A Revelatory Pig Head

Those small, semi-classic novels assigned in high school English courses are often more rich in insights concerning the deeper things of life than college textbooks. Aldous Huxley, author of A Brave New World, presents a more thoughtful analysis in the political, social, psychological, and philosophical realms than most of the prominent "experts" in these fields. Perhaps his brilliance came with the realization that these disciplines don't own their fields, but are beholden to them. He also lived in a day in which subjects were not so specialized as to place them in a vacuum.

Another brilliant masterpiece is William Golding's Lord of the Flies. Golding asks the incredibly prodding and difficult question of what human beings, still in the pre-adolescent "age of innocence," would do if stranded on an island and left to their own moral and intellectual reserves. In their adventure, the children are constantly fearful of an unknown monster, but late in the novel, one small boy receives a revelation from a skewered pig's head:

"Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill!" said the head. For a moment or two the forest and all the other dimly appreciated places echoed with the parody of laughter. "You knew, didn't you? I'm part of you? Close, close, close!" (p. 130)

The copyright of this book is 1954, thus placing its writing soon after World War Two. Prior to that war, Europe joined the US in embracing an optimistic view of human nature and potential. With the rise of science, higher education, and greater international connectivity, the West brimmed with optimism at the thought that it could create heaven on earth. World War Two revealed to Europe that such optimism was unfounded and delusional; it took Vietnam to bring that home to the U.S. Thus, Golding was a man of his time, realizing that evil was not an exterior force--something social or political--but infected all things, including the individual human heart.