How William Golding Conveys His Message
In William Goding’s essay, “Why Boys Become Vicious”, Golding’s use of abstract and pessimistic language, a moralistic tone and imagery helps to convey Golding’s message about the darkness and evil found in human nature. For one, Golding uses abstract and pessimistic language to convey his message. To clarify, the use of diction such as “horror” (Golding 1), “human cruelty” (Golding 1) in addition to “darkest instincts” (Golding 2) implies that humanity causes damage and destruction and that there is something horrible that lies within every human being.
Moreover, the moralistic tone used by Golding in his essay contributes to his message conveyed to readers. For example, Golding states in the text, “The truth must be that both components are of equal importance. We are born with evil in us and cruelty is a part of this” (Golding 1). Thus, Golding uses tone to express his perspective of morality, which contributes to the underlying message of his essay that there is evil in humanity. Furthermore, Golding’s message is conveyed through the use of dark imagery. For example, Golding states, “But their deeds were the deeds of tangled and contorted souls” (Golding 1).
Therefore, through Golding’s use of dark imagery, the reader understands that through his essay, Golding is trying to convey that man’s soul is atrocious. In conclusion, the use of pessimistic language, a moralistic tone and dark imagery indicates to readers and conveys Golding’s message that there is evil in humanity and it can be brought to the surface by fear, chaos and a lack of guidance and moral values.
