Human Nature
English Lit: AQA GCSE Lord of the Flies, topic 4.1.1
Human Nature (in a society without rules)
Golding uses Lord of the Flies to show the dangers of allowing human nature to run free with no limits or rules.
Savagery
- Golding’s experiences of war showed him that anyone can be capable of terrible things.
- In Lord of the Flies, the young, innocent boys quickly descend into cruelty, savagery and evil when they are given the opportunity to take control.
Microcosm
- The island is a microcosm of the real world but has no rules or laws.
- The boys can do what they want, without fear of consequences or repercussion.
Regulations
- This allows us to see their true nature, and consider what might happen if our society was not so regulated.
- Golding uses the novel to show the dangers of allowing human nature to run free with no limits or rules.
Human nature
- In the novel, Golding places the boys on a deserted island, far from adult civilisation, and allows the reader to watch the result.
- It is almost an experiment of unconstrained human nature.
- Golding felt that if humans were to be removed from the rules, law and order of our societies, then we would naturally fall away from logic and reason, and into savagery.
Symbols
- At the start, the boys generally recognise their need for organisation, shelter and a signal fire (so they can be rescued).
- Symbols of order and authority (Piggy’s glasses and the conch shell) are used carefully and are effective at first, but are then broken.
The beast
- Golding suggests that humans are naturally savage, driven by primal urges (such as hunger, greed, power, dominance, etc.) – this is the “beast” from the novel.
- Throughout the novel, Golding shows how this inner evil of humanity could take control and, if it did, the consequences would be catastrophic.
Test yourself on Human Nature
Which of the below is the only thing that does NOT symbolise law and order?