Lord of the Flies Discussion Questions

1. Individuals are basically evil and must constantly fight against their violent nature.

    I believe that this statement is false. Not everyone is evil, some people are purely good-hearted. People are not evil when they are born, they may want to commit something that is evil when a scenario arises that is upsetting. Individuals do not have an evil nature constantly inside them, instead they an evil nature that is invoked when angering or frustrating issues emerge. This is the only time when they will need to control the violence they want to bring forth, although not always. If this statement were true, then people would not feel guilty when they do something awful.

2. Individuals will go along with any type of activity, no matter how violent, when pressured by their peers.

    I am for, yet against this statement. The reason why is because not everyone is affected by peer pressure, some people have no care whatsoever about what others say to them. A lot of people do not believe in violence and their beliefs are what will shape the decisions they make. It also depends on the situation, some people may believe in violence but only to a certain extent. In this case, they may fall into the peer pressure but only if the situation presented applies to them. This statement depends on the type of person we are talking about.

3. The human race is destined to destroy itself.

    This statement is completely false because, if it were true, we would not be creating charities or other help organisations to give to people who need it. This is a narrow-minded view because it only applies when we focus on the bad things in the world, such as war. Even though these things exist in our world, they do not define the human race.

4. Rules and punishments are absolutely necessary if we are to maintain a civilized society.

    I agree with this view because people do not learn from their mistakes if no one disciplines them to do so. This is why punishments are necessary, however, they are needed to a certain extent to maintain order. Torture and violence are not the proper type of punishment, when I agree with this statement, I agree with it only if the type of rules and punishments are fair and honest. Rules are a neccesity for the safety of others and to control those who bring forth danger to others.

5. WE are our own worst enemy.

    I agree with this opinion because we control our actions and our words, not anyone else. If we do not control ourselves, then we will become our own worst enemy. For example, if someone is suicidal, they, themselves, are their own worst enemy because they are harming themselves. People control themselves, no one does it for them, therefore, if we don't take care of ourselves or others then we are our own worst enemy.