The Inheritors by William Golding Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Inheritors by William Golding - Essay Example The story line of the book mainly portrays the relationship between ancient or pre-historic men and the Homo sapiens. William Golding has made ‘The Inheritors’ even more conspicuous by creating one of the pre-historic men as the protagonist. Readers acquire a proximity to the various aspects of nature by reading the entire story from the view of the primitive man, who is still unknown to the evil form of the world. The Inheritors has brought into light, the imagination of the author, where he brought together primitive humans and modern Homo sapiens. Throughout the story, William Golding has asked his readers an intricate, but relevant question, i.e. â€Å"Is mankind evil?† The entire story has been based on a particular type of pre-historic men, known as the Neanderthals, who lived in a group. One of the adult Neanderthals, named Lok guides us throughout the story according to his knowledge of the world. The story narrates a peaceful and contented life of the Nea nderthals, until some modern men interfere into it and creates the sense of fear in them. The last chapter has been described from the human point of view, wherein they run away from the habitation of these men, taking away a baby Neanderthal with them. The creation of this unique book by William Golding has enlightened the readers with the fact that â€Å"evil† did not exist in human beings when they belonged to the prehistoric times. But, the introduction of modern men in their serene environment changed their views about life extensively. Inherited Violence William Golding has repeatedly concluded in the book that the Neanderthals did not know the meaning of evil and violence, but they were prone to eating dead meat of animals, which is clearly an act of violence as they were feeding on another natural creature. All types of human beings have evolved from animals that are quite callous about violence, so it has always been in the blood of the Neanderthal Homo sapiens as we ll. It has also been alleged that the Neanderthals did not kill animals to feed on them, but history says that man has killed animals to feed on them. These ideas of a non-violent mentality have been produced by the author to formulate a gap between the nearly modern men and the pre-historic ones so that modern men can be blamed at every phase of the book. Existence of Knowledge The discovery of producing fire by rubbing stones was also brought about by primitive Homo sapiens. But, the author posed the Neanderthals to be completely unaware about the world and any kind of discoveries. This is an indirect insult as no other human beings were available to teach the primitive men about any discoveries; their individual knowledge was all the help that they got. The author has put the nearly modern Homo sapiens in the shadows, concluding them as the villains and keeping the Neanderthals in the light of innocence. Man has gained knowledge with time, and the Neanderthals have done so as wel l. Instead, the violence in them has marked the chapters of world history throughout. The partiality of the author towards the primitive men is clearly visible as he has made â€Å"Lok† the protagonist, and devoted only one chapter to the modern Homo sapiens. The view of the modern men has not been given importance at all. Ignoring Science The text created by Golding on the pages of The Inheritors is good for imagination, but it does not have true scientific explanation. A portion of the book quotes â€Å"Lok’s ears spoke to him†, but just before that it has already been mentioned that Lok had actually been sleeping. The personification of Lok’s ears is impressive through literature, but science concludes that sense organs do not possess the ability to