This novel attempts to explore the very big question as to the nature of a human being. Left alone on the island without adult supervision, the boys are able to construct/create their own society. They are also young enough to not be so indoctrinated and conditioned by their upbringing/ training that they can freely do what they do without fearing the wrath of God, parents, schoolmasters, or government. They are still innocent, although what they soon do may make you cautious about using that word. The question then is what they will create and what that tells us about ourselves. Before beginning our discussion of the book, you should be aware of what different thinkers have said about this question. What follows is just a sample of some of the theories.

There have been thinkers who believe that human beings are essentially benign- that is good, kindly, instinctively generous, sympathetic, much more likely to be kind than cruel, but then they grow up and learn about / meet other human beings, see the injustices of the world, become aware of the differences in wealth and social class, feel the unkindness of even family members. According to this point of view, it is all of this that pushes and shapes human beings to be unkind, aggressive, racist, sexist, etc... This view holds that we are not born this way- that no one is born a racist or a sexist or a criminal. We are taught to be those things. A child for example has to be taught even to see the differences in the race between people. Let us call this rather hopeful view of human beings the ROMANTIC theory.

A decidedly less optimistic view of human nature sees us as wills of power, determined
willful, aggressive beings whose sole and primary goal is to gain and keep power for ourselves. In order to get that power, we are willing to do almost anything. Because of this greed for power, control, money, resources, it was necessary for societies to come up with some constraints because without them there would be a constant war or battle of wills between people. It was no accident then that human society came up with something called organized religion to keep other people in place. The fear of never-ending hell is a pretty strong deterrent, just as is the image of a wrathful God. Equally, governments evolved with laws that would keep people in place. Would anyone, to pick an example, want to, drive on the highways/roads if there weren’t laws and rules for speeding, stopping, etc.? Let’s call this theory the POWER theory.

A third theory would fall somewhere in the middle, thinking that we are born neither uniformly innocent nor aggressive, but rather with tendencies to be both good and evil,
cruel and sympathetic. We are born really a rather blank slate, with endless possibilities about who we become and what kind of human being we will end up being. This theory holds then that we don’t have any essential human nature but we are dependent upon the world and culture we grow up in, the parents we have, our peers, whether we are rich or poor, all of those things push and shape us to be who we are. Let's call this theory the BLANK SLATE theory.

Finally, there are those who think we are shaped by the genetic makeup of our birth mothers and fathers to be who we are. We are therefore genetically predisposed to be shy, or skinny, or talented in the piano, or able to jump and dunk a basketball,
whatever. The key here is that we are this great complicated genetic structure that shapes not only how tall we are and what color eyes and hair and skin we have,
but also our very personality, our intelligence, even our moral makeup. We are then very much the sons and daughters of our birth parents because it is to them and other generations in our genetic past that is dictating who we are. Let us call this theory the GENETIC theory.

After thinking about all the above, and on your own observations of the people and world around you, explain which theory makes the most sense to you, and more importantly why. Of course, you may agree with none of the ones above. In that case, I would love to hear your own theory.