Born Evil

by Nathan Cheung F3E2

Ever since Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, humans are born with

the original sin. Or is it the opposite, that we are born to committing sins? In

William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, we read the story of a bunch of school

boys who were waiting for rescue on an island. William Golding wrote Lord of

the Flies to show that without rules, humans are all savages.

In the book, Jack Merridew is the leader of the choir (which are later

known the hunters), he is also the head boy of his school. Golding used Jack

as a symbol of savagery and unreasonableness, to show how bad humans

are without rules to control them. In the first hunt for meat, Jack had a chance

to kill the boar, but his hesitation for killing gave the chance for the boar to

escape, then he says, “But I shall (kill the boar)! Next time!” (P.51). In the

second hunt, Jack took three “biguns” with them, leaving no one to watch the

fire. He successfully cut the boar’s throat and kill it. Jack that came back to

see Ralph, who was furious with Jack letting the fire out and letting their

chance of being saved disappear. Jack said excitedly, “There was lashing of

blood, you should have seen it!” (P.51), showing that he is extremely excited

with killing. As Jack spends more time away from the civilization, his moral

sense disappeared, letting the evil and savagery in his heart to take over

himself.

Although Golding used Jack to symbolize savagery itself, the theme is

also shown with another symbol, the conch. The conch symbolizes order and

civilization. It loses it significances as the story progresses, representing the

fall of civilization, and therefore the rise of savagery. Before the conch was

smashed, Ralph still have a small civilization that consists of four people

(Ralph, Piggy, Sam n’ Eric), but after it was smashed, Sam n’ Eric were forced

to join the Chief’s (Jack’s) tribe, and Piggy was killed in the process. So there

isn’t a civilization and rules anymore, that makes savagery to takeover the

human heart. Golding again showed that without rules, humans are just

savages.

This theme is not only shown between the story itself, it is also shown in

the narration. A typical chief (tribal chief) is considered as a savage, and loves

hunting and killing, he will chops off people’s head, and put them on sticks. As

we progress through the book, Jack leaves the Ralph’s group and rules with

some people to forms his own tribe. After forming his tribe, the narrator

doesn’t refer Jack as “Jack”, which he previously did, instead he referred him

as “The Chief”, showing the transformation of Jack. His action of savagery

matched the qualities of a chief mentioned above, he takes pleasure in killing,

chopping off pigs’ head and put them on sticks, which he is previously

against. William Golding used “Jack’s” transformation to “The Chief”, to show

again how the evil in human natural emerges without rules and civilization to

control it.

God (Christian) give mankind the ten commandants, the ten rules to

control the savage beast inside the heart of every human, whoever disobeys it

will be punished. It is the fear of punishment that kept us from savagery, not
morals. In a world without rules and control, mankind will be like what William

Golding suggested, killers, and ultimately, savages.