The Importance of Common Ground
In everyday life it's important to find common ground, to relate to one another, in order to get things done. It's an essential part of life. This theme of “Finding Common Ground” is represented in the texts, The Lord of the Flies by William Golding and Once Upon a Time by Nadine Gordimer in a variety of ways.
In The Lord of the Flies Golding introduces to the story privileged boys that have crashed onto an island and must find common ground in to survive. Golding’s message is that everyone has an inner savage, and that civilization is forced onto us. One of the central themes is that these boys have inner savages, and it causes them to do horrible things. For example, we watch one of the boys - Roger - go from a simple boy, to bullying littluns (Golding 62), to dropping a boulder on Piggy’s head (Golding 181). Roger gives into his inner savage and becomes less civilized as he becomes more detached from his island mates.
Golding also shows that there is good in other characters, such as Simon. He encounters a personification of the inner savage (143-144), except he doesn’t give in like Roger. He also finds what the littluns thought was the beast - a dead parachutist (146). When he goes to tell the other boys what he’s found they tear him apart out of fear that he was the beast (152), Simon enjoyed nature and was more than willing to help the other boys survive - he helped make all the huts, and was important to Ralph. He shows the civility in humanity whereas Roger shows the savagery. This is also relevant in “Once Upon a Time” because they both have prevalent deaths. In the story “Once Upon a Time” we’re introduced to a family who lives in South Africa during Apartheid. She relates her fear before writing her fairy tale to a family who adds more and more safety features to their house to feel safe again. Gordimer’s theme is that fear tears people apart, and how finding common ground could’ve helped to avoid the tragedy that happens during the fairy tale. During the tale the family goes for a walk and takes note of the high walls, and the devices on top of the walls - such as spikes or barbed wire. While the parents compare the effectiveness of each method, while the boy and his dog run ahead (15). Gordimer shows that the parents let their fear divide them, while the boy uses the consequences of their fear as an excuse to play games. The boy never allows his parent’s fear to affect his life. One of the bloodier events in this short story is when he crawls through the barbed wire during a game (Gordimer 16). It’s heavily implied that he doesn’t survive. Gordimer uses this to show that fear can …show more content…
Golding views humanity as innately evil and that everyone has an inner savage that causes people - even young children - to do despicable things such as murder. Gordimer doesn’t view humanity as evil, but she shows that humanity lets our fear divide. Golding shows that the children are able to do evil things like murder - usually out of their own free will, or by listening to their inner savage, but Gordimer’s characters don’t hurt their son on purpose, but by giving in to their fear they inadvertently cause their son’s
In everyday life it's important to find common ground, to relate to one another, in order to get things done. It's an essential part of life. This theme of “Finding Common Ground” is represented in the texts, The Lord of the Flies by William Golding and Once Upon a Time by Nadine Gordimer in a variety of ways.
In The Lord of the Flies Golding introduces to the story privileged boys that have crashed onto an island and must find common ground in to survive. Golding’s message is that everyone has an inner savage, and that civilization is forced onto us. One of the central themes is that these boys have inner savages, and it causes them to do horrible things. For example, we watch one of the boys - Roger - go from a simple boy, to bullying littluns (Golding 62), to dropping a boulder on Piggy’s head (Golding 181). Roger gives into his inner savage and becomes less civilized as he becomes more detached from his island mates.
Golding also shows that there is good in other characters, such as Simon. He encounters a personification of the inner savage (143-144), except he doesn’t give in like Roger. He also finds what the littluns thought was the beast - a dead parachutist (146). When he goes to tell the other boys what he’s found they tear him apart out of fear that he was the beast (152), Simon enjoyed nature and was more than willing to help the other boys survive - he helped make all the huts, and was important to Ralph. He shows the civility in humanity whereas Roger shows the savagery. This is also relevant in “Once Upon a Time” because they both have prevalent deaths. In the story “Once Upon a Time” we’re introduced to a family who lives in South Africa during Apartheid. She relates her fear before writing her fairy tale to a family who adds more and more safety features to their house to feel safe again. Gordimer’s theme is that fear tears people apart, and how finding common ground could’ve helped to avoid the tragedy that happens during the fairy tale. During the tale the family goes for a walk and takes note of the high walls, and the devices on top of the walls - such as spikes or barbed wire. While the parents compare the effectiveness of each method, while the boy and his dog run ahead (15). Gordimer shows that the parents let their fear divide them, while the boy uses the consequences of their fear as an excuse to play games. The boy never allows his parent’s fear to affect his life. One of the bloodier events in this short story is when he crawls through the barbed wire during a game (Gordimer 16). It’s heavily implied that he doesn’t survive. Gordimer uses this to show that fear can …show more content…
Golding views humanity as innately evil and that everyone has an inner savage that causes people - even young children - to do despicable things such as murder. Gordimer doesn’t view humanity as evil, but she shows that humanity lets our fear divide. Golding shows that the children are able to do evil things like murder - usually out of their own free will, or by listening to their inner savage, but Gordimer’s characters don’t hurt their son on purpose, but by giving in to their fear they inadvertently cause their son’s