One of the central themes of Lord of the Flies is that all humans, even innocent children, are inherently drawn towards evil. The boys begin as relative innocents who view war as a game and have little moral or social awareness beyond their upbringings. However, their naivety with regards to human nature cannot last; the presence of evil on the island quickly becomes undeniable. Golding posits that evil is an innate defect in human nature, an inescapable imperative that must be controlled and contained by an ethical society. Without the bounds of society to contain them, the boys are forced to confront humanity’s inherent evil. In doing so, they lose the innocence that allows them to view the world as good and just, instead succumbing to the “infinite cynicism of adult life.” 

Rather than portraying violence and evil as outliers, Lord of the Flies positions morality and reason as minority forces that must overcome the ghastly defects of human nature. The majority of the boys succumb to wickedness, painting their faces and exulting in violence. For the boys, the draw towards evil is strong and immediate, with savagery representing the path of freedom and individualism, whereas morality and reason require sacrifice and the privileging of communal priorities over individual desires. By portraying evil as the more attractive option to the boys on the island, Golding highlights the “essential illness” that plagues humanity: given free reign, humanity’s innate capacity for evil will always win out. 

Golding uses biblical symbols and motifs to reinforce both the nature of evil and the boys’ loss of innocence. The nature of evil is comprised of two major components: the knowledge of evil and the perpetration of evil. Jack is the leader of a church choir, whose “voices had been the songs of angels” when they arrived on the island. The arrival of innocent beings on an Edenic island evokes the biblical story of Adam and Eve, who were born innocent and with no knowledge of evil. They were tempted by a serpent into consuming fruit that gave them knowledge of good and evil, destroying their innocence. Similarly, the boys see a snake-like beast on the island and are forced to recognize the nature of evil, ending their innocence. 

While acknowledgement of evil is modeled through the Edenic narrative, perpetration of evil is represented by the Lord of the Flies. The choirs’ transformation from “angelic” children to violent savages mirrors the fall from grace of Satan, who is often depicted as a fallen angel and the incarnation of evil itself. The Lord of the Flies, the sow’s head that Jack’s tribe mounts on a stick, is named after Beelzebub, a figure often conflated with Satan, highlighting the boys’ loss of heavenly innocence and descent into evil. 

Knowledge of evil is positioned as incompatible with innocence. The nature of evil is corrosive, overwhelming any goodness or virtue that exists. The death of Simon, a Christ-like figure, plunges all of the boys into sin, and they spiral into chaos, savagery, and destruction. By the time the boys are rescued, they have burned down the fruit trees and rendered the island largely uninhabitable. By portraying the boys’ longed-for rescuer as the captain of a warship, Golding extends his theme to all of humanity. Within all humans there exists a pull towards evil, and it seems that only once the boys have been completely stripped of their innocence can they return to the ranks of the adult world.