Humanity

Humanity

Lord of the Flies: A Paradox on Humanity

Chris Bartolomei

PHI 195/WRT 120: Intro to Ethics
Dr. C. Thomas
January 21, 2014
When 100% assurance is placed humanity, moral faults and chaos gradually follow. William Golding creates a paradox filled with irony and specific characterizations in Lord of the Flies through the characters Ralph, Piggy and Jack, to show how the sickness of man's nature is dangerous and cannot be controlled even through a set of perfect guidelines and a system of structure/government.
Ralph identifies as the character that believes everyone is equal and should be treated as equals. Ralph is a team player even from the beginning. Ralph is the type of guy that doesn't want to cause any arguments but wants to get his point across. He says that that the kids should stay positive about their situation. He suggests that they should have fun, but they also need to focus on getting rescued. What Ralph's extreme positive outlook does is blinds him from understanding the complexness and faults of humanity. Ralph was chosen by election to be the authoritative figure of the group1. Yet despite Ralph's assumption that the group would always make the morally right decision, he was wrong. The children eventually leave his side and overtime even want to track Ralph down and kill him. Golding uses Ralph to expose the flaws of individual humanity and that at times humanity will rebel against even the most perfect and democratic types of govt.
Golding uses extreme irony in Ralph's scenario to highlight the destructive nature of putting confidence in humanity. Ralph, by default, thinks well of the other children on the island, despite all the opposing evidence. Ralph is described as an attractive, positive character that always plans ahead2. After the brutal slaughter of Simon and the purposeful eliminating of Piggy, the first thing that comes to Ralph's mind is that the group would continue to go on a killing spree, yet he questions himself and tells...

Similar Essays