Critical lens heart of darkness and lord of the flies

Essay by chrisdanHigh School, 11th gradeA+, January 2005

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An American author, James Baldwin, once said "Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced." In a sense, his statement is satisfying to the mind. Mr. Baldwin may have meant that all problems may not always be solvable, but you can't fix any problem if you don't "face" it. Just as everyone has the potential for evil within themselves, we too have the potential for true goodness. In many literary works the author attempts to exemplify the evil which lies within by showing many characters which have been, or are being overcome by their inner darkness. In the novel Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad we see how Marlow's journey into his ultimate evil, into his inner self, can be a positive experience. By contrasting Marlow with Kurtz, who represents the absolute evil, we can see the two products of an inner evil which has emerged.


It is clear how one's inner darkness will surface without the restraints of civilization. In the case of Jack and the hunters, the children are accustom to civility, laws, and order. The theme of the children turning into savages depicts how that the fact that parents and teachers were always placing unwanted rules on them, probably caused an initial enjoyment of the lack of civility...