Li Xiaofang and Hui Xia considered that this novel expressed the idea of human nature—humanity had the tropism of good and evil; the original bestiality of human was the ultimate reason of evil and ferity; if the original bestiality was aroused and satisfied, human would be more and more wild without morality and civilization; and civilization was the unique way to inhibit the brutal nature(2005)。

1。3 Purpose of the Thesis 

This thesis is a thematic study of the good and evil in Lord of the Flies from the perspective of main characters and symbolic meanings of important objects。 And it attempts to analyze the loss of goodness according to the change and development of good and evil in this novel, then to recall the lost goodness。 The paper is not only helpful to understand the theme of Golding’s novel and create a new viewpoint of study, but also beneficial to think the good and evil in this novel reasonably and cultivate the good side that has been forgotten。

2。 Good and Evil in Main Characters 

In Lord of the Flies, William Golding not only shaped one theme of the dark side of humanity, but also revealed the good side of humanity through the characters。 In the following aspects, it will be presented。

2。1 Ralph

Ralph was the leader among this group of children, he was considered as the representative of rationality and civilization。 However, he showed unstable position in the fight of good and evil。 Luckily, he did not abandon rationality and he fought against the evil group until they are saved。

Ralph was the oldest child on this island。 His father was a Commander in the Navy。 Judging from his family, obviously, he had received good education, and had kind of leader style。 He always had a consciousness of being rescued no matter how tough the environment was。 He repeated the importance of making a fire although many others had fixed eyes on hunting。

As a leader, he put forward to establish regulations that anyone who wanted to speak must hold the conch, the conch helped him become a leader and reciprocally, he endowed it with speaking authority。 Besides, he made rules that “The rocks for a lavatory。 Kept the fire going and smoke showing a signal。 Didn’t take fire from the mountain。 Took your foot up there”。 Every child was willing to obey his orders, they built shelters, make fires, picked fruits and held meeting in order。 Under his leadership, these children lived happily and had one mutual sense of returning home。 However, after a period of time, they generally lost rationality。 Though Ralph steadily told them not to forget about hope, it did not work。 As a result, his leadership was seized by Jack。 Although he had the conch, he was not the real leader anymore, and only Piggy, Simon and the twin brothers supported him。 When he lost the hope of being rescued, they encouraged him not to give up。 After Simon and Piggy’s death, he still made efforts to fight with Jack’s camp, he successfully guarded last rationality。 The positive nature in Ralph included rationality, order, civilization and also “the representative of common people and commonsense” (行远, 1994: 65)。

However, Golding did not describe Ralph as a Utopian person, he also had some drawbacks which suggested Golding’s suspicion toward democracy system。

His mind was simple and not sensitive about dangerous situation。 He thought that this island only belonged to themselves, and they would have fun without adults’ interferences。 He did not keep secrets for Piggy and laughed at him with others。 Sometimes, he hesitated to make decisions。 He couldn’t settle down the hunger matter and begged for meat from Jack。 There was one scene that clearly revealed the evil nature in Ralph’s humanity: it was that he joined Jack in killing Simon。 What a pity, he did not realize his brutality, and his rationality was overshadowed by his evilness at that time。 Through describing this character, Golding was intended to tell readers what a disordered society looked like。 He expressed his suspicion toward human rationality and democratic system。 On the other hand, as a leader, Ralph was unable to persuade other children to live in order, which implied that the leader’s cowardice was likely to cause unrest。论文网