Civilization Versus Savagery in Golding's Lord of the Flies Essay

Jack is not the leader but still manages to break and change Ralph’s rules. The conch shell was supposed to represent power and order all over the island but Jack establishes that the conch shell does not work in a specific place.

In the Lord of the Flies, William Golding composes a tale about a group of British schoolboys who crash into an abandoned island without any adult supervision. Their own power is the one thing controlling one another on the island, and after a while, the gentle and friendly schoolboys evolve into more evil, confused humans, influenced by war, violence, and survival of the fittest. Golding showed Biblical signs throughout the novel, which compares the positive side of people with evil, and in the text, the boys grow and emerge into totally different people from the beginning. From the oldest to the youngest kids, all of them are influenced by the acts of each other and the World War going on, as the novel is placed in the 1950’s, a time of fear

Throughout Lord of the Flies, Golding shows his views of the inherent evil of humans. He shows how humans can be in such a savage state, practically mimicking the way of life of their prehistoric ancestors. He exemplifies this with acts of carnage carried on by the young stranded children. It all started with a slight urge to hunt down a pig and then continued on to murdering another human being. Golding shows his views best at the end of the book with the boys being rescued by a Navy crew, which would go on to war it self.

It’s hard to recreate a society and make order when you are a young boy, all you want to do is to have fun and play. This is shown many times in the book by some of the characters, especially during times of hunting. Chapter 7, reveals this to us when the young hunters chant this at one of the boys (Robert,) “Kill the pig! Cut his throat! Kill the pig! Bash him in!.” This chant shows the childness and savagery that the boys went through.

The antagonist represents savagery, violence and tyranny. Although the most “obvious leader was Jack” (pg.22), the boys didn’t choose him. Having been rejected as a chief at the first meeting, anger and jealousy takes hold on him, and he starts manipulating the boys. “They knew very well why he hadn’t: because of the enormity of the knife descending and cutting into living flesh; because of the unbearable blood.” (pg.31)

The Lord of the Flies by William Golding is tale of a group of young boys who become stranded on a deserted island after their plane crashes. Intertwined in this classic novel are many themes, most that relate to the inherent evil that exists in all human beings and the malicious nature of mankind. In The Lord of the Flies, Golding shows the boys' gradual transformation from being civilized, well-mannered people to savage, ritualistic beasts.

Friedrich Nietzsche once said, “If you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you”. Lord of the Flies is a novel by William Golding written in 1954, centering on a group of boys stuck on an island who unsuccessfully attempt to govern themselves. They struggle against fear of outside forces as well as themselves, and the reader observes as they lose their innocence and slowly decline from civility in all its forms. In his novel, Lord of the Flies, William S. Golding portrays the theme that society can be corrupted because individuals are naturally corrupt through his use of the symbols of the beast, Piggy’s glasses, and the fire.

The conch symbolically explains the change of government on the island. Golding suggests the the government structured by the conch when he states, “‘That’s what this shell is called. I’ll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he is speaking’” (Golding 33).

Lord of the Flies is the name given to the inner beast, to which only

In the book, Lord of the Flies by William Golding, the conch is a motif for the boys stuck on the island. It plays the role or power and civilization. The conch shell goes from being the most important thing on the island to nothing. As the book progresses the conch loses its power.

The theme of savagery versus civilization is first introduced to us through the symbol of the conch shell which we associate with Ralph as he is the person who first uses it and becomes the elected leader of the boys. This symbolizes authority amongst the boys. At the first assembly Ralph says, “I’ll give the conch to the next person to speak…he won’t be interrupted”. This suggests civilization as Ralph is allowing each boy to have an equal say and opinion. If they have the conch, no matter who they are or what age they are they will be given the chance to speak and will be listened to by the rest of the boys. The boys have created the island to be a democratic place which shows a civilized side to them as they try to mimic the homes they have just left.

Through his leadership, Jack accentuates the level of violence his hunters are experiencing by taking them on a successful pig hunt. When Jack cannot deny his urge to kill

However, something begins to dwell within Jack as he did not become a leader; instead, Ralph did because of the conch. The conch represents rules and government of society which the boys had been taught by their whole lives, but now on the island, there were no constrictions from society because of this Jack quickly loses interest in the conch and

"Man has demonstrated that he is master of everything - except his own nature." This quote from Henry Miller demonstrates that even the best of people can be tempted and twisted by their own nature. Like the symbolic pig’s head stuck in the calm forests clearing, all beauty and innocence can be mutated when order is overthrown by impulse actions. In William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies, a central theme exists demonstrating the deterioration of civilization, and the overpowering of savagery, leading to the abandonment of moral thoughts and actions within a person. The beauty of the island is burned away slowly as the fiery demon of savagery attempts to overwhelm the boys. The beauty of the island symbolizes the charm of law and

The topic of viciousness and civilisation is firstly acquainted with us through the image of the conch shell, Ralph and piggy finds the conch shell on the shoreline toward the begin of the novel and utilizations it to get the young men together after the crash isolates them. At the primary gathering Ralph says "I'll give the conch to the following individual to talk… he won't be interfered". This recommends civilisation as Ralph is permitting every kid to have an opportunity to "talk" and express their sentiment. In the event that they have the conch, regardless of their identity or what age they will be they will be allowed to talk and will be listened to by whatever is left of the young men. Ralph has made the island to be a majority rule