animal instinct

Animal InstinctWhat would life be like without a mother or a father?
What would life be like without any adult supervision? How would a
person act if they did not have society to tell them what is right and
wrong? Author William Golding believes that a person that wasn't
brought up by society would only act using their basic human nature. It is
also a part of his believes that this nature is evil. In his novel, Lord of the
Flies, Golding proves his ideas on the evil at the base of the human
nature through the lives of Piggy, Ralph, Roger, and Jack, whom are all
young boys trapped on a deserted island in the Pacific. Piggy was a
nonathletic, fat child with glasses and asthma. He was the child who was
least effected by the evil inside of himself. Piggy was also the most
intelligent child on the island, and this intelligence is what kept him from
giving in to his evil. This intelligence was also thought by Jack to be a
threat. Piggy lived in fear of Jack because he knew what type of person
he was and that he could not be trusted. On page 93 Piggy expresses
his fears by telling Ralph, "I'm scared of him and that is why I know him.
If your scared of someone you hate him but you can't stop thinking about
him." In this it is obvious that Piggy is scared of Jack, so much so that he
thinks about him constantly and now he has him figured out. This is why
Piggy is unaffected by his evil. He sees what is happening to everyone
else through Jack.The other person who wasn't overcome by their evil is
Ralph. Ralph was an older child, and he was an athletic born leader. He
was the leader of the tribe until the children began doing what Jack said.
Although he never completely surcame to it, Ralph was tempted by evil.
One instance happened when Jack and his hunters came back from a
hunt and began to dance. The story on page 75 says, "Ralph watched
them enviously and resentful." He was envious of the other children
because they got to dance and chant, but he knew that it was wrong, so
he did not join in, and during this time while he was being tempted he
treated Piggy terribly. He began to do what Jack said. Once when Jack
brought the meat back from one of the hunts he gave everyone a piece

except for Piggy, and when he complained Jack screamed at him, and
instead of standing up for him as he did before Ralph sat quietly and
gnawed on his meat. At the beginning of chapter 5 Ralph takes a walk,
and he begins not only to realize that the way he has been acting was
wrong, but also to realize how life should be lived. At the beginning of
the walk he was starring at his feet and was troubled by life. Then he
realizes that his problem was that he was starring at his feet. When he
began to look at the path in front of himself he began to think more
clearly. Just as he did on the path, he finds that in life you should always
face forward. After that, Ralph saw life more clearly and overcame that
temptation from evil. Ralph lived to be the sole survivor of the island that
was not overcome by evil.Roger was one of the hunters that followed
Jack from the beginning. He becomes almost totally driven by evil. At
first Roger was a quiet boy. He barley even sputtered out his name when
he was introducing himself. Jack took him in though. Every time that
Jack went to do something Roger was right there with him. Jack probably
picked him because he was so shy and quiet. He wanted someone who
would follow orders and not ask questions, but Roger became more than
that though. He not only followed Jack's orders, but he followed the
orders of his primitive instincts. Roger in following his instincts killed
Piggy. When he did killed him it was for no reason at all.Jack was the
leader of the hunters. The hunters were the evil children. He was also
the first child to become uncivilized or evil. He wasn't always the evil child
though. Near the beginning Jack and Ralph were friends or at least
friendly. It was at the point when the tribe decided to choose a leader
that he became the uncivilized and evil Jack. On page 23, the book says
that, "Jake and Ralph smiled at each other with a shy liking." This came
just after Ralph decided that Jack would be in charge of the choir, whom
would all be the hunters. Through the boys hunting they became less
human and began to turn into their animal selves. Jack was the worst of

all at this. He would get down on all fours and sniff the ground and
wallow in the dirt. Another thing he did was he painted his face. This was
a symbol of him losing his identity, and become an animal without
passion, thoughts, or even a soul. When Roger killed Piggy he was not a
child. He was not a man. He was an animal. He didn't have the
capability to think or reason. When he killed Piggy, Roger was operating
on pure survival instincts. He was like a wolf or a bear. In the end
Golding proves that at our base we are just wild animals driven to evil by
our instincts.