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Josh Smith

Mrs. Kaplowitz

Honors British Literature

7/14/07

A Comparison of William Golding’s Lord of the Flies and George Orwell’s 1984

Both Lord of the Flies by William Golding and 1984 by George Orwell portray

pessimistic and horrifying views of society, although each novel does so in its own way. Lord of

the Flies brings out inner human nature and shows its corruption while 1984 shows its author’s

rendition of a grim future where there is no hope for mankind. In this essay, both books will be

compared and contrasted and it will be shown that Lord of the Flies has the more terrifying

depiction of society.

Lord of the Flies is similar to 1894 in many ways. As stated before, they both are

pessimistic and show mankind at its worst. But there are also many trivial similarities. For

instance, each book focuses on one character who is not corrupt and brings out the flaws in the

others. Ralph plays this character in Lord of the Flies and Winston in 1984. Near the end of each

book, both of the main characters are in danger of becoming dissolute themselves. Winston

actually becomes a subservient Party member, and Ralph forgets what the fire is for but luckily

has Piggy there to remind him.

But although the books have similarities, they also have differences. Lord of the Flies

portrays corruption of human nature in its lowest form. It depicts schoolboys stranded on an

island reverting to their selfish ways because they are no longer bound by the laws set in place by

grown-ups back in Britain. They simply do what they please on the island, even if it includes

killing. 1984, meanwhile, shows a political society in which a small group holds power for its
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own pleasure while the many suffer. The world is seen as a hopeless case because there is no way

out of the rule of the Party. There is no way depicted of overthrowing the party or of the party

overthrowing itself because of doublethink. The whole novel is about the story of one man and

his attempts to sabotage the party, but he never succeeds.

Taken as a whole, Lord of the Flies shows a more terrifying view of society for many

reasons. In Lord of the Flies, there is even more hopelessness than in 1984 because of the

horrible condition of human nature portrayed. When the children have been on the island for a

while and the effects of their parents’ punishments have worn off, there is no moral sting on their

consciences at all, even when they murder. This brings out fears in the reader that as humans, we

can detach ourselves from morality if we get rid of the consequences and the teachings of

society. With human nature as it is portrayed in Lord of the Flies, as a race we will never be able

to get rid of horrible crimes and corruption in society. In 1984, human nature is seen as

potentially good except when it is controlled by power. Wilson repeats to himself many times

“hope lies in the proles.” From the viewpoint of the Party, this is not the case, because the party

believes itself to be perfect. They believe they weed out any smart proles so they will never be

overthrown. But when reading the book, the reader sees that the Party is not perfect and will

probably make a mistake and there will be a chance for an uprising by the proles. In any case,

when human nature is portrayed as good, hope always exists in some small degree.

Overall, Lord of the Flies by Golding and 1984 by Orwell have many important

similarities and differences, but the most significant difference is that Lord of the Flies shows

corruption and complete hopelessness in human nature whereas 1984 shows a corrupt and almost

hopeless political system. For this reason, Lord of the Flies is the more horrifying depiction of

society.