Lord Of Flies Essay, Research Paper
A running theme in Lord of the Flies is that man is savage at heart, always ultimately reverting
back to an evil and primitive nature. The cycle of man’s rise to power, or righteousness, and his
inevitable fall from grace is an important point that book proves again and again, often
comparing man with characters from the Bible to give a more vivid picture of his descent. Lord
Of The Flies symbolizes this fall in different manners, ranging from the illustration of the
mentality of actual primitive man to the reflections of a corrupt seaman in purgatory.
The novel is the story of a group of boys of different backgrounds who are marooned on an
unknown island when their plane crashes. As the boys try to organize and formulate a plan to get
rescued, they begin to separate and as a result of the dissension a band of savage tribal hunters is
formed. Eventually the “stranded boys in Lord of the Flies almost entirely shake off civilized
behavior: (Riley 1: 119). When the confusion finally leads to a manhunt [for Ralph], the reader
realizes that despite the strong sense of British character and civility that has been instilled in the
youth throughout their lives, the boys have backpedaled and shown the underlying savage side
existent in all humans. “Golding senses that institutions and order imposed from without are
temporary, but man’s irrationality and urge for destruction are enduring” (Riley 1: 119). The
novel shows the reader how easy it is to revert back to the evil nature inherent in man. If a group
of well-conditioned school boys can ultimately wind up committing various extreme travesties,
one can imagine what adults, leaders of society, are capable of doing under the pressures of
trying to maintain world relations.
In the novel, Simon is a peaceful lad who tries to show the boys that there is no monster on the
island except the fears that the boys have. “Simon tries to state the truth: there is a beast, but ‘it’s
only us’” (Baker 11). When he makes this revelation, he is ridiculed. This is an uncanny parallel
to the misunderstanding that Christ had to deal with throughout his life. Later in the story, the
savage hunters are chasing a pig. Once they kill the pig, they put its head on a stick and Simon
experiences an epiphany in which he “sees the perennial fall which is the central reality of our
history: the defeat of reason and the release of… madness in souls wounded by fear” (Baker 12).
As Simon rushes to the campfire to tell the boys of his discovery, he is hit in the side with a
spear, his prophecy rejected and the word he wished to spread ignored. Simon falls to the ground
dead and is described as beautiful and pure. The description of his death, the manner in which he
died, and the cause for which he died are remarkably similar to the circumstances of Christ’s life
and ultimate demise. The major difference is that Christ died on the cross, while Simon was
speared. However, a reader familiar with the Bible recalls that Christ was stabbed in the side with
a a spear before his crucifixion.
William Golding discusses man’s capacity for fear and cowardice. In the novel, the boys on the
island first encounter a natural fear of being stranded on an uncharted island without the counsel
of adults. Once the boys begin to organize and begin to feel more adult-like themselves, the fear
of monsters takes over. It is understandable that boys ranging in ages from toddlers to young
teenagers would have fears of monsters, especially when it is taken into consideration that the
children are stranded on the island. The author wishes to show, however, that fear is an emotion
that is instinctive and active in humans from the very beginnings of their lives. This revelation
uncovers another weakness in man, supporting the idea or belief that man is pathetic and savage
at the very core of his existence. Throughout the novel, there is a struggle for power between two
groups. This struggle illustrates man’s fear of losing control, which is another example of his
selfishness and weakness. The fear of monsters is natural; the fear of losing power is inherited.
The author uses these vices to prove the point that any type of uncontrolled fear contributes to
man’s instability and will ultimately lead to his [man's] demise spiritually and perhaps even
physically.
The author chooses to use an island as the setting for the majority of the story. “The island is an
important symbol in all of Golding’s works. It suggests the isolation of man in a frightening and
mysterious cosmos, and the futility of his attempt to create an ordered preserve for himself in an
otherwise patternless world” (Baker 26). The island in the novel is the actual island; it is not
simply an island, though. It is a microcosm of life itself, the adult world, and the human struggle
with his own loneliness.
“Left alone on the island of the self, man discovers the reality of his
own dark heart, and what he discovers is too abominable for him to
endure. At the highest pitch of terror he makes the only gesture he can
make — a raw, instinctive appeal for help, for rescue” (Baker 67).
Man grows more savage at heart as he evolves because of his cowardice and his quest for power.
The novel proves this by throwing together opposing forces into a situation that dowses them
with power struggles and frightening situations. By comparing mankind in general to Biblical
characters in similar scenarios, the novel provides images of the darker side of man. This darker
side of man’s nature inevitably wins and man is proven to be a pathetic race that refuses to accept
responsibility for its shortcomings.