Lord of The Flies

In William Golding's allegorical novel, Lord of the Flies, the overriding theme is the conflict between two competing impulses that exist within all human beings. On the one hand, it is man's innate instinct to live by rules, act peacefully, follow moral commands, and value the good of a group. On the other hand, there exists the instinct to gratify one's immediate desires, act violently to obtain supremacy over others, and enforce one's will on the other. These two impulses reflect both the instinct of civilization and the instinct of savagery, whereby one is devoted to values that promote ordered society and the other is devoted to values that threaten ordered society. Moral behavior is merely a forced imposition of civilization, rather than a natural expression of human individuality. When left to their own devices, people will become cruel, wild, and barbaric. This idea of innate human evil is central to Lord of the Flies, and it finds expression in several important symbols ...