Lord of the Flies: Good versus Evil Knowing that William Golding participated in World War II, we readers can understand why Golding wrote The Lord of the Flies and other survival-fiction novels. When the story was published in 1954, Golding described his book as "an attempt to trace the faults of society to the faults of human nature." It is undoubtedly obvious to anyone reading this book that Golding is trying to exaggerate the good and evil in the boys on the island. Throughout the book we learn that people, including children, are not pure goodness. Deep within us there is an evil that constantly tries to rise to the surface of our mind. Golding proves that one day the evil within us will destroy us. Golding saw during World War II what evil humans can do and illustrates this throughout the book. Golding incorporates allusions and imagery to characterize 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. By taking control of the group, we can determine that Ralph is intelligent and cultured. He has the advantage of his superior size, strength and good looks, which makes him the leader of the boys. When disagreements arise, he is calm and rational and usually resolves the problem. Although he is excited by the absence of adults, he soon cries over the loss of humanity. He has a gentle expression that makes him “a non-devil”. Ralph therefore embodies “good”. Piggy is the intellectual of the group. DESCRIBE PIGGY Golding then introduces Jack. When Ralph blew the conch, Jack and his group of altar boys emerged from the darkness of the forest, dressed in black and silver cloaks. Angered by Ralph's leadership vote, Jack is consumed by the middle ground between a pig and a human. Using images, Golding shows that boys cannot understand the difference between their needs and their pleasure. The reenactments of the pig killings illustrate the dehumanization of the boys. To dehumanize someone means to deprive them of human qualities or attributes. As in chapter 4, after a hunt, the boys reenacted the killing, Maurice being the pig. As they get closer to recovery, boys also grow toward the line of being human and animal. While rehearsing another ritual dance, the boys are about to kill a boy playing the role of the pig. They become absorbed in frantic action and forget that this human is actually a human. It becomes easier for the boys to get hurt as they kill more and more pigs. In ritual dances and re-enactments the murders foreshadow the deaths of Piggy and Simon..