Discussion: Are You Evil? Or Do Circumstances Play A Greater Role Than You Think?
The tale of some kids on an island and a mad Roman emperor
A Peep into a Great Novel
Lord of the Flies, a depressing classic, strongly promotes the idea that humankind is inherently evil.
William Golding's novel sketches a tale about some boys who find themselves stranded on an island. They try to systematically live their lives till help arrives. Instead, the children eventually become violent and brutal.
The author argued through his tour de force that our kind is savage by nature. We are inclined more towards the primal urges of selfishness, brutality, and dominance over others.
Though the boys think the beast lives in the jungle, Golding makes it clear that it lurks only in their hearts.
Its portrayal of innate human depravity was hailed at the time for its unblinking “realism.”
After hearing about this book, I was saddened, driven crazy by these questions:
Are humans inherently evil? Will we be kind only when convenient?
I did a little survey. Asked around these questions. Got responses. A majority of people stated without hesitation that indeed this novel did justice to our kind.
They agreed that humans wouldn’t be kind if they got the chance.
The answers disappointed me further.
(What do you think?)
My Views
I disagree with this.
I do believe that we humans are more good than bad, that we’d prefer to do good even if it had no returns.
I think we humans, from the beginning, civilised or not, had a social code. A tribe/group only could survive through the centuries if it was successful in implementing it, mostly with the help of "fear" of the supernatural (god).
That social code was:
Do what you want and expect the other to do. Punish otherwise.
Here’s it in implementation:
A man will follow the laws so that the very same protect him during a crisis.
A man will be kind because he will want another man to be exactly as good if he becomes the victim one day.
After all, what goes around comes around.
We lose a part of ourselves when we deliberately hurt someone or act as a jerk when we have the option to be good instead. That part of the self should be held sacred, and not sacrificed even if you are transitioning from a child to an adult, from a protected environment to an unsupervised one.
The point I am driving towards is that it's a myth that you HAVE to be cruel and inconsiderate if you want to be successful and enjoy the adult world.
Sure don't get taken advantage of, be firm, stay smart. But romanticising, glorifying, and mandating that kind of cleverness is a kind of injustice towards humanity.
The “Naivety” of My Views
My thoughts will have their flaws. Indeed, I got criticized for them.
The world is not rainbows and unicorns, and human hearts are not as pure as I make them to be. There is cruelty in the world. Take Hitler, Nero, and Stalin.
Some people admitted that they could be evil and cruel if circumstances weren’t favourable, even when their “honour” was at stake.
So, which view is correct?
Golding was Wrong: Lord of the Flies in Real Life
In 1965, a group of schoolboys who sailed a stolen fishing boat from Tonga were hit by a storm and marooned on the uninhabited island of ʻAta.
As I wrote, Golding insisted that such situations would lead to a descent into anarchy, chaos and primitive behaviour.
Instead, I found something wonderful! In real life, the complete opposite occurred.
The boys who’d actually gotten stuck were between the ages of 13-16. They had planned to sail to Fiji, 500 miles away, and provisioned themselves perfectly.
That night they encountered high seas and whipping winds, which tore apart their sail and snapped their rudder.
After drifting for eight days and collecting rainwater in coconut shells, they landed on the small remote island of ‘Ata.
In his memoir, Ocean of Light, Peter Warner, the man who found and rescued the boys, described what they had accomplished on the island while stranded for 15 months.
“The boys had set up a small commune with food garden, hollowed-out tree trunks to store rainwater, a gymnasium with curious weights, a badminton court, chicken pens and a permanent fire, all from handiwork, an old knife blade and much determination.”
The boys also tended a signal fire for more than a year, in direct contrast with the boys of Lord of the Flies, whose infighting led to their signal fire dying out.
But it was more than just a fire that separated the Tongan schoolboys from Ralph, Piggy and Jack in the novel.
The real castaways maintained a roster of garden, kitchen and guard duties; imposed time-outs during arguments; and ended each day with music, with one of the boys, Kolo, playing a guitar made from driftwood and steel wire.
They experienced many hardships — scarce water and even a broken leg — and had their failures, as when their raft broke apart.
But they survived for 15 months and were rescued on September 11, 1966. When rescued, the boys were extraordinarily healthy — physically, socially and spiritually.
How Circumstances Play A Role: Caligula’s Crazy Tale
Why did Golding write and believe ardently in such a pessimistic belief?
The author’s childhood has a hand here.
He’d had an unhappy childhood and later he became an alcoholic, prone to depression. He had a favourable view of authoritarianism.
“I have always understood the Nazis,” Golding confessed, “because I am of that sort by nature.” It was “partly out of that sad self-knowledge” that he wrote Lord of the Flies.
With this in mind, let us delve into the mad emperor Caligula’s life to see what exactly had led to the man’s deterioration. (As narrated by Alex Mann)
Roman Emperor Augustus died in 14 AD. Tiberius stepped up to the throne and was proclaimed the second emperor of Rome.
Tiberius began to feel threatened by Germanicus, a general.
Germanicus was charming and brilliant. He went off and won battle after battle. His time in Germany was legendary.
While on campaign in Germany, Germanicus would bring his son, Gaius with him.
Gaius would hang around the camp and try to wear sets of armour and soldiers’ boots. The men found this adorable and nicknamed Gaius Caligula, or “little boots”
Tiberius was a paranoid man and an unpopular emperor. Germanicus was a popular general and was beloved by the Romans.
Tiberius had Germanicus assassinated.
Germanicus’s wife Agrippa returned to Rome with her family and began to make moves against Tiberius. She was sure he was behind the killing of her husband and her popularity among the people was high.
She would attend functions and rail against the injustice of Tiberius killing her great husband. Political factions supporting her rallied against Tiberius and threatened his position.
Tiberius decided to make for the island of Capri, leaving his Praetorian Prefect Sejanus to rule in his place. Sejanus wanted rid of Agrippina who was his sworn enemy but he couldn’t.
Livia, the wife of Augustus, was still around and she was arguably the most powerful human alive. The Augusta knew all and kept a tight circle of powerful allies around her and Agrippina was included in this circle.
But, eventually, Livia would die leaving Agrippa exposed and Sejanus would arrest Agrippina and then exile her far away from the empire.
Young Caligula had seen his father killed, and now his mother exiled. Young and alone, Tiberius, now looking for heirs himself, brought Caligula to live with him on the Island of Capri.
The island of Capri was a disgusting place, filled with drunkards, hedonism, and violence.
The traumatized child was only made crueller and more sadistic by what he saw on Capri and it helped shape him into the monster he would become.
Tiberius would die at the age of 77 and both Caligula and Tiberius’s grandson Germellus would jointly inherit the throne. Germellus was soon after killed under the orders of Caligula.
Caligula became the sole emperor.
Caligula's first year on the throne was a flurry of activity. It passed normally.
But in 38 AD Caligula became ill. He was so sick that everyone thought he was about to die then and there.
A few Senators even publicly begged the gods to spare Caligula and take them instead.
Caligula would recover, but he seemed different now.
First, he found the Senators that had begged the gods to trade their lives of his
and ordered to them commit suicide. After all, they had been the ones to make
that deal.
Caligula started to become increasingly insane during the next few years. He
married and slept with his sisters.
Caligula hated the Senate and appointed his horse a member of the Senate to
insult the esteemed body.
Caligula declared war on Neptune, the god of the sea.
He killed practically anyone he considered to be a threat.
He spent lavishly on ridiculous things, causing a bit of a crisis.
Caligula was quick to anger and kill. Any perceived insult or slight was met with
immediate death. He enjoyed watching people get tortured and is reported to have said, “Make them feel that they are dying”
Caligula was insane. He was violent, hedonistic, illogical, hateful, and paranoid.
Re-read the bold parts. Those circumstances led to his deterioration. Even when you “choose”, your choice is based on the circumstances of your past life and your nature — nothing you control.
Maybe if Caligula had had the opportunity to treat his mental illness, he’d have not resorted to such crazy practices.
Conclusion: Some Hopeful Words
I noticed a pattern in the replies of my friends.
Those who had some faith in humanity and agreed that humans weren’t all that bad — they were the same kind of people. Those people would go a step further and be kind even if it wasn’t comfortable.
Those who shared Golding’s world-view — I had seen them act meanly and unkindly without reason at times. They had been and would be cruel if they could.
Your answer to this question is a reflection of what kind of person you are.
And, even if it isn’t great, you can always change for the better.
(What was your belief? Has it changed now?)
“A liar thinks everyone else lies? ... A thief thinks everyone else is stealing from him? ... A philanderer thinks everyone else is philandering.” —― Megan Whalen Turner
As to why I wrote such a long thesis, perhaps I want to reaffirm the hope of goodness to all.
Perhaps I want to tell you that your little acts of kindness and warmth matter a ton. Perhaps I want everyone to know that their angel instincts can win if they make an effort.
Perhaps I want us all to remain tender hearted despite, despite, despite.
As said,
Doing the right thing when no one is watching allows us to have a better reputation with ourselves. When we build that self image within, we can stand more firmly in who we know we are, even if we're misunderstood by others.
A Small Thing That Matters a Ton
Small talk
Definition: “Conversation about things that are not important.”
Small talk is often looked down upon — for reasons I cannot comprehend. Yes, it is superior to talk about “intellectual” stuff like your views on the afterlife, atoms, and Neanderthals.
BUT,
Before that, why don't we make our friends (and ourselves hence) feel better by asking about how their day went?
The Underrated Power of Putting One-Liners During Heavy Moments in Your Novel
Writing emotion-fuelled and heavy scenes is the most engrossing and interesting practice in writing your novel.
Angst, drama, tears, anger, and other feelings engulf the scene. Your characters get shocks and revelations.
Either this is the scene you have been building your whole book for, or this is the place where the plot twist occurs out of the blue.
Somebody vital to the book (and a fan-favorite) dies, one gets backstabbed, and another turns into a Vampire.
You need to take care that the surprises are not outrageous but believably shocking.
The reader should not think, “I could not see this coming.” Rather, the thoughts should be, “The dots connect. Why didn’t I see this coming?”
You will smother the scene with your efforts to make it even better. Here is a little technique I learned for the final touch-up, used by authors like J. K. Rowling and Rick Riordan.
Here’s what to do to pack an extra punch.