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/lit/ - Literature

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15739458 No.15739458 [Reply] [Original]

Books that center their narrative on the assumption that all humans are evil?

>> No.15739476

But in that book not all humans are evil.

>> No.15739480

>>15739458
Read a history of US and British imperialism.

>> No.15739489

>>15739458
Leviathan.

>> No.15739496

>>15739476
The fuck was his point in this book?

People are corrupted by society? People are inherently corrupt? It manages to make two simultaneous and contradicting arguments on the matter. Whilst it argues that people are evil by nature, it is in their founding of societal order that established a form of fascism, that led to their downfall. However, it is in the absence of society they choose this route, and thus, were inherently driven to evil acts. The actual fuck was Golding's point?

>> No.15739528

>>15739458

If you want a somewhat pessimistic view of human nature as a whole, try other Golding. In his universe there are a few good or even very good people but their goodness does not prevail. Cormac McCarthy is the same, as are many others e.g. Graham Greene.

>> No.15739529

>>15739496
It was mostly a response to the paradisiac island trope, which suggested that innocent-hearted children would be able to create a flawless society since they're devoid of the corruption garnered in adulthood. Golding's stance was that violence and territorialism was something inherent to the human condition. But more than that, it's a jab at the pomposity of the english people, who believed themselves objectively superior to the indigenous savages despite having a history of savagery themselves.

>> No.15739539

>>15739458
>>15739489
This and The Prince. Those two are basically Utopia but assuming all humans are evil.

>> No.15739540

>>15739529
>who believed themselves objectively superior to the indigenous savages despite having a history of savagery themselves.
If only he were alive to see how wrong he truly was.

>> No.15739560

>>15739529
>>15739496

Most specifically LOTF was a "rejoinder" to Coral Island, yes, but in a deeper sense it was a rejoinder to the whole Roussean idea that it's only society that corrupts; that Primitive Man is basically benign.

He isn't saying that Man is entirely evil, just that civilization is not a natural thing that will happen unless you thwart it. He's saying it's more artifical and factitious (and hence more fragile) than that.

>> No.15739736

>>15739540
How was he wrong?