Humanity is a species, a timeline, and even an idea. Over the years, many have attempted to provide a straightforward definition of humanity, but have been unsuccessful. It is impossible to summarize the essence of being human in a single sentence. There are so many different elements that go into human life that are different for every person on earth. One thing is certain: there is a series of actions that each person will take, or a series of events that will encompass each person's life and which are similar throughout all of humanity. This is what we call the human condition. Literature is often based on the human condition, and authors, poets or teachers talk about it in a covert way, so the reader does not immediately know that the central theme of the text is the human condition. These texts can teach us a lot about society and humanity in general. Two of these texts, novels, are Lord of the Flies by Golding and The Heart of Darkness by Conrad. Each story has a pivotal moment that doesn't even really affect the outcome of the plot, but is probably the most important moment in each book. The Boar's Head scene from Lord of the Flies and the Grove scene from Heart of Darkness each attest to an element of the human condition, and each scene contains many of the same elements that provide insight into understanding the humanity as a whole. Flies has a scene that implements the human condition, and the first element it conveys is the need for control over all situations. Control is the oldest of the arts and should be considered as such. It was performed by some of the greatest people of all time, even though some of those people were some of the most terrifying. “The half-closed eyes were clouded by the infinite cynicism of adult life. They assured Simon that everything...... middle of paper......about the native slaves who were sent there to die. The difference between the Grove scene and the Boar's Head scene regarding death is that Marlow is confronted with death, but by people who are still alive. “And this was the place where some of the attendants had retired to die.” (P. 24) The people he meets are not yet dead, although they will be soon. This shakes Marlow to the bone. Death hangs in the air of the grove, almost as if waiting to pounce like some sort of jungle creature. Humanity cannot be reduced to a simple definition. The closest thing to defining humanity is the human condition. There are many different elements to the human condition, and a few of them are illustrated in the Grove scene from Heart of Darkness and the Boar's Head scene from Lord of the Flies. The human condition is something inevitable, something we all have to face. It's a fact of life.