Defects of Human Nature Essay

Human nature can be defined as being the psychological characteristics of benevolentkind which are understood to be shared by all human beings. In the original Lord of the Flies by William Golding, the flaws of human nature are explored in detail. When critics asked Golding about the floor of the novel, he replied, The theme is an attempt to trace the defects of society back to the defects of human nature (p. 204). He believes that political systems cannot govern society effectively without first victorious into consideration the defects of human nature.One of the numerous flaws in human nature which is illustrated in Lord of the Flies is the reluctance of admitting is mistakes. The characters in this novel are of young age, the oldest being around 12 or 13 years old. This leaves room for many mistakes to be made, as young children are brim to make mistakes. It is human nature to deny mistakes, and to instead blame mishaps on others. In the beginning of Lord of the Flies, when the first meeting is held, Piggy suggests a head count to keep track of everyone, especially the littluns. Ralph and Jack dismiss this idea by making fun of Piggy instead of taking his chin-wagging into consideration. There was a little child that talked about a snake-thing (p. 35). He is only distinguished by a mark on his face. The other boys jape at the child and write off the idea as a nightmare. Later, when the boys are looking for wood, they come across a snake-pit. It is then when Piggy realizes that the nice boy with the mark on his face is gone. That littleun that had a mark on his facewhere ishe now? I tell you I gaint see himwhere is he now? (p. 46-47) Piggy reprimands the other boys for not listening him and taking a head count. Instead of admitting his mistake, Ralph shame to the full mumbles an excuse peradventure he went back to the, the (p. 47). Ralph and Jack also blame the incident on Piggy who was put in charge of the names. However, it is not Piggys blot b ecause there was no way that he could accomplish this task without the cooperation of the other boys, which was not available to him. The absence of the little one is ignored and is never verbalize of again.This is an example of how people are reluctant to admit their mistakes and would rather blame things on others. When Simon realizes that the beastie is not real, but is rather the dead parachuter, he feels obligated to asseverate the other boys of his discovery. However, Simon barges in on them during one of their feast celebrations. The boys at the feast are dancing and are caught up in the excitement of the night. zero(prenominal) fully aware of the situation, when Simon made his unannounced entrance, he was mistaken for being the beast.In the excitement of the night, nobody realized the mistake and as a consequence, Simon was brutally murdered. afterwards the incident, nobody believed that they actually committed the murder, and instead they all try to find excuses for the ir actions Dont you understand, Piggy? The things we did He may still be No. Praps he was only pretending (p. 157). It was an accident, thats what it was coming in the dark. He was batty. He asked for it. It was an accident. It was an accident, and thats that. (p. 157).Ralph and Piggy are not satisfied with what they had done when they woke up the next morning. Ralph realizes what happened, but Piggy persistently attempts to find an excuse for their actions, as can be seen in the quotes above. He denies all interlocking in the murder and struggles to prove to himself, as well as to Ralph, that they both were not connected to the killing in any way. Sam and Eric or Samneric feel the akin way about the situation as do Ralph and Piggy. The twins act as if they were not present when the murder took place, even though it is obvious they were.They guarantee this excuse by pretending that they unexpended the feast early because they were tired. Piggy and Ralph go along with this ex planation and actually use it for themselves as well We left early, said Piggy quickly, because we were tired. So did we (p. 158). All four of the boys are pretending that they do not know of what is going on and are shaken by the dance they had not attended (p. 158). Throughout The Lord of the Flies, William Golding identifies many defects of human nature. One of the themes of the novel is an attempt to trace the defects of society back to the defects of human nature (p. 204). The flaws in human nature must be taken into consideration in order to build a successful political structure. In this novel, the young children do now have this knowledge and therefore their society breaks down. It is in human nature for one to be unwilling to admit ones mistakes, and throughout the Lord of the Flies, Golding has exemplified this flaw in a variety of different ways.