Evil and Mankind

Based on my observation of today’s society in which we live, I do believe Golding’s assumption that evil is still present among mankind is still relevant. Even as a teenager, I have witnessed the evil represented by Jack’s character in all aspects of today’s society. In Golding’s book Lord of the Flies, his assumption of the world and the people in it is still relevant, the tale is still valid. I believe that defending a person’s environment, believes, and fears surroundings, he may develop self-destructive and/or evil tendencies. One thing I have had personally experienced is that people often use popularity to gain power or authority over others. Although in some instances it could be a good thing, in most situations it is used for bad. Students often use their power to bully or put down other students to destroy their self-confidence. In the Lord of The Flies, the age-old struggle of Man vs. Man is chosen by the boys abusing each other for their own gratification and power. This same struggle can be seen in our schools today.
Lord Acton, a British historian, once said, “Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Our government is based on a balance of power; however, we see that this is not always the case. Right now we are seeing this struggle in our society. Instead of working together, the three branches are doing there best to steal the power from the other branches. Like the boys in the book who started out cooperating soon tried to steal the power then became fearful of each other. In the book, Simon says maybe there is a Beast or maybe it’s only us…. This is the point to which Simon starts to understand the evil coming into each of them. As Friedrich Nietzche said, “He who fights monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster.”
Like the Bible, the states Matthew 22:36-40 King James Version (KJV) “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” My question is though…. How can we love our neighbor as thyself when there are so much evil and destruction in our world and our government using their power to regulate Christianity and Prayer. After the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York on September 11, we lived in fear and anger due to the destructive evil that happened to the United States by the Islamic terrorist group. Because of the fear, anger, sadness, and hatred we assume if someone is Muslim they are automatically considered evil causing us to hate them and hate their religion. Just because someone is a Muslim that just means they are terrorists. Also, our government has imposed restrictions in Society and especially our schools regarding our Religious beliefs and praying. In my opinion, the Government should not be allowed to use their power by taking out prayer and our religious beliefs. Removing Prayer is what is making our schools and society eviler. In the story The Lord of the Flies there is many biblical allusions among each boy. Just like in real life in the Book the boys cling to the idea of having power As our Society is suppressed we need to all look within us and find the Beast within ourselves.