In the novel "Lord of the Flies", by William Golding, the author shows through characterization that man is inherently evil.

Evil in "The Lord of the Flies" As Martin Luther King, Jr. said, "He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it." If everyone believes in what Martin Luther preached, then everyone has done something evil in their life. There is evil within everyone, yet some people are better at suppressing it then …

…doing what he thought was right. He thought he was helping his country by cleansing it of its "impurities." In his mind, he was helping his country to become the "master" race. In truth, he killed millions of innocent people. All people are, in some way, evil. The author shows this through the use of his characters, the boys, in the novel. Even when doing what, in your mind, is right, "evil" can always happen.