Jacob Miller

Weathersbee
AP Literature & Composition
10/11/13
The Root of !il
Philosopher's have argued for many, many years about predetermined traits in a
person, instead of acquiring them throughout the span of a person's life, I personally
believe that savage and evil tendencies are in all of us. Whether you look at Jack from
Lord of the Flies or Victor from Frankenstein, you can see ho their actions and practises
spread to others like a malignant tumour, causing chaos and death.
!haracteri"ation plays a large factor in Lord of the Flies. #he choir boys,
especially Jack, is first introduced in black, presented already in a dominant state of mind
sei"ing control of the boys as a type of leader. #hroughout the course of the novel, Jack
and his hunters disobey $alph, Piggy and his group of boys %ust finding a ay to escape,
for e&ample as stated by this quote, '''#he rules(' shouted $alph, 'you're breaking the
rules(' 'Who cares)', $alph summoned his its. '*ecause the rules are the only thing
e've got(' *ut Jack as shouting against him. '*ollocks to the rules( We're strong +
e hunt( If there's a beast, e'll hunt it don( We'll close in and beat and beat and beat +
('' ,Page -./ 0s you can see, Jack and his group of hunter's have no regard for $alph's
petty rules and after being e&posed to such violence and killing of animals, their savage
and primitive side shos, not looking at the bigger picture like escaping the island, but
only looking at hat's going on no and then. 0s the book progresses the boys get more
mature and less like boys, as referenced to the scene ith the female pig, and many other
references.
!haracteri"ation also plays a key part of Frankenstein. 0s referenced by his name,
Victor is similar to Victory, he strives to play god and have command over nature through
creation of life, hich eventually leads him don his path of destruction and brings about
his donfall and everybody he cares for. I personally believe doctor 1rankenstein is the
monster in this story, not the being he creates. 2e see's ho grotesque and hideous the
creature is upon creation and shuns it aay and even tries to destroy it many times. #his
starts a chain reaction of destruction starting ith his brother William's 'anonymous'
death. 0fter many other murders of 1rankenstein's loved ones he eventually meet's up
ith the monster and the monster states ho lonely he is and ants a mate, as e&plained
through this quote, 'I am alone and miserable3 man ill not associate ith me4 but one as
deformed and horrible as myself ould not deny herself to me. 5y companion must be of
the same species and have the same defects. #his being you must create.'' ,Page 6.-/ 0t
first, 1rankenstein agrees, but reali"es hat he must do and stops the operation, the
monster goes into a rage and sears to 1rankenstein he ill come to his edding night,
hat he doesn't kno is that the monster is coming to kill his bride, not him, so after the
chain of events his cruelty and selfish acts brought about the death of everyone he has
ever cared for, the monster as the doctor all along.
7ituational Irony is present in Lord of the Flies, these 'boys' are supposed to be
model citi"ens, but as stated by the theme I am trying to e&press, under the right
conditions they become savages. ''8ill the pig( !ut his throat( 8ill the pig( *ash him
in('' ,Page 69:/ ;uring their hunts, bloodlust seems to take over and all reason is long,
they are only focused on one thing and one thing only. 7imilar to the current ar that is
going on back at home for the boys, all people have killer instincts that they are born
ith. 0nother e&ample of situational irony ould be Jack and his hunters hunting don
$alph after dismembering his hole group and leaving him almost as the last man
standing and as the only hope left for rational thinking and society, Jack's boys never
cared for the signal fire that ould help them get help and get home, but Jack sets fire to
the forest to try to smoke out $alph, but it signals the *ritish naval fleet and ironically
that rescues $alph and leaves the boys in embarassment and the naval officer
flabergasted.
Frankenstein too displays situational irony, ever since doctor 1rankenstein as
e&posed to science and the professors that studied it, his goal as to create life and defy
the las of nature. Ironically, his goal is to create life, instead he creates a monster that
destroys and murders everything he loves and has ever cared for. ''<ou can blast my other
passions, but revenge remains == revenge, henceforth dearer than light of food( I may die,
but first you, my tyrant and tormentor, shall curse the sun that ga"es on your misery.''
,Page 6>?/ 0s I stated before, maltreatment of the monster and 1rankenstein's evil and
cruel acts toard it eventually end up being the bane of his e&istance.
7ymbolism plays a part in any ell ritten novel, in Lord of the Flies, the idea of
the beast frightens all of the boys at the beginning, the name loosely spoken among them,
but as the story progresses, the beast is orshipped almost like an effigy of a god, but
representing primal instinct of savagery in people, correlating to the evil in people. 0s I
state about the representation of savagery in a person, this quote relates. ''5aybe there is
a beast....maybe it's only us.'' ,Page @9/ #he boys are starting to reali"e that perhaps the
evil is ithin and not manifested in some primal creature.
In Frankenstein, symbolism is a little harder to describe. It is argued hather the
monster is evil or neutral, but after society mistreats him due to his physical features and
the cruelty from his creator Victor 1rankenstein, he takes his revenge out on the true evil
man in the novel. I feel like the monster is a symbol of Victor's attempts to defy nature, at
the same time destroying himself in the process. Aotice ho Victor discribes the monster
in this quote, it's quite cruel. '0 flash of lightning illuminated the ob%ect and discovered
its shape plainly to me4 its gigantic stature, and the deformity of its aspect, more hideous
than belongs to humanity, instantly informed me that it as the retch, the filthy demon
to hom he had given life.' ,Page B9/.
Cven from the beginning of time man has been defying reason and disobeying
higher poer and commiting evil deeds, think 0dam and Cve. I feel e are all born evil,
e ant everything out of selfish desires, all you must do is look at a young child and see
that, but a child must be taught right from rong, I feel people learn over time and
develop traits, but also upon birth there are a fe predetermined ones as ell, such as evil
and corruption. #hrough Jack's selfish acts and mistreatment of the boys on the island to
establish a dictatorship=like iron grip on the boy's society, or Victor 1rankenstein's
mistreatment of the monster for his on selfish gain of knoledge and curiosity, evil is in
all of us, it only takes certain circumstances to bring it out.
Wor"s Cite#
7helley, 5ary. 1rankenstein. Ae <ork3 7ignet !lassics, 6-B?.
Print.
Dolding, William. Eord of the 1lies. Ae <ork3 !oard=5c!ann,
6-B.. Print.