He criticises the boys’ actions, and says that being British, they should have done better. He is also British, and his actions in the war can hardly be commended. Of course he believes his cause is just and is the right thing to do, but then everyone believes that their cause is just. His job entails killing people and waging war, so it would be hypocritical for him to say that the boys are wrong to do it.
This essay being about Golding’s thoughts and ideas about human nature, it seems appropriate to include some of his actual thoughts. The quotes are taken from an article by Golding: What turns children into savages?
Two main ideas about how the evil came to be present within us are as follows:
“Are men and women born with cruelty as a deep component of their nature…Or does it make a truer picture if we imagine the new-born child as a blank slate upon which the harshness of experience soon prints indelible and frightening patterns.”
Either of these theories could be true, looking at Lord of the Flies. The boys are too old to still be blank slates, so either way, they bought the evil onto the island with them, be it from inheritance or acquisition.
Golding says that the “conditions” in which cruelty flourishes are chaos and fear. Both of these are very much present on the island. Fear is first to rear its ugly head. The natural feeling of fear in the dark (probably stemming from some ancient necessity to be wary of predators in the night, when our ancestors split from other apes and stopped being nocturnal) preys on a littl’un who claims to have seen a “snake-thing” at night. It is in fact a creeper hanging down from a tree. When the other boys are told of this, the fear instantly leaps onto them, and then there will always be doubt and fear for them all.
Chaos is present on the island in that the boys were used to the ordered society back home, with rules and regulations. They had a routine, and there was someone there to take care of problems. When they were cast out of this life and onto the island, there was nothing to keep them in check, no barriers or punishments. So in time, their old way of life faded from their minds and chaos ensued.
Golding says something quite relevant and interesting: “When people are afraid, they discover the violence within them and when they are afraid together they discover that the violence within them can be almost bottomless.”
This is how Jack’s tribe became so violent. If his tribe were split into its individual boys, each one would most likely not do too much harm, but when put together, they feed off each other’s evil, adding to their own. Being in a group also provides a sense of security and a means by which to spread out blame of what one member does. Another example of how the boys join into a group is how Jack and his hunters put on paint before hunting. This was not only for camouflage, but it gave them a sense of unity. While wearing the paint they became divided from the other boys, and therefore became closer to the other hunters. Dressing the same to indicate membership of a particular group is seen everyday in sports teams, gangs, schools, shop staff, military, and in many other groups.
The human mind holds many instincts and abilities acquired during our evolution, lost in time, made redundant and unnecessary by society and civilisation. Society pulled a cover over the mind, suppressing these parts of our nature. When in society, this cover generally holds up. But when alienated from society, the thin barrier will easily tear, exposing the murky contents within. As the crust of society crumbles, the mind is opened up to whole new world of possibilities and capabilities. No longer is it confined and restricted by rules and laws. It is free to do as it desires. At some point during this involuntary excavation of the mind, as the ancient contents are brought back into service, the deeper and darker parts become exposed. Somewhere lurking beneath all this is the all consuming, ever present evil that would otherwise lie dormant within us, exposing itself partially from time to time. Once it is released, it will consume the mind, there is no going back. Perhaps society may partially succeed in covering over the mind once more, but the cover cannot last for ever.
I believe that this underlying capability for evil was not created in humans at any one time. Instead it grew inside us, as our ancestors evolved tens of thousands of years ago. As it is said, with knowledge comes power, and with power comes great responsibility. So as humans became increasingly intelligent, the power grew. This power is the ability to do evil, to do harm to others, to destroy. Today, our growing knowledge magnifies our power and potential to do evil. Luckily for us, society’s morals are partially suppressing the abuse of power, for now: even those killing others in a war tend to have some morals and things that they would not do to another human being. Unfortunately, it appears that we as humans, cannot satisfy the third virtue of the previously mentioned saying. We certainly have the knowledge, and thus also the power. But it would appear that we have not yet developed the sense of responsibility that is a vital companion to the power. I believe that the responsibility is necessary in controlling our nature.
It is my belief that our downfall will be of our doing. Be it from environmental destruction, or through war. What other species voluntarily poisons their own habitat, or massacres hundreds upon thousands of their own kind, over trivial matters and revenge? The best way to express this is by the words which Simon could not find (page 111): “Mankind’s essential illness.”
There is surely no way to cure this illness, no magic antidote to cure our flawed species.
I think that it would be in the best interests of the Earth, and all it’s inhabitants, if our species were wiped out. This shouldn’t prove a problem to bring about, I expect that we will arrange for it ourselves.