
” Its “undertone,” bearing comparison to the “susurration of the boys’ blood” provides it with an additional, life-like quality: as the boys raze the island, they are not just damaging vegetation, they are slaughtering a living, breathing entity. In addition, Golding gives the island a heavenly, almost haunting atmosphere with “dark bushes” and an ethereal combination of “heat” and “light. This spot is “walled” away to the other boys due to natural barriers, and Simon is the only human able to access this paradise: this, combined with the fact that Simon is the only boy with a passive outlook towards the disgusting behavior on the island, prompts us to classify him as a variant of Adam–who too, was described as passive in the bible. “The whole space was walled with dark, aromatic bushes, and was a bowl of heat and light…the deep sea…made an undertone less perceptible than the susurration of the blood” (56). Many times, Simon (the enigmatic, supposedly “batty” child) retreats to a spot deep in the bed of the island: one that exhibits traits parallel to The Garden of Eden.

Just as Adam and Eve were expelled from The Garden of Eden because of their overmastering impulse, the boys find their heavenly island in ruins as a result of their animalistic urges. In Cain and Abel, Cain too cries after murdering his brother: he learns that he has a “darkness” within him, which drives him to commit the ultimate sin, murder. Because they understand this untamable evil within them, they “weep” for the end of their own “innocence” and days of simplistic living. The ruination of a beautiful land and the cold murder of two close friends have brought out a “darkness in man’s heart” that the boys were not ready for. The undeniable pleasure of childhood: living young and unaware of depravity in the world has been stolen from the boys during their life on the island. Towards the end of the book, officers arrive to rescue the boys and Ralph has the chance to study his surroundings: he fathoms a brutal truth, “…the other little boys began to shake and sob too…Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart…” (202). We Will Write a Custom Case Study Specificallyįinally, in Lord of The Flies as well as in the bible, the victims are murdered with “full intention:” even when thinking clearly, Jack and Cain do not demonstrate sound, moral judgement. Likewise, Cain kills his brother Able out of a deep-seated feeling of spite and jealousy. Furthermore, this attempted murder is done after Jack assumes the position of chief, revealing that his conduct stems from a personal anger towards Ralph rather than a means of achieving a goal. In this sense, what was a petty jealousy has now become a motivation for murder: this resembles the idea of the beast, originating as a little’un’s nightmare and with the boys’ mounting fear, escalates to a ravenous darkness encasing the island.
#HOW ARE RALPH AND JACK LIKE CAIN AND ABEL IN LOTF FULL#
‘I’m chief.’ Viciously, with full intention, he hurled his spear at Ralph” (180). Jack’s boiling “mortification” (22) seen earlier in the book, is eventually released in a full-on attempt to kill Ralph: “He ran forward, stooping.

Due to his charisma and conviction, Ralph beats Jack in the race for chief. Golding argues that the boys’ constant dissension throughout the novel stems from a larger, more threatening evil within them: one, which brings to mind the story of Cain and Able. Throughout this journey, Golding unveils brutal truths about the boys’ inherent savagery and insatiable urges, linking to several biblical stories: ultimately, to human kind.In Lord of The Flies, author William Golding employs religious allegory from three preeminent biblical stories: The Story of Adam and Eve, of Cain and Able, and of Jesus Christ to illuminate the fundamental flaws in human nature.


From stranding a group of boys on an island to formulating a complex, inner ” beast”, Golding experiments with the notion of life outside society’s limitations and the inevitable deterioration of order and civility that ensues. In his dangerously revealing novel, Lord of The Flies, author William Golding explores human behavior in it purest, unadulterated form.
