Good and Evil in Lord of the Flies

The struggle between good and evil is the central theme of the central theme of the Lord of the Flies. This theme has been presented through the conflicts between the conch group and the savages, between the boys and the terrifying 'beast' and between rescue from a passing ship and imprisonment on the increasingly insane island. But the major conflict between good and evil lies in the bitter struggle between Ralph and Jack for power and leadership on the island.

In the beginning of the novel, we find that good is in the ascendancy. The boys have come from a society, ruled by law and order, and so they attempt to continue this when they first arrive on the island. The conch provides a symbol of the values, decency and orderliness of the society where from the boys have come. The boys cannot talk at meeting unless they are holding the conch, and are thus forced to treat whoever is speaking with respect. This means that piggy, in many ways a natural victim, is able to air intelligent thoughts to improve the standard of the boys' lives on the island. So toilets are moved away from the shelters and the boys try to keep fire burning at all times. Activities like

Again we find that Ralph organizes the construction of shelters-mostly, in fact, the selfless work of himself and Simon and a fire to signal to ships with. They spend their maximum time playing and making fun, and there are a few accidents, such as the fire that kills the birth marked boy, but with Ralph’s benign government, good is always dominant.

The law and order situation on the island is threatened as Jack continues his attempts to take over the conch group. He fails in this-a small victory for good and sulks off to form his own 'tribe'. Thenceforth, evil takes control of the situation. Boys join Jack's tribe because he hunts pigs and does not make them work. Ralph, representing the forces of good, is paralyzed by indecision and has no effective response. Jack’s tribe grows and his malevolence with it. Piggy's glasses are violently stolen and broken, leaving him sightless. When the remainder of the conch group goes to retrieve the spectacles, Sam and Eric are captured and piggy slain. Simon the Christ figure, whose concern for others takes him down in the tribal dance where he is brutally killed. Completely powerless, Ralph symbolizing good is being -pursued by Jack symbolizing evil incarnate. Only the naval officer, who rescues Ralph at the last moment, prevents the complete triumph of evil over good.

William Golding who has a vast experience of World War II gives us a warning through his masterpiece, The Lord of the Flies about the power of evil, that if the good in people is not fostered, the evil will take its place. The Satanic urge in man to destroy will be unleashed and in the modern age there seem to be no limits to this evil design.