Coleridge, Golding and Conrad, in their respective works, set out to explore the themes of sin and corruption in mankind. Is man born innocent but corrupted by society? Romanticists believe that children are good and innocent creatures but society corrupts man. We see corrupt individuals in all three texts but each character has their own story and though there may be similarities evident in these characters, are they all born corrupt, or has society had an influence on them as individuals? Man is a primitive being, just as primitive as he was at the beginning of time. We are driven by the same drives and emotions. In Rime Of the Ancient Mariner society has nothing to do with the Mariners later transgression, it is precisely because the Mariner sails away from society, culture and civilization (the lighthouse) that he becomes a corrupt being. When the Mariner is out at sea, with no spiritual guidance from the society he lived in, he is vulnerable and succumbs to temptation. He kills the Albatross simply because he can but this is a mega crime as he has killed an animal created by God “we all hailed in God’s name”. The Mariner represents everyman, without the restraints of society it is very easy for man to succumb to their primitive side. Through a process of suffering the Mariner repents and begins to appreciate the sanctity of life, because of this he is redeemed by an all merciful God and goes on to enlighten and educate others, like the gallant. Coleridge highlights in this text that God is always there even though man is a sinner. Coleridge used his poetry to explore conflicting issues in philosophy and religious piety. To support the claim that his imaginative and intellectual forces were, in fact, organic and derived from the natural world, Coleridge linked them to God. “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” is unique among Coleridge’s important works - unique in its intentionally archaic language, its length, its bizarre moral narrative and the long Latin epigraph that begins it. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner has gothic elements which link it to another of Coleridge’s works, Christabel written in 1797. The Mariner however is not the only operative voice in the poem, Coleridge adds dialogic depth by including two additional narrative voices. One being the archaic voice of the poem’s third person narrator and the other being an imagined scholar who comments on and clarifies the words of both the archaic narrator and the Mariner himself. The result of this is that the Mariner’s tale comes across as confused and obtuse and scholars such as Robert Penn Warren have struggled to synthesize the poem’s fragmented form into a streamlined whole that can be understood to contain a single, identifiable meaning. Another critic, Anne Williams, argues that Coleridge’s language is “semiotic rather than symbolic”. The Mariner realizes his wrong doing and does do the moral thing by the end of the text, he knows he is a sinner and through suffering he is made wiser. He is punished for killing the Albatross but because of his moral instinct he is teaching the young man to not do as he did, the text has a didactic purpose. “He’ll shrieve my soul he’ll wash away.” In the poem the sea acts as a metaphorical representation of the loneliness of the man without God, this helps him see his faults however not all human beings are remorseful for their wrong doings. This is clearly highlighted in the Congo in Heart of Darkness, society in general is acting as the corrupting influence and because they are in control and form a large community they do not see the wrong in what they are doing. Unlike Rime Of the Ancient Mariner, Conrad, through Heart Of Darkness, shows that society does have a huge impact on human beings in general. Educated, mannered english men become savages in the Congo and ironically they see the natives as the savages. The thirst for power and greed consumes a person and brings out the worst of their human nature, even the best humans fall from grace. Marlow is curious about Kurtz, how can such a great man lose himself enough to become a complete monster? At the time Conrad was writing, in Victorian England, people thought colonialism was a great thing, the Belgian Congo in which most of the novel is set was the personal property of Leopold King of Belgian. As most of England at the time saw colonialism as a good thing for their own country, many were shocked and disliked Heart Of Darkness as they believed it was a malicious misinterpretation of colonialism but Conrad was simply revealing the real truth. For many it was the first example of modern literature. Lord of the Flies also shook the British society, the reception of the book was not particularly positive as many readers refused to accept the fact that public school boys behaved in this manner. Golding was at sea and had seen the worst of human nature, all the influences from his experience make up Lord of the Fli