Lord Of The Flies An Analysis On

Society Essay, Research Paper

People are privileged to live in an advanced stage of development known as civilization. In a civilization, one s life is bound by rules that are meant to tame its savage natures. A humans possesses better qualities because the laws that we must follow instill order and stability within society. This observation, made by William Golding, dictates itself as one of the most important themes of Lord of the Flies. The novel demonstrates the great need for civilization ion in life because without it, people revert back to animalistic natures.

When the children become stranded on the island, the rules of society no longer apply to them. Without the supervision of their parents or of the law, the primitive nature of the boys surfaces, and their lives begin to fall apart. The downfall starts with their refusal to gather things for survival. The initial reaction of the boys is to swim, run, jump, and play. They do not wish to build shelters, gather food, or keep a signal fire going. Consequently, the boys live without luxury that could have been obtained had they maintained a society on the island. Instead, these young boys take advantage of their freedom and life as they knew it deteriorates.

The boys spark the onset of tragedy when the pig hunt evolves as more than just an activity. Jack and his band of hunters love the thrill of the chase. They spend much of their day searching the pig runs enjoying the brutality they cause on other living beings. This amusement is taken too far when Jack introduces face paint into the game. The face paint takes away the identities of the boys and transforms them into nameless savages. They hide behind the paint liberated from shame and self-consciousness (Golding 64). Jack s mask overpowers the rest of the boys and they go off to hunt despite some discontent. Eventually, the painted warriors ready a fortress at one end of the island.

This tribe brings nothing but death and destruction to the island. Moreover, the newly formed group of warriors even develop a dance that they perform over the carcass of the dead pig. They become so involved in this dance that that warriors kill one of their own kind. By chance, Simon runs from the forest towards the group that is already shouting Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood! (152). The warriors do not recognize him for they immediately attack Simon as if he were a pig to be caught. Although they were hunters, this scene is merely a reenactment of their previous kill. Nevertheless, in this short moment of dramatization, violence occurs again. It is because of this that Simon, the savior, dies a martyr.

In addition, Jack commits the most horrifying deed of crushing Piggy and having the warriors hunt Ralph all over the island. First, Roger, with delirious abandonment (180) pushed a bolder of a cliff to crush Piggy. Then, They are armed with spears and told to search with the intention of killing. Because Ralph hides so well, Jack has the island set on fire. Jack takes letting his animalistic side reign, and the result is two dead humans and one charred island.

Lord of the Flies by William Golding manifests the importance of civilization. We see that the boys become wild savages once free of the restraints society places. They neglect to prepare for their stay on the island. They wear face paint and engage in dances that glorify the killing of a pig. Worst of all, though, the boys collectively murder Simon and Piggy and attempt to destroy Ralph. The island burns in flames and is left scorched and scarred. Only at their rescue by civilization do they realize how out of control the situation progressed when they were without civilization.