Part 2: Discuss the following statement made by Simon in Lord of the Flies: “‘Maybe,’ he said hesitantly, ‘maybe there is a beast’......What I mean is...maybe it’s only us’”// Joash and Ruan Yang

Part 2 of 3; scroll down for the first post

So, what is sin-lust?

Sin-lust, as I have asserted, is the inherent will in all mankind to do wrong. For the sake of clarity, I have defined “lust” as more of a tendency or a subtle temptation, as opposed to an overwhelming attraction towards evil. Furthermore, I have defined sin as “that which transgresses common ethics” regardless of its “magnitude”, thus anything from drowning a bus full of orphaned children with water meant to be imported to Africans- whilst simultaneously urinating on the Queen of England, to eating the last cookie in the tin, will be considered as sin, for the purposes of succinctness and religious impartiality. In addition, it is also essential to note other theories for the origin of sin, one of which is the belief of circumstantial evil, or consequentialism, that we humans are the product of our circumstances, and sin is merely the result of circumstantial poverty (for example, financial or psychological poverty). This view is actually represented in the Lord of the Flies; upon the boy’s division, Ralph and Piggy blame Jack for their situation, which demonstrates the implication of this concept, that responsibility lies in one’s circumstances. Another contrasting ideology for the origin of sin is that of innate purity, which maintains that sin-lust simply does not exist, and humanity is not subject to any influence but circumstances and morality in their choice between right and wrong. This is portrayed in the Lord of the Flies through Jack’s statement which suggests a belief that they are not inherently evil in chapter 2: “We’ve got to have rules and obey them. After all, we’re not savages. We’re English; and the English are best at everything” (55, emphasis added). In summary, Golding’s belief of sin-lust maintains that all of mankind intrinsically gravitate towards wrongdoing, and are condemned with so alluring a temptation that even civilisation struggles to do any justice.

Origin of concept





On a much lighter note, I shall now discuss the origins Golding’s sin-lust belief, World War 2. This is the first of the two possible origins I have ideated, which demand investigation to enable a brag-worthy understanding of the topic. According to the introductory materials provided by “Lord of the Flies, Educational Edition”, Golding joined the Royal Navy in 1940, during which he served in the pursuit of the German ship Bismarck, participated in the invasion of Normandy, and clawed himself to the rank of lieutenant in command for a rocket landing craft. (He then went on to be a teacher, a job for which I believe he is severely overqualified). To state the obvious in emphasis of my point, the 2nd world war was no joke: millions of lives were taken in war and the brutal discrimination of Nazi Ideology. This serves disturbingly well as experiential evidence towards Golding’s belief in the existence of sin-lust, considering Golding’s exposure to not just war, but war in its most devastating form. World War 2 allowed Golding to see man’s reaction when stripped from the law, and are licensed to do what they would once call murder. This view is also supported by Golding in the aforementioned essay ‘Fable’ during which Golding states that:

“there were things done during that period (World War 2) from which I still have to avert my mind lest I should be physically sick. They were not done by the headhunters of New Guinea, or by some primitive tribe in the Amazon. They were done, skillfully, coldy, by educated men, doctors, lawyers, by men with a tradition of civilisation behind them, to beings of their own kind” (emphasis added 252)

This confirms that Golding’s writing was likely to be under the influence of his experience in the world war, and also how he realised the strength of sin-lust, that it could even overpower the bindings of civilisation upon men. To sum it up, with the evidence presented, World War 2 did not just bring the an immense loss of lives and a global economic downturn, but also (unsurprisingly) the Lord of the Flies, and therefore it would be unsurprising if it were one of the causes of Golding’s sin-lust ideology.

In addition, another possible origin for Golding’s sin-lust ideology is Christianity, the religion to which Golding professes (see http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/7826371/Sir-William-Golding.html). The striking similarities between the introductory chapters and the tale of Adam and Eve (the first male and female) in the biblical Garden of Eden (Genesis) , the actions of Simon in correspondence to the life of Jesus Christ (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John), the reference to the Beast as a “snake thing” and the “Lord of the Flies” which may be associated to the serpent at the Adamic Fall (Genesis 3) and the Jewish public’s reference to the devil as Beelzebub (Luke 11:15, literally translates to lord of the flies) renders it to be as clear as daylight that Christianity would have had some influence in the Lord of the Flies. One particular doctrine of Christianity stands out given the subject at hand: the doctrine of original sin. Essentially, this belief maintains that all men are innately sinful, due to the sin of the first man, Adam, and is founded on the following verses, courtesy of www.desiringgod.org:

• “5 Surely I was sinful at birth,/sinful from the time my mother conceived me.” (emphasis added, Psalm 51:5)

• “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time,gratifying the cravings of our flesh[a] and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.” (emphasis added, Ephesians 2:1-3)

• "15 Folly is bound up in the heart of a child,/but the rod of discipline will drive it far away.” (emphasis added, Proverbs 22:15)

• “21 The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, even though[a] every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.” (emphasis added, Genesis 8:21)

• “14 “What are mortals, that they could be pure,/or those born of woman, that they could be righteous?/15 If God places no trust in his holy ones,/if even the heavens are not pure in his eyes,/16 how much less mortals, who are vile and corrupt,  who drink up evil like water!” (emphasis added, Job 15:14-16)

• “3 This is the evil in everything that happens under the sun: The same destiny overtakes all. The hearts of people, moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live, and afterward they join the dead.” (Job 9:3)

And here, Ladies and Gentlemen, is the final nail in the coffin; Golding distinctly references this doctrine in his (perhaps now over-quoted) essay, ‘Fable’

• “Man is a fallen being. He is gripped by original sin. His nature is sinful and his state perilous” (emphasis added, 253)

Thus with the evidence I have presented, I believe it does not take a Sherlock Holmes to deduce that the Christian doctrine of original sin inspired the concept of sin-lust Golding elaborates in the Lord of the Flies. To wrap it up and tie it with a bow, Golding’s belief in the sin-lust philosophy is likely to have originated from the experience of World War 2 and his faith as a Christian.

Once again, thanks for reading, more in the next post :)