Inherent Goodness Can Save the World
"Men and women of every faith and good people with none at all sincerely strive to do right and lead a purpose-driven life." -Mitt Romney. Ralph shows the good side of people by demonstrating very strong leadership skills garnering the respect of the boys. Piggy represents the science of good natured people through explaining his reasoning for what is right versus what is wrong. Simon characterizes the goodness in people by being nice to everyone, even while he is fighting against the evil boys. Inherent goodness is shown by demonstrating excellent leadership skills that earns the respect of others, representing the knowledge that is possessed by people and continuously being nice to everyone albeit resisting the evil boys.
To start this argument in favor of people being inherently good, Ralph shows the good side of people by demonstrating very strong leadership skills garnering the respect of the boys.
Solid leadership skills, as demonstrated by Ralph, gain him respect given by the boys. As a natural leader, Ralph has to take the time to figure out how to run the tribe. For example, at one point he says: "Listen, everybody. I've got to have time to think things out. I can't decide what to do straight off" (Golding [Page 23]). By setting aside time for thinking of how to manage the island, Ralph is putting himself and the boys in a better position for surviving from the plane crash. Another example of expressing goodness is contained about a man who feeds the homeless. Mr. Tribe bought a Never Ending Pasta Pass from Olive Garden and decided to use the pass to help others. He was in his car looking for homeless people when he sees a homeless person that could possibly be fed. In fact, Mr. Tribe was quoted in Time Magazine as saying: "I was cruising around looking for someone homeless that I could give some pasta to. I finally found one sleeping in a park. I debated on whether or not it would be a good idea to wake her up,
but in the end I decided to do it. I approached her and asked if she was hungry and would like some Olive Garden. She thanked me for the pasta...” (Heigl [Page 1]). Due to Matt Tribe doing this very kind act of giving a homeless woman food, he has shown that when a person is a leader they can earn the respect of people through doing acts of goodness.
Continuing this argument in favor of people being inherently good, Piggy represents the science of good natured people by explaining his reasoning for good decisions versus bad decisions. The science possessed by Piggy shows the advice that smart people can share with others in making good decisions. Decisions made by the boys to light a fire on the mountain leads to criticism from Piggy: "You said you wanted a small fire and you been and built a pile like a hayrick" (Golding [Page 43]). Having a person who is as wise as Piggy, leads to criticism for learning how bad actions can affect people. Consequently, the mountain was lit on fire by the boys due to Piggy not intervening until after the whole mountain was completely burnt. A large fire caused the whole mountain to erupt in flames: "You got your small fire all right" (Golding
[Page 44]). Due to the intervention of Piggy after the whole mountain had burnt, the boys were told to stop lighting the island on fire which would result in yet more consequences.
Ending this argument in favor