The Lord of the Flies by William Golding , a thematic essay

Essay by chico roduriguezA, January 1997

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As mankind has progressed throughout history, his idea of god has changed with his domination of nature and nature's elements. When man made the transition from a Paleolithic to a Neolithic lifestyle, his mastery of nature attained a higher level because of the bow and arrow. With the bow and arrow, man could now control animals, because the bow became an extremely efficient way of dealing with animals before they could come close enough to kill. The gods of the Paleolithic tribesmen, and even gods of the first primitive civilizations were animals. As mankind mastered the animals, however, his idea of god changed to become people, as is showed in the Greek and Roman myths. These gods, however, lived on earth and were accustomed to the same pleasures and desires and led the same lifestyle as the Greeks and Romans.

First proposed by the Hebrew prophet Isaiah, god became a higher being, as mankind had mastered something within themselves to have a need for a higher god.

This first god was still immoral and like the humans, except that he could live forever and did not dwell on the same surface as the humans, but god still lived in heaven, which was thought of as a tangible place in the sky, and still was thought to be in the shape of a man.

This idea was challenged by another Hebrew prophet, Jeremiah. He was the first to convey the message that god was holy, apart from the world, and did not meddle in mortals lives. This change was brought about by the change in morality by the monotheistic Hebrews. With the ascension of David's son Soloman to the throne, the Hebrews became a very moral people. After the Hebrews had mastered temptation and sin, their god could not be...