Evil In Lord Of The Flies Analysis

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Evil truly is an illusive concept. There is a fine, blurred line between the malicious intent and foolishness that is assumed to facilitate it. Though it seems to be a simple concept to grasp, the reality is that it is an amorphous and dynamic element in human nature whose definition changes nearly every instance it is brought up. Evil acts can, of course, derive from the cruel intentions an individual. Yet at the same time, evil acts can also come from the depravity of the human soul from fear, desperation, or dehumanization. It is believed that there is a breaking point in any human in which the boundaries of morality are shattered and any action that is held to be necessary must be carried out for the sake of an individual’s benefit. There are two different ways this can be perceived: For …show more content…
Evil, therefore, arises when understanding and rationality are lost. When, as Lance Morrow says, “Mozart sound[s] the same as gunfire.” His essay does well in attempting to define what, exactly, evil is. Moreover, William Golding’s Lord of the Flies illustrates the death of morality and social order that a group of boys had become so well acquainted to. To use a more historical example, Paul Fussell’s “Postscript on Japanese Skulls” describes a brutal practice by American soldiers that most people these days would consider inconceivable. Finally, Linh Kieu Ngo’s “Cannibalism: It Still Exists” explains the rationale of cannibalism-- an action of evil that many people are extremely hesitant to analyze. All of these works have one thing in common: They describe the evil things humans will do when the concepts of morality and humanity are lost in instances of extreme desperation. Therefore, evil is a culmination of vision distortion and loss of morality and evil actions are merely byproducts of a lack of understanding and a loss of