Lord of the Flies: Good versus Evil Knowing that William Golding took part in the Second World War, we readers can understand why Golding wrote Lord of the Flies flies and other survival books - fiction novels. When the story was published in 1954, Golding described his book as "an attempt to trace the defects of society to the defects of human nature". It is unmistakably obvious to anyone who reads this book that Golding is trying to exaggerate the good and bad in the island boys. Throughout the book we learn that people, including children, are not pure goodness. Deep down there is an evil that constantly tries to rise to the surface of our minds. Golding demonstrates that the evil within us will ultimately destroy us. Golding saw in World War II what evil humans can do and illustrates this throughout the book. Golding incorporates allusions and imagery to give characterization to the main characters, Ralph and Jack, in the early chapters to expose good and evil. The first characters introduced in the story are Ralph and Piggy. Taking control of the group, we can determine that Ralph is intelligent and cultured. He has the advantage of his superior height, strength and good looks, which made him the leader of the boys. If there is a disagreement, he is calm and rational and usually resolves the problem. Although he is excited because there are no adults around, he soon cries due to the loss of humanity. He has a mild expression that makes him "not a devil". Ralph therefore embodies the "good". Piggy is the intellectual of the group. DESCRIBE PIGGY Golding then introduces Jack. When Ralph blew the conch, Jack and his band of choir boys emerged from the darkness of the forest dressed in black and silver cloaks. Angered by Ralph's leadership vote, Jack is consumed by that... piece of paper... between a pig and a human. By using imagery, Golding exemplifies the fact that kids can't tell the difference between their needs and having fun. The reenactments of the pig murders are an example of the dehumanization of boys. To dehumanize someone is to deprive them of human qualities or attributes. As in chapter 4, after a hunt, the boys reenacted the killing, with Maurice being the pig. As they get closer to the rescue, the boys also grow more and more towards the line of human and animal. Repeating another ritual dance, the boys come close to killing a boy who serves as a pig. They get absorbed in the fast-paced actions and forget that this human being is actually a human being. It becomes easier for the boys to hurt each other as they kill more and more pigs. In ritual dances and re-enactments the murders foreshadow the deaths of Piggy and Simon.