Macbeth and Lord of the Flies Comparison

Macbeth by Shakespeare and Lord of the Flies by William Golding have much to state about man’s wicked nature. Both of these works include scenes in which primary characters die; their deaths come about because of their sinful nature or the sinful nature of others around them. Man’s wicked nature is exposed through the thoughts and actions of the characters of these works. The authors show through their works their belief that if everybody exposed their real natures, the world would tear itself apart.

In both works, evil is revealed by the telling actions of the characters. In Lord of the Flies, the kids’ society starts to break down as Jack ends up being less and less civilized and the other boys slowly follow his example. Only Simon is the truly innocent one; even Ralph and Piggy expose their evil nature when they assist the other kids eliminate Simon. Besides the murders of Simon and Piggy, evil is likewise shown through the scenes when the pig is killed, Piggy’s glasses are stolen, and the conch shell is smashed.

Though Macbeth started good, his wicked nature conquered in the end.

Though they both show man’s sinful nature, the books end in very various methods. In Macbeth, Macbeth passes away by the hand of his enemy, and his better half dies by her own hand. In Lord of the Flies, the boys are saved simply as Ralph will be eliminated. However, in both books the sin issue is never controlled. Shakespeare never ever suggests in his work that Malcolm will end up being corrupt or that somebody else will seize the throne. However, it is in the nature of guy to be corrupt, and ultimately something like Macbeth’s usurpation of the throne would happen again. On the other hand, Golding lays heavy emphasis on the suggestion that all men are sinful, not simply boys marooned on an island. He shows this by including the naval officer and his ship into the story.

The Bible has much to say about man’s sinful nature. In Romans 3:23, it states: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Luke 18:13 says this: “…’God, have mercy on me, a sinner.'” Everybody has a sinful nature; our hearts are corrupted and full of greed. Macbeth and Lord of the Flies show how incredibly far away our sins can take us from God’s love and grace. As the Luke passage proves, however, God will always have mercy on us, no matter how far we have strayed from him. Macbeth, unfortunately, never changed- he stayed wicked until the end. On the other hand, Ralph and the other boys most likely did change their evil ways when they went back to civilization. If we never return to God and refuse to have anything to do with him, like Macbeth, he will have no choice but to punish us. However, if we turn from our sinful ways like Ralph, God will welcome us back with open arms.

Both Macbeth and Lord of the Flies speak volumes about the problem of man’s sinful nature. Though they seem like innocent stories at first, the reader gradually realizes that the authors are, in fact, speaking about the entire human population. Both authors are making a single point: All humans have a sinful nature, and if it were given free rein, mankind would destroy itself.