Depravity and Pessimism in the Twentieth Century： Darkness of Human Nature in Lord of the Flies

赵秋楠

【Abstract】The WWⅡ had a great influence on the people all over the world.People in different ways were expressing their anger.William Golding‘s Lord of the Flies expressed the darkness of human nature after the war.Through the individual symbols， both depravity& pessimism in the twentieth century and darkness of human nature in Lord of the Flies could be well understood.

【Key Words】depravity； pessimism； darkness of human nature

【摘要】第二次世界大战给全世界的人们带来了极大的影响，人们也不同的方式来抒发不满。威廉戈尔丁的《蝇王》则抒发了战后人性的黑暗。通过个体象征的运用，20世纪的堕落与悲观主义和《蝇王》中的人性黑暗面得到了很好地理解。

【关键词】堕落 悲观主义 人性黑暗

The outbreak of the WWⅡ had a great influence on the people all over the world， especially on those participants.They didnt realize what the real meaning of life was.The participants of the WWⅡ just did anything in order to win.So the depravity of people appeared step by step.Or people could call it the darkness of human nature.The only thing people could consider was how to survive.They didnt believe in the reality， so they would rather choose another way—pessimism.They didnt have positive attitude towards all the surroundings.Because they believed they couldnt change the fate， they did bad things.They lived out of order.

William Golding‘s Lord of the Flies explores through the analysis of individual symbols.The individual symbols usually come from Greek and Roman myths and Bible.They sometimes are regarded as archetypes.It can make a complex feeling concluding both familiar and strange parts.

1.Lord of the flies

The most obvious and the most important individual symbol in the novel is the lord of the flies， which is the head of a hunted sow.It draws a lot of flies which make it a dirty thing.It comes from the Hebrew word“Beelzebub”， which means fallen angel like Satan.Both Satan and Beelzebub represent devil， demoralization.So lord of the flies is a symbol for depravity which exists as a part of the darkness of human nature.When the children started to prostrate themselves to the sow， it meant that the children were inclined to the depravity and became the believers of the devil.

2.Snake

When people mentioned snake， they must remind Satan who induced Adam and Eva to eat forbidden fruit； and then Satan was punished by God to be the scared and wicked animal—snake.In Lord of the Flies， in the burning fire， the children shouted：“Snakes！ Snakes！”It was not the real snake， just a burned branch.In fact， the snake did not exist but the“snake”in their minds appeared step by step.Because the snake represented the devil and depravity， people could realize the darkness of human nature was in the deep side of childrens heart.From this individual symbol， the theme of darkness of human nature could gradually be seen—the children were not na?ve and innocent any longer； they gradually became cruel through the thoughts.

3.Fire

In the western culture， the fire has been a symbol for hope and intelligence since Prometheus stole fire from the heaven to human beings.So if there was a fire， the children were full of hope and energy.As the pilot fall down beside the fire， the fire was put out.If there was no fire， the ship couldnt be attracted to rescue the children.Because of the war， the children must live on the island.So at the time， the children were pessimistic.At last the darkness， fear and violence appeared.The war not only brought the destruction of environment， but brought the destruction of the emotion.The fire is just like Pandora， if you open it， there are a lot of disasters.The children were cruel to their partner， they wanted to control others.Human beings were not human beings any longer.The children became the real monsters.So the darkness of human nature became stronger and stronger.They couldnt get back and they got to the top of the darkness of human nature.

The WWⅡ broke the peace of the society； people lost their home， lost their lovers， lost their lives.They lost the hope which to recover from the war.So the people in the twentieth century were full of depravity and pessimism.In Lord of the Flies， the children just focused to make a change， because of the fear， the darkness of heart nature gradually grown up.

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