William Golding´s Lord of the Flies Man, Bees, Honey, and...

â€Å"There is no good and evil, there is only power and those too weak to seek it† ― J.K. Rowling. In William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies, a group of schoolboys end up stranded on an uninhabited island which leads to a struggle for power and survival. The author argues that man is naturally evil; however, the characters Ralph, Simon, and Roger suggest that they were molded into their state of being. Ralph, the leader of the boys throughout most of Golding’s novel, sets up a prime example of what benevolence a human being can have; however, this is a result of the conditioning that he endured, not as a quality he was born with. In Fire on the Mountain, the boys are discussing the courses of action that need to be taken to ensure the†¦show more content†¦When stalking Henry, Roger â€Å"picked up a stone, aimed, and [...] threw it to miss. [There] was a taboo of the old life [...] [his] arm was conditioned by a civilization that knew nothing of him and was left in ruins† (62). Roger â€Å"threw to miss† mainly because he still had some empathy within him and knew that it was wrong to hurt Henry. He was thinking about the consequences when throwing; similarly, this would be the kind of behavior he would exhibit at home when about to break a rule. The adhesive effect of civilization is strong within him as he throws because he intends to miss; however, the action of Roger throwing the rock is already detrimental which signifies the growing of evil in him. The consequences were imposed by adults in â€Å"old life,† but now, there are none to impose restrictions on him. Slowly, he realizes that there is no wrong in doing such things because of the lack of real authority and begins to regress in qualities. The adults in Roger’s â€Å"old life† taught him to not throw rocks, but not the difference between right and wrong. The â€Å"state of nature† is shown when Roger performs the malevolent action of destroying sand castles and subsequently contemplating of whether to harm Henry with rocks or not. In expressing his regret, Roger is indicating that the difference between good and evil is not one that he is familiar with. Some will argue that Roger is evil because he was the one responsible for Piggy’s