The something beyond control. they will do

The struggle with evil lies within every person. We fight it, each in our own way, both internally, and externally, but those who have the endurance to battle and defeat it come out stronger, As such, the belief that only bad people struggle with evil is incorrect.

Not only do the best of men battle with it but even children are subject to this struggle. Even though evil can be defined as the absence of good, this is not its only definition. Evil can manifest in our brains in a number of different ways. An idea can start off being positive and have a common goal between all of the people taking part in it.

Yet as we see in lord of the flies if given the chance to do so, evil will manifest inside of a person or group of people until that individual or society loses focus on the ultimate goal. Once they start down the path of evil they may become something beyond control. They will do things they never thought to do, and speak in ways unknown to their previous selves. It may also be due to a number of other things such as greed and mental illness.  As we see in the speckled band, a man goes out of control and kills one of his own step daughters.

He does this because he is so greedy that he becomes sick with the fear that he will lose the money given to him by their mother. It can also be seen in the wave, that not only is it that people don’t always realize that they are becoming evil until somebody outside shows them, but even an entire society can become evil if they aren’t caught and told that what they are doing is evil. We see from these literary sources that even when an individual or an idea starts out with good intentions, over time they can become something which was never intended.

The struggle in lord of the flies can be seen physically between ralph who believes in morale civilization, and jack who ultimately turns to brutal savagery and uncivilized animalistic behavior to get his way. At the beginning of the story they are all equally helpless boys stranded together on an island. Once Ralph is elected leader, everybody is given a job on the island and people begin to feel as though they are part of a functioning society. The problem is, once they settle down, some of their imaginations begin to set in, and they begin to fear that there is an “ evil beast” on the island. This leads to change in leadership from Ralph who knows that that the beast is just the children’s imaginations, to Jack who decides real or not he is going to “ kill” the beast. They believe that the beast is the real evil and it is out to get them. Thus they side with Jack who decides that this is his opportunity to seize power.

Once everybody joins Jack, he gets a taste of power. This is jacks tipping point. Even though he was mean before, this power is the catalyst that brings out his true evil colors. He becomes a savage dictator who feels superior to all, and with an army to do his bidding he feels unstoppable. Once he sees himself as superior he has no problem killing any of the boys who do not agree with him, since they are beneath him. Evil can also manifest through greed. This aspect of it can be seen in the speckled band, when a girl has reason to believe that her stepfather murdered her sister just before she got married.

The question was, why? In her mother’s will it was written that her stepfather was to be given a sum of money every year to split between the three of them. She, her sister and stepfather. The catch was that if the girls got married, a larger sum of money would be given to them out of his share. Her stepfather, knowing this full well, devised a plan to keep the girls from getting taking his money.

He would stop them by any means from getting married. If they tried, he would kill them. The girl was determined to stop her step father, as she was getting married very soon and she was scared that just as she suspected her stepfather of killing her sister, he would kill her too. The wave portrays a third way in which evil can manifest, and that is through societal pressure.