Evil in Beowulf, to illustrate the obvious contrast between good and evil and puts a spin on it by telling the story from Grendel’s point of view, ultimately connecting to the theme of Grendel’s need for community in Gardner’s work. In Beowulf, the author emphasizes the differences between Good and Evil by portraying the monsters as unstoppable forces, while most humans are depicted at the monsters’ mercy. An example of the theme Good vs. Evil in Beowulf is “So Hrothgar’s men lived happy in his hall Till the monster stirred, that demon, that fie, Grendel, who haunted the moors, the wild Marshes, and made his home in hell…” (Beowulf, Canto 1 Lines 101-104). This quote from Beowulf shows how the men in Herot are at peace until the monster, Grendel, ruins the serenity of the hall.
pg.71). This quote proves that the intensity of not only their rage, but their weapons increases as their paranoia overcomes them. They fear the monster so much that they have become the monsters themselves. Overall, the outcome of the transformation of their weapons clearly defines the loss of innocence. William Golding truly imbraces the theme of the loss of innocence in The Lord of the Flies.
Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay and Lord of the Flies by William Golding have much to say about a man's sinful nature. Both of these novels contain scenes in which the main character(s) goes savage; their savagery comes about because of their sinful nature or the sinful nature of others around them. Man's sinful nature is revealed through the thoughts and actions of the characters in both novels. The authors show through their works their belief that if everyone revealed their true natures, the world would tear itself apart. In both novels, evil is revealed by the telling actions of the characters.
The thought always in their head that beyond any field of grass or behind any tree the enemy could be waiting. John Wade the protagonist of the story found himself witnessing first hand how horrid war can be and what it can make out of individuals. He saw his whole company turn into evil selfless animals who raped and murdered the innocent and weak. In the novel, In The Lake Of The Woods by Tim O'Brien, small footnotes were attached at the end of each important chapter which give the reader clues and symbolic twists that made the novel somewhat unpredictable. The Footnote I chosen explains related truth on the Vietnam War, symbolizes what John Wade witnessed, and finally how it portrays the rest of the novel.
The Good and Evil Within Piggy and Jack are two very different people in “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding. They are different in ways like how Jack loves hunting for the bloodlust while Piggy wouldn’t hurt a fly and Jack only looks out for his hunters while Piggy looks out for everyone, but the biggest difference is how evil Jack turns out to be and how good Piggy is. All Jack wants to do is hunt and it is affecting him to the point where he completely changes who he really is “He looked in astonishment, no longer at himself but at an awesome stranger.”(63). Jack would rather hunt and kill animals and build fires than building shelters. Jack slowly over time becomes more and more crazed from the bloodlust.
In contrast Gardner portrayed Grendel and Beowulf completely different than how Orwell did. We could see a more in-depth complex view of Grendel, the monster himself. The text explains Grendel’s horrible life and includes the explanations to why he does the evil deeds. Gardner shows readers that
Lord of The Flies “There is a beast in every man and it stirs when you put a sword in his hand” - George R. R. Martin. In William Golding’s novel, The Lord of The Flies, a group of boys find themselves stranded on an island. As they fight for power and struggle to survive, they discover a resident evil in each individual which threatens to overtake the group as a whole. Golding represents this bestiality through symbols such as The Beast, The Lord of The Flies, and a big fire. Golding uses a beast that resonates in each boys head as a symbol for their growing insanity.
He is afraid and admits it; however, he deals with his fear with aggressive violence. He chooses to hunt for the beast, arm himself with a spear, and practice killing it: “We’re strong—we hunt! If there’s a beast, we’ll hunt it down! We’ll close in and beat and beat and beat—!”(Golding 91). He also uses the fear of the beast to control and manipulate the other children.
One major comparison between two stories is that they both have characters that use violence in order to gain what they desire. In The Lord of the Flies the antagonist, Jack, can be compared parallel to the creation of Frankenstein. Jack is one of the older boys on the island who became leader of the hunters but wishes to have complete power over the group of boys. Jack is wild, cruel and represents human savagery. When Jack is not accepted by all of the boys as the new leader he becomes angry and violent against those who disagree with him.
Shakespeare has written his character Iago as the perfect stereotypical sociopath. In fact, the play Othello could be used as a case study in a psychology class. When one reads down the list of sociopathic traits Iago has them all; he is a sociopath to the nth degree. Some including Othello, would argue that Iago is the devil incarnate. Othello, himself states “that thou be’st a devil, I cannot kill thee.” He then stabs Iago but only wounds him, showing that he thinks that Iago is the devil.