golding as he manipulates the boys at the time to show the wickedness in man’s heart.
Religious fallacy was William Golding’s final language technique. Simon, who was constantly “isolated” and “hidden” in the woods, was compared to Christ. In “another universe,” a prophet was assassinated by Jack and his people. Golding specifically utilized this illustration to draw comparisons to Jesus’ death. Jesus was a good man who worked miracles, yet he was ultimately killed on a cross. Undoubtedly, this instance demonstrates the terrible nature of people. “Destroy the pig! Throat-cut him! 'Let his blood run!” Before Simon’s horrifying death, which elicited contempt and rage, the lads continuously sang this. William Golding cleverly uses this language feature to examine and comprehend the savagery, cruelty, and evil that are natural to human nature.
William Golding uses three language techniques: characterization, connotation and religious fallacy to highlight the author’s purpose of evil of man’s heart. This helps me understand the evil humans can have in their hearts. Golding uses this language technique to not only highlight the purpose but to send a message to do good in the world. It is not the world that is evil, but the evil is within us humans.