Nobody don't know we're here. Your dad won't know, nobody don't know - -. Piggy's feelings of loss and hopelessness echo those that Golding himself felt during the war. Because of Golding's loss of faith in mankind, the boys experience the harsh realities of the human condition. "Ralph wept for the loss of innocence, the darkness of man's heart -. The boys fall from innocence represents the loss of innocence of all mankind that Golding saw during the war. Golding's own experiences with the inner darkness of man are clearly reflected in the actions and thoughts of his characters.
Joseph Conrad's experiences with the dark side of human nature also heavily influence his work. Conrad was born in a region of the Ukraine, then under Russian rule ("Joseph Conrad (1857-1924)-, http://www.kirjaso.sci.fi/jConrad.htm). Living in an area dominated by a foreign power, he experienced firsthand the helpless feeling of being colonized. In this way he came to sympathize with the Africans who suffered at the hands of European colonists. "They were not enemies, they were not criminals, they were nothing but earthly now, nothing but black shadows of disease and starvation - This quote shows Conrad's sympathy for those who are being exploited for the benefit of others. For sixteen years he worked as a sailor and in 1890 he sailed up the Congo River. Apparently he had a negative experience as he characterizes nature as a force acting against Marlow. He describes the conditions in the jungle as "Thick- and "Sluggish-. His experiences also led him to a deterministic view of man. ("Joseph Conrad (1857-1924)-). Determinism is the belief that man does not have free will. External and internal forces, as well as the environment and heredity determine his actions (Reuben, Paul P. "Chapter 6: Late Nineteenth Century: Naturalism - A Brief Introduction."", http://www.csutan.edu/English/reuben/pal/chp6/6intro.html). The belief that man cannot determine for himself his own actions is a rather depressing one.
