Where does Evil Come From?

“Because of free will, though it makes evil possible, is also the only thing that makes possible any love or goodness or joy worth having” (C.S. Lewis). Evil comes from the free will that has been given to all humankind. Evil takes root in selfish motives. If a creature is free to be good it's also free to be bad. We can choose good; something of genuine importance, or to hurt and destroy those around us.

The agonizing novel, Lord of the Flies by William Golding, has an abundance of biblical themes that simulate the good and evil in our world.

The novel begins when a plane crashes on a bountiful island and many of the children aboard flee to survive. On the island, the children begin to abuse their newfound freedoms and lose sight of their need for rescue and order. While developing throughout the novel, Ralph and Jack portray the choice of good and evil. Ralph presents himself as a calm and rational boy and quickly takes a leadership role on the island.

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As time goes by, things escalate on the island and Ralph becomes more and more susceptible to vicious actions. Ralph began to “…. treat the day's decisions as though he were playing chess. The only trouble was that he would never be a very good chess player' (Golding 106). Without supervision on the island, the boys were free to make any decision they wanted. Ralph, despite his innocent spirit, began to choose the evil surrounding him. He became vulnerable and lacked the strength to resist evil.

This caused Ralph to fall into a dark place. Jack, however, seemed to choose evil much earlier and without question. He too strived to be a leader on the island and was successful. Early into the novel Jack “… tried to convey the compulsion to track down and kill that was swallowing him up' (Golding 47). Jack let his evil nature take over and as a result, chose all things evil. Jack tempted the other children by appealing to their savage instincts, such as hunting, which ultimately became a game or sport for the boys. He leads the boys away from Ralph and eventually learns to control the boys with their fear of the beast.

An unknown “beast” figure emerges on the island which ignites the boy's inner beasts to take over. They are soon swallowed by their fear and this results in more chaos. Jack separates himself from Ralph and invites any other boys to come and hunt with him. The boys are hesitant at first but ultimately want the meat to eat and the sense of protection that Jack promises. Jack reassures the boys, “We’ll hunt. I’m going to be chief. We’re going to forget about the beast!” Ironically, this “beast” was then physically created by the boys. Jack, and the boys he encouraged to be savage, sacrificially gave up a boar's head that morphed into The Lord of the Flies. It… “hung on his stick and grinned... the pile of guts was a black mob of flies that buzzed like a saw… even the butterflies deserted the open space where the obscene thing grinned and dripped” (Golding 138). The Lord of the Flies glistened with everything evil and is a representation of the devil. When the boys joined Jack they did not know what they were getting themselves into or that they would create the beast they were afraid of. Jack used his power and appealing protective qualities to manipulate the boys into choosing him as a leader. At this climactic point in the novel, the boy's biggest concern was safety for themselves. Food, protection, and community, and they would get this with Jack but in a twisted way. A selfish motive always results in destruction or pain. Although, a generous and self-sacrificing heart will result in love or joy.

Simon, however, was considered the anomaly of the island. He was a wise lover of beauty, and able to see good even when all seemed bad. Like Jesus, Simon was able to take himself away from evil, he “...turned away from them and went where the just perceptible path led him…he came to a place where more sunshine fell” (Golding). In the midst of chaos and savagery, Simon chose peace. Early on in the novel, Simon shows compassion when he “... found for [the littluns] the fruit they could not reach...[and] passed them back down to the endless, outstretched hands' (Golding 51). He is the first one to recognize othersAmidothers' needs before his own. Simon was the only one to approach The Lord of the Flies and he did so with boldness. The “beast”, ready to destroy the remains of this Christ figure, said to Simon, “What are you doing out here all alone? Aren’t you afraid of me? Simon shook” (Golding 143). Simon was not afraid, but the evil had saturated him to the point where he was almost paralyzed. His first thought was to warn the other boys so, “he started down the mountain and his legs gave beneath him… he pushed on, staggering sometimes with his weariness but never stopping” (Golding 146). Despite being incredibly weak, he perseveres. Simon is the most selfless here when he risks his own life trying to reach others with life-saving news. Unfortunately, he never makes it to the boys. Society continues to rapidly fall apart after his death, and this shows how incredibly critical Simon was in this novel.

Free will comes with the freedom of choice, but also the responsibility to choose what's right and good. Free will creates a variety of evil in our world but also the purity and sincerity of a loving act. Golding uses this setting of an unsupervised island where these young boys are left to make their own decisions. Some make decisions to satisfy themselves only, others chose to serve the ones around them first. What will you choose?

References

• C. S. Lewis | The Official Website for C. S. Lewis and His Works
• Free Will - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
• Lord of the Flies Themes - SparkNotes