Is human nature inherently creative, cooperative and good; instilled with basic human rights in need of protection? OR are human beings destructive, selfish and ultra competitive creatures who would go to war with each other in the absence of government? Is the answer to this philosophical inquiry, posed by the ideas and writing of Thomas Hobbes and John Locke an either/or option? Perhaps it’s best to address the answer as an observation that both options prove to be true and more. There is always more to be said about the complexities of our human condition.
In the 1954 book by William Golding, the 1963 British movie directed by Peter Brook as well as the 1990 American movie produced by Lewis M. Allen and directed by Larry Hook we see the 3 principles of natural rights that Thomas Jefferson wrote about in the Declaration of Independence; life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. – 1776, T. Jefferson; The American Declaration of Independence.
In the story Lord of the Flies we see the ability of the boys to survive; life and safety are the primary need. When the plane crashes into the ocean they come to the island on a life raft. After getting some sleep, a boy finds water to drink in the morning. And soon, they collect fruit and fish to eat. They decide to make shelter and tools, choose the leader and make a fire that can be seen. Once they have life and some degree of liberty, they begin to disagree about “the pursuit of happiness”.
What is the State of Nature?
The State of Nature is a philosophical idea about humanity in the absence of any government. What would human society be like with no Government? When we are able to imagine this we can create ideas or theories about the origins or the causes of the creation of different types of governments in different situations.
There are 4 theories of the ORIGINS of Government;
- Evolutionary Theory: Government rises up out of the tribe or family and maintained by safety and survival.
- Force Theory: Government is created by the most powerful and maintained by threat of force.
- Divine Right Theory: Government is created based on religious beliefs and maintained by ritual practices
- Social Contract Theory: Government is created as an agreement to protect natural rights and maintained by compromise and flexibility.
What is Human Nature?
Human nature consists of behavioral and emotional traits in humans. Without any government in society nowadays society would be erratic. Because those behavioral and emotional traits will tend to get the best of us and we would act on impulse instead of logical reasoning or judgment from others. – Danasha
Human nature is something about our behaviors that reflect personality traits. All the feelings, the way we think , and acting that come naturally. The surrounding environment also affects the development of human nature in good and bad ways. A society will develop if it can create conditions for people to develop their nature and make human society more and more progressive. – Kim
Human nature is a set of characteristics , including ways of thinking, feeling and acting. Humans are believed to have it naturally, the environment and the culture or even the place of birth influence the formation of the personality of each human being. – Mauricio
Describe a scene from “Lord of the Flies” that illustrates something about the State of Nature:
Beginning of the scene in the movie where boys were left stranded on an island and they begin to remove their clothes and live just like how tribal people do. They started hunting fishes, collecting fruits from trees etc. In the beginning the boys choose a leader. Ralph and Jack are the biggest and the oldest boys. Ralph takes the conch that was discovered by piggy. Human nature makes discoveries. Human nature likes tools and symbols of authority. The conch became a symbol of shared authority. It was used by Ralph, the leader, to call an assembly and everyone was invited to speak if they had the Conch. This is democracy; but it is fragile because it requires the acceptance of the group. This is social contract theory in the form of direct democracy. The US Constitution is social contract theory in the form of a Democratic Federal Republic. The direct democracy on the island was weak because there was no balance of power. There were no separate branches of government and the economy was one of uncertainty, survival and scarcity. It was always a challenge to protect life so they were not able to protect liberty and property.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/z98xg82/revision/5
The group of guys, made a bonfire on their own, only with Piggy’s glasses and some branches, they did that to ask for help and to be seen. The fire gets out of control as a symbol that power can easily get out of control and become destructive. The right use of power should be creative. The right use of power saves life, liberty, and property according to John Locke – Candy
Did they go back home at the end? Where did they go? The book is written with the idea that nuclear war is happening. Did the loss of home bring out the worst in these boys? Were they ever prosecuted for killing Simon and Piggy? At the end Ralph was by himself. Would he ever be able to recover or to forgive the boys for what they did? – Muna
https://lordofthefliesz.weebly.com/important-lord-of-the-flies-pictures.html
https://william-golding.co.uk/lord-flies-us-election-updated
Why did they throw the stone? Did they really want to kill the child? because they tried to kill instead of talking, in the end what did they do with the children. – Rosie
https://sites.psu.edu/bannedbookscmlit130/2016/02/18/lord-of-the-flies/
What positive and negative aspects of human nature are shown in the telling of the story “Lord of the Flies”?
Positive: Simon represents our seeking of the truth, Ralph and the power of reason and loyalty
I saw the movie human nature without any law and on they movie they positive part was they was have one leather and they was be together all time , time work,finding food. – Malale
In the “ Lord of the Flies” movie, I can see it brings a lot of negative acts. The boy named Jack and his crew do violence by beating another boy if they do not agree to them. Moreover, they tried to do some stuff like: throw stones and use the stick to kill those who speak against them and don’t want to join their group. But besides that, this movie also brings some positive scenes. They boys learned how to make fire, find food, build the shelter and find water to survive on the Island. They do have fun by swimming and singing together. – Kim
At first we can see the positive aspects, among the group of boys the union and mutual support was visible, when it came to getting food, water and building a home. Solidarity and respect for each other is good but over time this changed. There came a point at which that brotherhood of friends broke and divided into 2 groups, the hunters and the gatherers. This division brought with it many problems, but the main one was disagreement, hatred, contempt and little empathy towards the other group. At the end everything was reduced to 2 best friends against all the hunters who did not hesitate and killed Piggy in cold blood. This shocked Ralph, who felt devastated and sad about what had happened. Everyone tries to capture him too but the rescue arrives and everything ends. -Mauricio
How does the movie give evidence to any of the above theories? explain the details
Force theory: In the end of the movie A boy named Piggy was killed by force because he was telling the truth. The groups were made with good and bad sides, mostly joined The bad one because they thought force is the only way of Surviving instead of working together. -Ayush
Here are some quotes about human nature, natural rights and the state of nature.
What do they mean? Can you say more about them? Can you find examples in the story that show these quotes to be true? Can you find your own quotes about human nature and the state of nature?
“IT IS NOT WISDOM BUT AUTHORITY THAT MAKES LAW” – Thomas Hobbes
“THE CONDITION of MAN…IS A CONDITION of WAR, of EVERYONE AGAINST EVERYONE”. – Thomas Hobbes
“The natural liberty of man is to be free from any superior power on earth, and not to be under the will or legislative authority of man, but to have only the law of nature for his rule.” – John Locke
“The state of nature has a law of nature to govern it, which obliges every one: and reason, which is that law, teaches all mankind, who will but consult it, that being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions” –John Locke
“It is to law alone that men owe justice and liberty. It is this salutary organ of the will of all which establishes in civil rights the natural equality between men.” – J. J. Rousseau
resources
A real life “Lord of the Flies”: The true story of teenage boys stranded on a deserted island in the Pacific for over 1 year.
https://youtu.be/eDz-331V-pY?si=NKwEhLh-LOXXb7b5
https://youtu.be/qHO_RlJxnVI?si=D2-l_P7d4dIIe7Bw
ORIGINAL MOVIE 1963: A British production set at the height of the Cold War
https://youtu.be/9G3B6bjwBfk?si=G_hzFldhqa8Wlyzy
How is the original movie different from the 1990 movie?
The Sparknotes Video:
https://youtu.be/-tXpA3dIEtI?si=o9qhaprfHEWGCu1W
The book LORD of the FLIES by William Golding (1954) was made into a movie in 1963 and 1990.
1990 Movie LINK: https://youtu.be/UjApB6IiQKE?si=3voWKb8MCanW5Jh