Lumination: The Conquest of Mankind's Darkness Anonymous

When freed from the moral manacles of society, humans must embrace moderate, disciplined lifestyles in order to avoid a fatal plunge into barbarism. In William Golding's Lord of the Flies, marooned schoolboys exchange the confines of civility for an unrestrained, iniquitous lifestyle. Joseph Conrad depicts a steamboat captain's voyage down the Congo River and realization of mankind's intrinsic evils in Heart of Darkness. Both Golding and Conrad construct microcosms to chronicle the dangers induced by both engaging in a decadent existence and denying mankind's capacity for evil.

William Golding's Lord of the Flies exemplifies mankind's descent into transgression with the isolation of schoolboys on an island paradise. The boys survive an attack that cripples their transport aircraft and initially become acquainted when the pragmatic Ralph sounds a conch shell's "strident blare" (Golding 16). The assembled, albeit disoriented, youth hold a parliamentary session and elect Ralph as chief. Ralph adamantly insists upon both the maintenance of a signal fire and the construction of shelters. However, the other boys, led by the seditious Jack Merridew, prioritize fun over practicality. Jack transforms...