Lord of the Flies by William Golding is a classic novel that is known as one of the greatest pieces of literature and has been for decades, because of how it relates to people and events that have happened. As the island is a microcosm of the world, the book mirrors what’s going on in the real world. The main themes of the book are Good Vs. Evil, Civilization Vs. Savagery, Power and Survival, which can easily be related to by most people – both now, when the book was written and probably also in the future.
Personally, the book taught me a lot about how people deal with situations when under pressure, people’s need for power and how easy it really if for a war to break out and I found that in my mind I could easily link what was going…show more content…
Saddam Husain was like Jack as he promised his followers he would get more land for his country, but failed and instead made his people suffer, while Slobodam Molosovic refused to give up his rule over Serbia and Yugoslavia, because he didn’t want to lose power and ended up killing a lot of them in the process. Also the way the war ended was similar to the end of the book, as the war was finished when America stepped in, while the book ended when an adult found them and put an end to it. The book also shows a lot about the survival of the fittest, which can be seen when looking at the character Piggy.
I think Piggy was shown as the smartest boy on the island, he had good ideas and he was very level headed and because of the he should have been the leader. He knew what had to be done to survive and to get them rescued, but because of his physical appearance he was looked down on. This can be seen right at the beginning of the book where he offers to go with Jack and Ralph to explore the island, but Jack turns him down saying “You’re no good for a job like this” as he was overweight and has asthma.
Although there are no famous examples showing this, it is common thing that I’ve come across and I think that most others have as well. What happened on the island in Lord of the Flies is also similar to the split of Korea, which happened in the 1950’s. Although there were a lot more people and events involved in the split of Korea, the two events have
World War II is known to everyone as the last large-scale world war. This war revealed humanity’s darkest and most frightening side. The war had two opposing sides: The Axis powers (Germany, Italy, Japan) and the Allies (France, Great Britain, the United States, Soviet Union, and China) (The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica). These two groups had very different paths to power, with one path being morally unjust and the other being morally correct. The Axis’ group’s immoral longing for power seems to tie in perfectly to a book loved by many, Lord of the Flies. This book is full of many horrifying universal truths about our society today, which correlate to the lack of morality present throughout World War II. William Golding’s Lord of the Flies explores similar horrors to that of World War II through themes of terror, savagery, and the devastation that comes with power.
A plethora of themes related to terror is present in both Lord of the Flies and World War II. World War II, or war in general, is a very terrifying experience. Whether you are a soldier fighting for what you believe is right, or just an innocent civilian living within a warzone, things can get pretty terrifying. William Golding’s Lord of the Flies shows us plenty of examples of terror throughout this intense story. The first significant instance of terror is when Jack began to distance himself from his good-boy demeanor. The reader can sense this when Golding stated: “He began to dance and his laughter became a bloodthirsty snarling” (66). With the comparison of his laughter to that of a snarl, Jack is being compared to an animal, which displays how he has become terrifying and someone who insights fear in others. Similarly, the Nazi party became a terrifying character when they decided to kill 11 million innocent people. They succeeded in doing this by scare tactics. It was a common technique used by the Nazis as well as most of the other countries participating in the war. They used scare tactics to keep Jewish people working in the death camps and concentration camps. They also would shoot or severely punish those who couldn’t keep up with their work (History.com Editors). Although the Germans had a big part in this deadly war, Japan also had a very significant attack of terror towards the United States. On December 7, 1941, Japan bombed Pearl Harbor intending to instill fear in the United States (History.com Editors), just like how Jack tries to appear more intimidating to generate a sense of fear in his peers. In response to Japan’s attack, the United States dropped two atomic bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima. These acts of murder caused Japan to surrender and lose the war. Another theme of bloodshed is Piggy’s death. The terror starts to set in when Golding wrote, “Piggy’s arms and legs twitched a bit, like a pig’s after it has been killed” (201). With this simile, Golding is describing Piggy’s death as one of the pigs Jack and his hunters killed. While Piggy was struggling to get the attention of the rest of his peers Jack’s hunters released a huge boulder and it smashed into Piggy causing his untimely death. The finality of his death was witnessed by all of his fellow “friends” on the island. This terrorism all the people of the island witnessed is very similar to the terrible events people witnessed in World War II. During the war, acts of bloodshed is a commonly recurring theme. Whether it be the untimely deaths of many innocent civilians or the deaths of many comrades and enemies, everyone witnesses some sort of terrorism.
Lord of the Flies explores very significant themes of savagery that are also present in World War II. The overall recurring theme in Golding’s book is civilization versus savagery. As the boys spend more time away from home and more time in the wild they began to adapt to the wildlife around them causing them to become more “savage-like”. In Golding’s novel, the reader can see that the characters are obsessed with the idea of killing the island’s Beast. This is seen particularly when they chant, “Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!” (Golding 168.) They scream this while they are killing Simon who they mistake for this Beast. What Simon had realized before he was savagely attacked was that this Beast they are searching for lives within themselves. This “Beast” symbolizes the instinct of savagery that exists within all humans. They fear this “beast” because they know it lives within them. After killing the “Beast” the boys know the extent of what they had just done but, choose to believe it was the right thing. The savagery of the boys correlates to the savagery in World War II. At War, to survive, you must separate yourself from your feelings. The soldiers are killing people just because they are ordered to. This instinct of savagery is prominent in War as well. Not only were the boys savage but, they would almost act animal-like, which is another form of savagery. In chapter 12, Golding wrote, “Ralph launched himself like a cat; stabbed, snarling, with the spear, and the savage doubled up” (217). Golding’s use of a simile, “like a cat”, described perfectly how savage the boys had become: the island had turned the boys into animals. He also snarled when he was acting which is a sound associated with animals. In addition to all of this, towards the end of the book, Ralph refers to Jack’s hunters as “savages”. All this evidence points towards how much influence this idea of being alone and having to survive by all means possible is – which inevitably takes a toll on these boys in a savage-esque way. Similarly, in World War II, the Nazis would dehumanize the Jewish populous by killing them in grotesque and animalistic ways. For example, they were put in gas chambers to “shower” but, they would just shower them in deadly chemicals that asphyxiated them. Also, they forced them to dig massive ditches along which they lined them up and shoot them down (The Editors of Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum). This sense of being savage and animalistic connects to how Ralph was harming his “friends”. Finally, though possibly a coincidental discovery, there is a connection between World War II and the book where Ralph and Piggy refused to eat pork, Jewish people are known for refusing to eat pig meat as well as a part of their religious beliefs. Also, the Nazi party would often call their captive Jews “Judensou”, which roughly translates to “pig”, using it in their political propaganda as a way to dehumanize the Jews even more and make fun of them (Coester). With all of this in mind, it can be connected to savagery since the Nazis began to dehumanize the Jews just like the hunter boys began to dehumanize Piggy by calling him a pig, making it significantly easier to inevitably kill both the Jews and Piggy. Knowing that this book was made after World War II, it seems that perhaps these details were not simply coincidences, but details incorporated specifically for these connections to be made.
Oftentimes, the power that people gain correlates with devastation and this is no different within both Lord of the Flies and World War II. In Lord of the Flies specifically, the reader can see that Henry becomes “absorbed beyond mere happiness as he felt himself exercising control over living things. He talked to them urging them, ordering them” (Golding 64). He was taking control of his fellow littluns and this is a perfect example of the devastation that comes with power. He seemed to become less happy and realized how terrible he had become. Exercising power over others is a huge theme that occurs in war as well as in the book. In war leaders/politicians become obsessed with power and will do anything to obtain more. This was prominent in World War II when Hitler rose to fame in Germany as a politician and leader of the Nazi Party. After obtaining the position of Chancellor of Germany he was obsessed with control and wouldn’t stop at that (Bullock). He decided to invade and control other countries such as Poland, Austria, France, as well as eight others (Knighton). This search for power and destruction is what began a very deadly and gruesome war.
Throughout William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, it is evident that common themes that are present in World War II, specifically those of terror, savagery, and the devastation that comes with power, are also present within the novel itself. Explored through the various characters of the book and their journey on the island, these themes become obvious the more the boys are starved and are forced to survive in whatever way they can. In World War II, these themes are evident in that wars, in general, are oftentimes conflicts that are at the expense of many people’s lives. In these wars, there are always victims that become dehumanized and there are always people that allow the illusion of power get to their heads, allowing them to be capable of performing an innumerable amount of malicious deeds.
There is a question that has been going around for years. The question is whether man is born good or evil. One movie that portrays man is inherently evil is “A Clockwork Orange” by Stanley Kubrick. The movie is about the boy who rapes and tortures people for fun. He ends up going to prison and starts to act like he regrets his actions so he can be accepted into a program. He continues to have evil thoughts and feelings. The definition of evil is profoundly immoral and wicked. Most people relate evil to the devil, but evil could also be related to people. Man is inherently evil.
An example from society to prove man is inherently evil is the Milgram Experiment. The Milgram Experiment was a psychology experiment directed to test obedience to authority figures. This experiment was conducted in 1963. Subjects were told to execute electric shocks to another subject when they gave the wrong answer and increasing the voltage each time. (Andersson) A lot of the participants, exactly sixty five percent continued to give out shocks to the maximum of 450 volts. The subjects that continued to distribute the shocks even with screams. Many of the participants encountered anger and anxiety from this experiment. After the participants who administered the shocks were done, they left the experiment under the impression that they truly harmed people by shocking them. The results of this experiment were very surprising and unanticipated. The outcome of this experiment reveal that human beings were able and prepared to administer pain, in this case shocks to other people, even strangers. (Hollander) The results of Milgram’s experiment taught everyone something about us as human beings. It taught us “just how powerful our propensity is to obey the commands of an authority, even when those commands might conflict with our moral principles.” (Hollander) This experiment was one of the first things to ever teach us that man can be inherently evil.
Eight years after the Milgram experiment, the Stanford Prison Experiment occurred. This experiments purpose was to show how our behavior can be influenced by social roles. Philip Zimbardo conducted this experiment. Before this experimented started, Zimbardo stated that everyone involved in this experiment were going to take away the prisoners’ individuality in many ways. There were two roles in this experiment. There were guards and there were prisoners. The guards dehumanizing the prisoners. The prisoners were referred to by a number instead of their names. The prisoners did not get beds, so they were forced to sleep on the concrete floor. The guards made prisoners were absolutely no clothes but made them wear a paper bag over their head. The guards also did not allow the prisoners to use the bathrooms and made the prisoners perform homosexual acts with other prisoners. (Gross) The prisoners started to plan a riot on the second day within starting this experiment. The prisoners started to get riled up and the guards did not like that. The guards used fire extinguishers to calm the prisoners down. Using the fire extinguisher on people could burn their skin. One of the people that were apart of the experiment stated, “by the sixth day, the guards had become so abusive and degrading that Zimbardo ended the experiment early.” (Gross) One of the guards who participated in the experiment stated that he didn’t have any regrets or guilt for his actions during the experiment. The guards were brutal physically and emotionally to the prisoners. One of the prisoners from this experiment (#8612) had a mental breakdown from the physical and emotional abuse because of the guards. After that prisoner had a mental breakdown so did another prisoner. Prisoner #819 was told to go into a separate room to calm down. The guards did not like that prisoner #819 was having a mental breakdown. The guards made all the prisoners say “prisoner #819 is a bad prisoner. Because of what prisoner #819 did my cell is a mess, Mr. Correctional Officer” over and over. Eventually prisoner #819 heard the prisoners saying that and he started to cry and have another mental breakdown. (Mcleod) The prisoner was told to leave since he was suffering mentally but he believed that he was an actual prisoner in a prison. Zimbardo saw the results of the experiment and concluded that people will undertake the social role, even if it means hurting another human being physically or mentally. (Mcleod) This experiment also showed that man can and will hurt people based on their social role.
Ted Bundy is one of the most famous serial killers in the world. He confessed to raping and killing thirty women, but many believe there could be over a hundred victims. He murdered women from many different states. He killed women in California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Oregon, Utah, and Washington. Ted Bundy knew what he was doing was very wrong and cruel, but he continued to do it because in his eyes it was fun and something to do. One of the victims he killed, he fractured her skull with a metal rod which caused permanent brain damage and he proceeded to shove the metal rod up her vagina. (Schechter, Everitt 37) When he found his next girl he would sneak into their room at night and rape and kill them. “He simply slipped into their rooms at night and pounced with demonical fury.” (Schechter, Everitt 38) One of his victims he got violent with. He bit this women’s butt so hard that his teeth marks were left in her butt. These imprints helped lead to his arrest. When Ted Bundy found a girl he wanted, he would act like he had a broken bone and that he needed their help with something. The girls never thought anything bad of it. Ted Bundy looked like a normal guy. You wouldn’t expect him to be a serial killer. When the girls went with Bundy to help him that’s when he would beat them, rape them, and murder them. After Bundy escaped prison he traveled down to Florida. When he went down there, he found three girls he liked for his next victims. Two of the girls he killed and raped. The third girl was injured by the strikes to her head. (Newton) Ted Bundy killed thirty women, possibly over a hundred for no definite reason. Bundy had no regrets for the crimes he committed. Ted Bundy is a prime example that man is inherently evil.
The Lord of the Flies written by William Golding has a common theme throughout the whole book. That ongoing common theme is that man is inherently evil. The boys in this book are stranded on an island with no society or structure like they’re used to. Since the boys don’t have any rules or structure, they start to commit acts of evilness without any problems. Ralph and Jack are two of the main characters. Jack represents evil throughout the book. As the boys start to spend more days on the island, the idea of “the beast” starts to manifest. Simon was the first one to mention seeing the beast. One night they boys thought they saw the beast, but it was just Simon. The boys killed Simon because they “thought” he was the beast. Jack develops a group of boys for hunting. Towards the end of the book, they become evil, so evil that Roger pushed a rock off a cliff that killed piggy. Nobody cared that Piggy was dead except Ralph. Ralph feared Jack and his tribe since Piggy was the only one of his side. The beast that they boys fear is actually the evil within themselves that they fear. Golding was showing that when society and reality is away from you, you tend to act in evil way. This proves that man is inherently evil.
There is a question that has been going around for years. The question is whether man is born good or evil. One movie that portrays man is inherently evil is “A Clockwork Orange” by Stanley Kubrick. The movie is about the boy who rapes and tortures people for fun. He ends up going to prison and starts to act like he regrets his actions so he can be accepted into a program. He continues to have evil thoughts and feelings. The definition of evil is profoundly immoral and wicked. Most people relate evil to the devil, but evil could also be related to people. Man is inherently evil.
An example from society to prove man is inherently evil is the Milgram Experiment. The Milgram Experiment was a psychology experiment directed to test obedience to authority figures. This experiment was conducted in 1963. Subjects were told to execute electric shocks to another subject when they gave the wrong answer and increasing the voltage each time. (Andersson) A lot of the participants, exactly sixty five percent continued to give out shocks to the maximum of 450 volts. The subjects that continued to distribute the shocks even with screams. Many of the participants encountered anger and anxiety from this experiment. After the participants who administered the shocks were done, they left the experiment under the impression that they truly harmed people by shocking them. The results of this experiment were very surprising and unanticipated. The outcome of this experiment reveal that human beings were able and prepared to administer pain, in this case shocks to other people, even strangers. (Hollander) The results of Milgram’s experiment taught everyone something about us as human beings. It taught us “just how powerful our propensity is to obey the commands of an authority, even when those commands might conflict with our moral principles.” (Hollander) This experiment was one of the first things to ever teach us that man can be inherently evil.
Eight years after the Milgram experiment, the Stanford Prison Experiment occurred. This experiments purpose was to show how our behavior can be influenced by social roles. Philip Zimbardo conducted this experiment. Before this experimented started, Zimbardo stated that everyone involved in this experiment were going to take away the prisoners’ individuality in many ways. There were two roles in this experiment. There were guards and there were prisoners. The guards dehumanizing the prisoners. The prisoners were referred to by a number instead of their names. The prisoners did not get beds, so they were forced to sleep on the concrete floor. The guards made prisoners were absolutely no clothes but made them wear a paper bag over their head. The guards also did not allow the prisoners to use the bathrooms and made the prisoners perform homosexual acts with other prisoners. (Gross) The prisoners started to plan a riot on the second day within starting this experiment. The prisoners started to get riled up and the guards did not like that. The guards used fire extinguishers to calm the prisoners down. Using the fire extinguisher on people could burn their skin. One of the people that were apart of the experiment stated, “by the sixth day, the guards had become so abusive and degrading that Zimbardo ended the experiment early.” (Gross) One of the guards who participated in the experiment stated that he didn’t have any regrets or guilt for his actions during the experiment. The guards were brutal physically and emotionally to the prisoners. One of the prisoners from this experiment (#8612) had a mental breakdown from the physical and emotional abuse because of the guards. After that prisoner had a mental breakdown so did another prisoner. Prisoner #819 was told to go into a separate room to calm down. The guards did not like that prisoner #819 was having a mental breakdown. The guards made all the prisoners say “prisoner #819 is a bad prisoner. Because of what prisoner #819 did my cell is a mess, Mr. Correctional Officer” over and over. Eventually prisoner #819 heard the prisoners saying that and he started to cry and have another mental breakdown. (Mcleod) The prisoner was told to leave since he was suffering mentally but he believed that he was an actual prisoner in a prison. Zimbardo saw the results of the experiment and concluded that people will undertake the social role, even if it means hurting another human being physically or mentally. (Mcleod) This experiment also showed that man can and will hurt people based on their social role.
Ted Bundy is one of the most famous serial killers in the world. He confessed to raping and killing thirty women, but many believe there could be over a hundred victims. He murdered women from many different states. He killed women in California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Oregon, Utah, and Washington. Ted Bundy knew what he was doing was very wrong and cruel, but he continued to do it because in his eyes it was fun and something to do. One of the victims he killed, he fractured her skull with a metal rod which caused permanent brain damage and he proceeded to shove the metal rod up her vagina. (Schechter, Everitt 37) When he found his next girl he would sneak into their room at night and rape and kill them. “He simply slipped into their rooms at night and pounced with demonical fury.” (Schechter, Everitt 38) One of his victims he got violent with. He bit this women’s butt so hard that his teeth marks were left in her butt. These imprints helped lead to his arrest. When Ted Bundy found a girl he wanted, he would act like he had a broken bone and that he needed their help with something. The girls never thought anything bad of it. Ted Bundy looked like a normal guy. You wouldn’t expect him to be a serial killer. When the girls went with Bundy to help him that’s when he would beat them, rape them, and murder them. After Bundy escaped prison he traveled down to Florida. When he went down there, he found three girls he liked for his next victims. Two of the girls he killed and raped. The third girl was injured by the strikes to her head. (Newton) Ted Bundy killed thirty women, possibly over a hundred for no definite reason. Bundy had no regrets for the crimes he committed. Ted Bundy is a prime example that man is inherently evil.
The Lord of the Flies written by William Golding has a common theme throughout the whole book. That ongoing common theme is that man is inherently evil. The boys in this book are stranded on an island with no society or structure like they’re used to. Since the boys don’t have any rules or structure, they start to commit acts of evilness without any problems. Ralph and Jack are two of the main characters. Jack represents evil throughout the book. As the boys start to spend more days on the island, the idea of “the beast” starts to manifest. Simon was the first one to mention seeing the beast. One night they boys thought they saw the beast, but it was just Simon. The boys killed Simon because they “thought” he was the beast. Jack develops a group of boys for hunting. Towards the end of the book, they become evil, so evil that Roger pushed a rock off a cliff that killed piggy. Nobody cared that Piggy was dead except Ralph. Ralph feared Jack and his tribe since Piggy was the only one of his side. The beast that they boys fear is actually the evil within themselves that they fear. Golding was showing that when society and reality is away from you, you tend to act in evil way. This proves that man is inherently evil.
Anyone that commits any type of action or omission that is punishable by law should be punished for what they did. The novel, Lord of the Flies by William Golding emphasizes the dark side and savagery in even the most innocent human beings. Ralph, the protagonist of the story, does his best to keep his innocence, and not become corrupted like a lot of the boys did. Similar to the situation, “Three suffocate in arson attack on Athens bank” By Reuters, where Greeks protesting government austerity measures threw petrol bombs at a bank branch in Athens on Wednesday, killing three people including a pregnant woman, in the worst violence to hit the country since riots in 2008. Ralph from William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies should not be charged with murder or any other crimes after being rescued, because he did not become corrupted like the hunters, he did not physically injure or murder and other kids, and he refused to let Jack lead Ralphs group, with his savage mindset.
Unlike the majority of the kids stuck on the island, Ralph did his best to not become corrupted like Jack and the hunters, and lose his innocence before they were rescued. Throughout the story, Ralph always tried to keep his distance and avoids creating a close relationship with Jack and the hunters. Jack is very aggressive and competitive to start with and was upset that Ralph won the election. I ought to be chief,’ said Jack with simple arrogance, ‘because I’m chapter chorister and head boy. I can sing C sharp.’ (Golding 22). Once Jack and the hunters started to go insane, and focused on hunting and causing trouble, Ralph knew he had to stay away from Jack. ‘And you shut up! Who are you, anyway? Sitting there telling people what to do. You can’t hunt, you can’t sing—’ (Golding 91). This is proof that Ralph stayed away from Jack, because Jack always had an aggressive attitude, and disliked Ralph’s leadership.
Ralph has no proof of physically harming any of the boys that were murdered on the island, and can’t be convicted of murder. The two major deaths in The Lord of the Flies were Simon’s death and Piggy’s death. Simon got killed after the boys confused him for the beast, and Piggy died after Roger pushed a boulder onto his head. ‘Surrounded by a fringe of inquisitive bright creatures, itself a silver shape beneath the steadfast constellations, Simon’s dead body moved out toward the open sea'(Golding 154). The boys were so distracted by the fact of the beast on the mountain, that it even made them accidentally kill Simon. Since Ralph still conveys more innocence, he was changed by Simon’s death. Ralph was also devastated by Piggy’s death, as he was killed while Jack and Ralph were arguing. While Piggy had the conch, the boys were throwing rocks at Piggy, but Roger took it a little too far and pushed a boulder onto him.:
The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee: the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist. Piggy, saying nothing, with no time for even a grunt, traveled through the air sideways from the rock, turning over as he went. Piggy fell 40 feet and landed on his back across the square red rock in the sea. His head opened and stuff came out and turned red. Piggy’s arms and legs twitched a bit, like a pig after it has been killed (Golding 181). From the two major deaths of Simon and Piggy, there is no physical evidence of Ralph committing these murders, as Ralph had very close and strong relationships with Simon and Piggy, and he did not have the savage attitude to murder another kid.
After Ralph was elected as the leader of the group, Jack decided to go off and lead his own group. But with his savage and aggressive attitude, Ralph didn’t let Jack be the leader of him. Ralph noticed sooner than later that Jack and the hunters were starting to go insane, and everyone was following Jack’s rules. “Ralph was on his feet too, shouting for quiet, but no one heard him. All at once the crowd swayed toward the island and was gone—following Jack.” (46 Golding). Jack made a great decision not following Jack’s tracks, because Jack got caught up in hunting and killing, which lead to him and the hunters wanting to kill Ralph, for not living under Jack’s leadership. “The cries, suddenly nearer, jerked him up. He could see a striped savage moving hastily out of a green tangle, and coming toward the mat where he hid, a savage who carried a spear.” (Golding 198). This is proof that Ralph refused to have Jack be his leader and to join his group of hunters.
Ralph from William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies should not be charged with murder or any other crimes after being rescued. Unlike Jack and some other boys, Ralph should not be charged with murder because he did not become corrupted as the hunters did, didn’t physically harm or kill anyone throughout the story, and he didn’t let Jack be the leader of him. These three reasons and evidence prove how he is innocent of murder.
An insightful allegorical novel, Lord of the Flies was published in 1954 by Nobel Prize winning/acclaimed British novelist/poet, Sir William G. Golding whose other literary masterpieces also includes the trilogy, To the Ends of the Earth. Garnering very little success at the time of publication, Lord of the Flies catapulted to an all time best seller and by the 1960’s was required reading in most schools and colleges. The sinister nature of the novel is inferred in the title which derives from the Hebrew word, Ba’al-zvuv which means god of the fly, host of the fly or literally the Lord of Flies – a term often synonymous with Satan. An expose on fundamental pessimism about humanity, the novel was written during the euphoric baby boom wave. Human nature and individual welfare versus the common good is the thematic core of Lord of the Flies as well as indicative of the adage where there is no order, disorder reigns.
With the first years of the Cold War/atomic age as the backdrop time frame, the novel commences with a group of British school boys stranded on the Pacific Islands after their plane, airplane en route, to England has been shot down. The novel depicts how the boys care of themselves on a deserted island. Children who in essence are unable to govern themselves, they eventually descend into chaos and savagery. The character ensemble is headed by Ralph – the protagonist, and Jack – the antagonist. Simon – the voice of conscience/ reason and pure goodness and Piggy – a spoiled intellectual boy who servers as Ralph’s lieutenant are the round characters where as, Roger – Jack’s deputy, and the sadistic twins – Sam and Eric are flat characters who serve as Ralph’s deputies. As they descend into savagery these characters become grotesque – mental/spiritual deformed as opposed to physically. Told in the third person, the omniscient narrator vacillates back and forth between characters. Omniscient is defined as “all knowing.” It is through this lens that the novel’s point of view can be ascertained as well. Golding uses an objective approach thereby allowing the reader to judge, filter and assess what is happening in the novel without the opinions of the characters.
Golding imparts and utilizes a great deal of symbolism/allegory to depict the socio-political concerns of the time. A profound allegory/expose on society and human nature, he hypothesizes that human frailty and a natural proclivity for evil always surfaces when societal rules/taboos where removed. Without question, the pigs head is the primary symbol in the novel for it is that which the novel’s name derives. Graphic, frightening and symbolic of dominance/sovereignty over the island and one another other, the pig’s head is an “obscene thing.” It is “dim-eyed, grinning faintly, blood blackening between the teeth,” and covered with a “black blob of flies” that “tickled under his nostrils (Golding, 1954).” Other key symbols include the conch (another symbol of their authority and disdain for outside rule/governance), Piggy’s glasses (the ability to understand and perceive things clearly), and the signal fire (the last remaining link to civilization/normalcy/human decency).
Literature, as does all aspects of society, examines this unsavory element in human nature. It is from this context that the vast array of theme in Lord of the Flies is based on, among them being various levels human savagery present in close knit/small communities. Weapons of mass destruction (biological, nuclear, etc.) are primarily designed to kill large quantities of humans as well destroy natural and man made structures and the biosphere in general. Lord of the Flies is in essence a horror story without the usual monsters (werewolves, vampires, etc.). The monsters are so called civilized/everyday people. In an age in which technology ranks superior, much emphasis is placed the actual weapons as opposed to the individuals/minds that created such lethal armaments. Such individuals/minds epitomize human savagery at the highest level. The array of violence permeating the earth today is committed not just by those in high places but amongst average/ everyday people as well.
From the Khemer Rouge and Darfur genocide to the unjustified U.S. invasion of Iraq, the Wall Street financial meltdown and The Peanut Corp. of America scandal (recent salmonella outbreak in the U.S.) – what do these events share in common with Lord of the Flies? They reflect the tragic consequences of a corrupt/destructive mindset. The world is indicative of a mindset – good and bad. Everything all began with a thought. This being the case, human savagery is equally as much a weapon of mass destruction as anthrax, a nuclear weapon, etc. Since the dawn of time, human nature has without a doubt exuded a persistent vein of unwarranted violence and cruelty. Golding believed that human governance had to take all such faults/frailties into consideration. Did he believe there was solution to such cruelty? In his 1983 Nobel Laureate speech he stated “We need more humanity, more care, more love. There are those who expect a political system to produce that; and others who expect the love to produce the system. My own faith is that the truth of the future lies between the two and we shall behave humanly and a bit humanely, stumbling along, haphazardly generous and gallant, foolishly and meanly wise until the rape of our planet is seen to be the preposterous folly that it is (William Golding Quotes).”
Lord of Flies is thought provocative, relative today just as it was when published. It serves as Sir William Golding’s plea for the sanctity of humanity and the human experience on earth. Contributing to Golding’s outstanding literary legacy, Lord of the Flies transcends time/place as well as culture and will forever leave an indelible influence/impact on English Literature.
Bibliography
Golding, William G. Lord of the Flies, New York: Putnam Publishing Group, 1954.
The author uses a rational narrator. It can be seen when Simon, Ralph, and Jack reach the top of the mountain and they are filled with excitement.
The narrator expresses that “the cause of their pleasure was not obvious” (Golding 35). They are happy without a real reason. Levinson argues that it is necessary to use aesthetics so that the other domains such as “ethical, practical, or intellectual can be sustained” (3). There is a pleasure that moves through the reader as he/she inspects the stylistic devices used.
Analysis
The boys met after Ralph had blown the conch (Golding 24). The reader will wonder that all the boys respond in the same manner to the sound of the blown shell. They expect a gathering. There must be a ship. Jack the leader of the choir asks, “Isn’t there a ship, then?” (Golding 25). The author shows response and expectation. According to Jack, if there is no ship, the blowing of the shell was useless.
The boys decide to select a leader and make a few rules (Golding 28). The author tries to teach the reader how to “arrange society or how to behave in society” (Philosophy Notes 2). Ralph, the boy who blew the conch, uplifts his hand to speak. Using his reasoning, he says “it seems to me we ought to have a chief to decide things” (Golding 28). The author shows that leadership is necessary in society. Without leadership and rules, there is disorder and unresolved disputes.
The author tries to show the reader “how to behave in society” (Philosophy Notes 2). Ralph names the fat boy ‘Piggy’, Piggy follows him with complaints. Ralph was faced with the options of giving more insults or apologizing (Golding 32). He looked at Piggy’s face and saw that he had offended him. He chose to apologize to calm him down. The character of Ralph in this scene shows that a leader must show a sense of responsibility. He needs to unite people.
In a situation to avoid (Philosophy Notes 2), the reader is taken through the character of Piggy. Piggy tells Ralph his nickname then he begs him not to tell the others (Golding 12). It does not prevent Ralph from announcing to the whole group that the fat boy’s name is ‘Piggy’. Piggy could have avoided the situation by telling Ralph his real name rather than his nickname. Ralph would not have known about ‘Piggy’. In that case, he would remain with the power to determine if they should know his nickname.
There is use of aesthetics in the literature (Philosophy Notes 2). Aesthetics tends to give an impression about social values and issues. A reader may find the use of broken language on Piggy’s speech artistic. It indicates that he comes from a different region from all the rest. Aesthetics are also used in cases an object seems very valuable to the group.
In the expression of the fire, the author explains that “whole limbs yielded passionately to the yellow flames that poured upwards and shook a great beard of flame” (Golding 56). There is the personification of the flame. The author uses aesthetics to drive emotions out of the reader about the value of fire to the boys.
Ralph, Jack and Simon go on an exploration to confirm that the place is an island. There is “projection of the perceiver’s response into an image” (Philosophy notes 2). The three boys try to find reason by asking “What made this track?” (Golding 34). They think of animals but not people. The substitution of concern between the reader and the characters ends in a rewarding experience (Philosophy Notes 2). The boys discover a shortcut to the platform at the beach, and pigs to substitute fruits for meals.
The reader can learn that “all our ideas of the world are interpretations of sense data that represent the existence of an independent material object” (Philosophy Notes 3). It is illustrated in the little boy’s perception of the ‘snake thing’ (Golding 48). The group is not sure of where the little boy saw a snake. It could be a formation in his memory.
One of three boys reflects that “That’s a reef. A coral reef. I’ve seen pictures like that” (Golding 38). Russell argues that the truth is not absolute because it relies on a belief or fact (Eames 168). The boy has only seen reefs in pictures and out of this reflection concludes that those are coral reefs.
The use of repetition and emphasis is used in the front pages on Piggy’s spectacles. On use of emphasis, it is stated that “the amount of time spent on a particular subject indicates its importance” (Philosophy Notes 4). The author uses emphasis on Piggy cleaning his spectacles so that the reader does not forget their existence. Their importance is demonstrated in the lighting the fire (Golding 55). The lenses also become the cause of the conflict that leads to Piggy’s death (Golding 260), and the search for Ralph through the entire forest.
Ethics requires that rules are followed by everyone. The group adheres to the rules about speech at meetings until Jack breaks them. Ralph has realized that Jack is becoming uncontrollable. He gives a reinforcement that “Hear him! He’s got the conch!” (Golding 126). He stood out for Piggy for the first time.
Ralph always emphasized the importance of following rules. He argues that “we can’t have proper assemblies if you don’t stick to the rules” (Golding 128). The reader is made aware that allowing one person to break the rules will result in everyone desiring to break the rules. In that case, those who follow rules are likely to lose.
Politics results in the group splitting into two. Jack questions if there are benefits of adhering to rules. He also questions the benefit of having Ralph as a leader. Jack says, “He just gives orders and expects people to obey for nothing” (Golding 182). Jack claims that his boys provide meat, protection, and keep the fire burning.
Hobbes argues that “no man is a fit arbitrator in his own cause” (69). When Jack asks who should be the chief, the boys still choose Ralph. The boys are afraid of an enraged leader. Campbell argues that “the inflated ego of the tyrant is a curse to himself and his world” (11). Ralph uses democracy where the group decides what to do. He is not able to give thoughtful decisions by himself.
In the first contest to have the boys, Ralph seems to win. Politics takes a turn when Jack and his group have killed a large pig. Jack utters in pride that “tonight we are having a feast. We’ve killed a pig… you can come and eat with us” (Golding 202). Ralph offers the solution to find their own meat but the little boys are afraid of the jungle.
He uses the moment to increase the size of his ‘tribe’. In this case, Jack uses plenty of food on his side to win against Ralph. Campbell argues that the tyrant “touches lives with blight through friendship or assistance” (11). In real politics, a group may choose one who offers grants instead of good policies.
The little boys show a lack of responsibility. For a person to be counted as responsible he must show a clear understanding of the consequences of his action (Philosophy Notes 2). Action is preceded by a motive. Jack describes that “when the meeting was over, they’d work for five minutes, then wander off or go hunting” (Golding 70). The children do not realize the importance of huts because there is no rain. Jack with the older boys has agreed to keep the fire burning and surveillance.
The narrator describes that the “generosity brought a spatter of applause from the boys” (Golding 59). Comparing the two groups, the big boys have a sense of responsibility while the ‘littluns’ only want to play and eat. Hobbes argues that a just person is “he that taketh all the care he can, that his actions may be all just” (66). The foreseeable consequences of the big boys’ action are that there will be meat for meals and a signal for rescue. The whole group benefits from their actions.
The children find themselves in a situation guided by soft determinism. This appears in the instance where they are able to make rules and choices that are not essential for survival. Hard determinism is seen when the boys hunt down the sow that has piglets (Philosophy Notes 7).
The narrator says that “the hunters followed, wedded to her in lust, excited by the long chase and the dropped blood” (194). The boys would behave differently if they were living in cities. They would be afraid of blood. They would show kindness to a wild pig so long as it had suckling piglets. The environment has made them ferocious for survival.
The effect of environment has a different impact on different people. For example, Ralph shows mercy to the pig stuck on a creeper (Golding 41). Jack wants the strong to rule. Hobbes argues that “when a covenant is made, to break is unjust” (64). On the other hand, Ralph prefers to be chosen.
Jack’s perception is influenced by hard determinism. Campbell argues that “the logic, the heroes, the deeds of myth survive into modern times” (2). Ralph is influenced by soft determinism where he acts in a civilized manner even in the wilderness. In modern times, complete democracy is not realistic. A few people form rules they consider best for everyone and enforce them. Ralph forms rules by involving everyone so that everyone will respect them.
A researcher may be considered responsible for the invention of his tools. Piggy and Ralph argue that everyone else outside the island could be dead as a result of the atomic bomb (Golding 16). Some technology could be considered good or bad depending on the purpose they serve.
Simon, Jack and Ralph use a rolling rock to form a path while exploring the island (Golding 37). On the other hand, Roger uses a rolling rock to kill Piggy (Golding 260). In the same manner, nuclear technology is used for weapons and to provide energy at a low cost. Planes were used massively to drop bombs on cities during the world wars but today they are mainly used for business.
The reader may realize that benefits of research do not rely on the motives that initiate them. Some forms of technology are formed as a result of hard determinism. It is a similar case that forms knowledge about a rolling rock when the three boys wanted a path.
The author tells the reader that culture has some influence on people’s behavior. Jack speaks out that “After all, we’re not savages. We’re English, and the English are the best at everything” (Golding 58). The boys are proud of their culture. They agree that they ought to have more rules because they are English. Locke argues that “it is impossible to have an idea that we are not conscious of” (Fuller, Stecker & Wright 67).
The same perception is seen from the naval officer. The officer says that “you’re all British, aren’t you? – You should have been able to put up a better show than that” (Golding 290). In this situation, the children themselves and the officer believe that morality and ethics is determined by culture. It is difficult to judge immorality that comes as a result of culture (Philosophy Notes 7).
Maurice shows morality through conflict resolution (Philosophy Notes 8). The children had started to cry when Maurice pretended to fall over. They started laughing “so absurdly that the biguns joined in” (Golding 123).
On the other hand, Piggy seems to intensify arguments about whether the hunters should neglect the fire for a pig (Golding 99). Instead of turning to Jack, Ralph punches Piggy on his belly. The tension that was building between the two leaders was lessened. It may appear to the reader as unjust to hit Piggy but it prevents a bigger conflict. It is morality through guidance of action.
Conclusion
The story is given a happy ending. Campbell argues that “it is justly scorned as a misinterpretation, for the world as we know it yields but one ending, death” (19). The author uses the happy ending to relieve the reader from ‘substituted concerns’. Jack is portrayed as a boy capable of doing anything to satisfy his greed. This is the situation when he burns the entire forest just to capture Ralph (Golding 284). The author uses Piggy to show oppression of knowledge that does not conform to pre-existing knowledge or beliefs.
Works Cited
Campbell, Joseph. The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Novato: New World Library, 2008. Print.
Eames, Elizabeth. Bertrand Russell’s Theory of Knowledge, New York: Routledge. Print.
Fuller, Gary, Robert Stecker, & John Wright. John Locke: An Essay Concerning Human Understanding in Focus, London: Routledge, 2000. Print.
Golding, William. Lord of the Flies, New York: Global Village Contemporary Classics, 1954. KOMAScript and LaTeX. Web.
When the story first begins, a group of children is stranded on a deserted, tropical island. The island symbolized freedom as there were no adults there. It seemed like the ideal world to them. William Golding wanted to show that paradise is far from reality.
The beginning setting resembled The Coral Island, a perfect setting – food, sun, friendship, simple democratic organization adventures, and happiness. A simple society was set up to introduce rules on the island to try and resemble their original society. This was accomplished by the symbolic nature of the conch shell. The conch shell represents power and authority and the only rules the children have. The conch shows how people use objects to give power.
At first, the conch was a success. Everyone followed the rules and was happy. It was the perfect Utopia. Later in the story, we also learn that objects don’t always give power when people don’t choose to obey them. This was the case when Jack started to rebel and disobey Ralph’s rules and commands. This was where their perfect Utopia fell apart.
Main text
William Golding also wanted to show his readers the true meaning of the real world. He wanted to show that reality is not always perfect. Instead of comradeship, co-operation, and teamwork, like described in the ideal world – William Golding has created a murderous, bloodthirsty and evil society that has accurately represented the world that society exists in today. In an ideal world, hard work plays out and goodness comes to those ends.
In The Lord of the Flies, the fire in the story is lit as a symbol of hope and rescue. In the ideal world – this would have resulted in their rescue, however, rebellion from and murderous acts from Jack resulted in their final rescue and not the original fire. So in reality, we succeed more often from luck instead of hard work.
Lord of the Flies can also be interpreted as an allegory or parable. Ralph, Jack, and the rest were given a choice and the knowledge of good and evil. The island in The Lord Of The Flies resembled the perfect type of Utopia at first, and all they had to do was follow the ‘good laws’ of the adult society. They fell prey to temptations – pride, cruelty, bloodthirstiness, greed, and the desire to hurt and kill. Jack, who was the head of the choir group and who was the also first to follow rules – could not resist these temptations deep within him. And that was why he was taken over to the dark side. (Reilly 49)
Many of the characters in the story are symbolic of really important people. They show how the real world is made up of people. Ralph symbolized a good leader who was the first to try and establish a civilized society and bring rules to the island. Ralph, however, could not control evil people like Jack. Ralph represented Franklin Roosevelt before World War 2, who could not prevent the war from breaking out. Piggy symbolized the educated people who gave good advice which nobody listened to. Piggy represented Albert Einstein when he argued the bad ideas of using the atomic bomb.
Simon symbolized Christ, a holy and angelic figure in the story. It was Simon who discovered that the true evil was the evil coming from one’s own heart. Jack, on the other hand, was a crazy leader who killed and slaughtered because he wanted power.
He broke rules and had a disregard the commands of Ralph. Jack represented Adolf Hitler, who was also evil, arrogant, and dictatorial. William Golding has shown his readers the true reality of our world. Instead of a perfect, happy, and ideal world, he has shown us a world where human life is ruled by the law of the jungle – the survival of the fittest. The Lord of the Flies acts as a miniature summary of the unpleasant lessons of world history. This novel is fulfilled with symbolism, but the ones that stand out the most are Piggy’s glasses and the fire, and the conch.
“His spectacles are used by them as burning glasses”! This quote connects to two symbols which are the fire and Piggy’s glasses. The fire is a symbol of rescue and hope. Without Piggy’s spectacles, they wouldn’t have been able to start a fire. While the novel went on they started another fire but they got sidetracked and the fire went out. Furthermore on in the story, the boys were working very hard to start a fire because they wanted to get rescued, but when it had gone out some boys like Jack didn’t care anymore about being rescued and had decided to give up because he knew he wasn’t going to be. At the end of the novel, Jack started the fire and wanted to ablaze that island to kill Ralph, but instead, it rescued them.
Throughout Lord of the Flies, the most important symbol is the conch. The importance of the conch is that it symbolizes everyone that is speaking, in other words, whoever is holding the conch has the power and right to talk and everyone surrounded by him must be listening. Ralph uses it to call meetings and for the boys to come. “I’ll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he’s speaking”. The conch shows much power and a step towards the organization.
The plot is fairly simple but some very complex themes and symbolism are woven into it. The story starts with a group of young boys being marooned on an island previously uninhabited by mankind. They discover they are alone; there are no adults and they struggle to survive and to form a civilized society. This eventually leads to chaos, the breakdown of order and reason, and a return to man’s most primitive instincts. It is quite a disturbing book, which makes the reader look at the dark side of man’s soul.
The first symbol the reader encounters is the island itself. It represents the whole world. The island seems like paradise, it reminds us of the biblical Garden of Eden, a place where everything is perfect until humankind arrives. Golding deliberately makes the island remote from the rest of civilization to allow him to reveal the true nature of the characters and the world they create for themselves. The boys symbolize the whole of mankind. (Baker 401) They create their little world on the island. Their isolation from the rest of the world allows the author to experiment with them. The characters all remind the reader of people they know and so seem very real.
When Ralph finds the conch he makes it the first rule that whoever has the conch is allowed to speak and everyone else has to listen to them because he realizes that they need something to represent authority and rules. This shows that they have discovered the importance of communication in society. Language is unique to humans and is one of the things that make us different from animals. Towards the end of the story, the conch gets broken, this is a major turning point in the plot and symbolizes the breakdown of communication, the disintegration of society, and the point where the boys allow their primitive instincts to take over, making them almost animals.
Early in the book, Piggy, one of the boys, is made fun of about his appearance, including the fact that he wears glasses. In the boys’ first few hours Jack points out that Piggy’s glasses could be used to reflect sunlight onto dry wood to make a signal fire to increase the chance of rescue. They realize that Piggy’s glasses may be the most important thing they have. Piggy’s glasses symbolize the hope of rescue, clear thinking, and being able to see the truth.
When one of the lenses gets broken, things seem to break down and events start to become unclear, no one knows what is going on. When the ‘savages’ steal Piggy’s glass, everything becomes unclear. The glasses are the power of fire and when the savages steal them, Piggy’s group is left helpless with no hope of rescue. So the glasses are a symbol for seeing clearly, and for the power of fire which may lead to the rescue.
The signal fire on the mountain takes on huge importance because it symbolizes hope. It is their only possible way of attracting rescuers. It makes the boys feel secure because it is a link to the outside world and reminds them that there is hope and they are not doomed to a life on the island. (Johnson 132) It is an increasing source of comfort as the story progresses and they become more frightened of the ‘beast’.
When the fire goes out, the boys seem insecure and unsure of what might happen and are frantic to get it lit again. In a way, the signal fire is like a parent watching over them and giving them a kind of protection. When the power of fire is taken away from Piggy and Ralph, they almost abandon hope and eventually go and confront the savages and ask for the power of fire back.
Each of the main characters comes to symbolize an aspect of humanity. Ralph represents order, leadership, and civilization. Ralph also represents the normal, average boy; there is nothing special about him. He and his actions symbolize that of the majority of young boys. The other characters’ special abilities are measured against Ralph and he is used to showing for example the cleverness of Piggy and the evil in Jack. Throughout the story, Ralph symbolizes growing up or coming to “the end of innocence”. (Babb 120)
Piggy symbolizes the cleverness and sensibleness in the group. He is the first person to point out that no one knows that they are there. “Who knows we’re here? Eh?” He is like the voice of a grown-up, the brains behind Ralph’s actions, and when he is killed, towards the end of the novel, Ralph seems to almost fall apart with no Piggy to tell him what to do and how to do it. “Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart, and the fall through the air of a true, wise friend called Piggy.” Jack picks on piggy because he is different; there is no real reason. This bullying is caused by a lack of understanding, the boys’ have never met problems like the ones Piggy has. This can be seen in their lack of understanding of his asthma, or “ass-mar”.
Jack symbolizes evil and savagery. His evil actions are seen from the very start of the novel when he makes fun of Piggy for almost no reason other than his appearance. (Baker 452) “Shut up Fatty.” Jack symbolizes the savagery and lust for power, this is also portrayed from the start when the first thing he thinks is that the group must have hunters and he must be the leader of the hunters. As the story progresses, this lust for power becomes clearer when he starts to express anger and jealousy towards Ralph and eventually starts his tribe, just to be the leader.
Carrying on the Biblical theme Simon also symbolizes Jesus. Jesus is considered by Christians as a miracle being. (Gindin 198) Simon spoke to the devil in the form of the Lord of the Flies just as Jesus spoke to the devil on his forty-night journey across the desert and Simon, like Jesus, predicted his death when talking to the Lord of the Flies.
Roger symbolizes exactly how cruel and brutal one human can be. He is by far the most savage of all the boys; he fully supports Jack in his evilness. Right at the start, he takes a liking to throw rocks and boulders and spears at his fellow boys and he has no regret or sympathy after he commits his violent acts. (Baker 119) He likes to torture, he tortured the little ones, the pig and Piggy. He is the one who eventually murders Piggy by rolling a boulder onto him. His badness goes further than anyone else’s.
The Lord of the Flies is perhaps the most important symbol in the novel. When Simon wanders off by himself he finds a pig’s head on a spear, surrounded by flies, which had been offered to the ‘beast’. Simon begins to hallucinate and imagines that the pig’s head is talking to him. It tells him that the beast is a figure of their imagination. (Friedman 78) This symbolizes that the boys have become insane.
They believe in this ‘beast’ which only exists within them and Simon is the first to realize this. The Lord of the Flies speaks in a voice that could be Jack’ “I’m warning you, I’m going to get waxy. D’you see? You’re not wanted. Understand? We are going to have fun on this island! So don’t try it on, my poor misguided boy, or else we shall do you. See?” Simon rushes back to tell the others that the beast doesn’t exist but before he can tell them, he is killed.
The ‘beast’ that all the boys fear is an important symbol. It shows that the boys have in one respect gone mad. They allow their childish fears to take over their adult reasoning. They all believe in this creature from the start, first of all, it takes the form of a ‘beastie’ that the little ‘uns see – ” a snake-thing. Ever so big.” Next, it takes the form of “the thing that bowed” which was the dead parachutist. Last, of all, it takes the form of the Lord of the Flies. It is the fear of the unknown, fear itself.
There is the symbolism of light and dark. By daylight, all seems fine but the nights on the island symbolize a time when something awful might happen. In the beginning, just the little ‘uns are scared of the dark but later they are all uneasy when darkness falls and there is a general feeling that with the darkness comes uncertainty about what might happen before daylight “Evening came, not with calm beauty but with the threat of violence” – Ralph. Light and dark is a common symbol for good and evil. In the end, Ralph weeps for “the darkness of man’s heart” and this is the whole essence of the book, a child’s realization of how evil one person can become. (Whitley 110)
Towards the end of the novel, after Simon and Piggy are killed, all the boys come to symbolize the instinctive, primitive behavior of early humans. They become one tribe and act with a common instinct. This is shown in Ralph when he is running away from Jack’s tribe “He obeyed an instinct he did not know he possessed.”
Summary
In conclusion, the symbolism is what makes the book great. It is what makes the reader think more deeply about what is happening and what reveals the true nature of the characters. Without it, “Lord of the Flies” would be just another children’s adventure story with a very simple plot and not the great work that it is. Lord of the flies is full of symbolism. Throughout the novel, Golding uses symbols that show us a deeper meaning and when you see the symbols you can truly find out what the story is all about symbolism because it is such an important aspect, which runs through the whole book and is crucial to the reader’s understanding of the plot and the development of the characters.
Works Cited
Babb S. Howard: The Novels of William Golding; Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1970.
Baker James R. Critical Essays on William Golding; Boston: G. K. Hall & Co., 1988.
Baker, James R. “The Decline of Lord of the Flies.” In South Atlantic Quarterly, Vol. 69, 1970, pp. 446-60
Baker, James R., ed. “Why It’s No Go: A Study of William Golding’s Lord of the Flies. Arizona Quarterly 19 (1963): 393-405.
Friedman, Lawrence S. William Golding. New York: Continuum, 1993.
Gindin, James. William Golding. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1988.
Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. New York: Capricorn Books, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1954.
Johnson, Arnold (1980). Of Earth and Darkness. The Novels of William Golding. Missouri: University of Missouri Press, 132.
Reilly Patrick. Lord of the Flies. Fathers and Sons. New York: Twayne, 1992.
Whitley John S. Golding. Lord of the Flies. London: Edward Arnold, 1970.
Lord of the Flies is a remarkable, allegorical novel written by William Golding and published in 1954. It is possible to say that when creating this piece, the author was largely inspired by the events that took place in the first half of the 20th century and World War II, in particular. As the international community submerged in multiple conflicts, injustices, blind aggression and violence became extremely common and seemed to be promoted by the political agendas in many countries. Thus, there is no surprise that, in his masterpiece, Golding chose to explore the nature of human cruelty. It is considered that evil and aggression are intrinsic parts of human nature and can be either manifested in reality or hidden depending on the circumstances. Fear and chaos are considered to be among the major factors that make people cruel. Considering this, the present paper will analyze the validity of the given statement by drawing on the experiences of characters in Lord of the Flies and evaluating the conditions in which they lived.
The novel’s plot gradually unfolds when a group of boys is cast ashore on an uninhabited island after a plane crash. At first, they manage to take care of themselves without adults’ supervision and maintain constructive relationships inside the group. Nevertheless, soon after, their community falls apart and more and more disorder and fear descend on them. The two characters, Ralph and Jack, take leading positions in the conflict, and Golding endows them with opposing qualities. While Ralph is in favor of civilization and strives to come back to it, values peace, and tries to do good for all boys on the island, Jack is inherently more aggressive, uncompromisable, and manipulative. For example, Ralph’s insistence on compliance with the “conch rule” during the group discussions is an example of his attempts to maintain order in the group, whereas Jack’s keen interest in hunting illustrates his aggressiveness and thirst for blood.
It is worth noticing that Jack initially accepts Ralph’s leadership and tries to comply with the rules. However, over a short period, his behavior becomes more deviant as he fully realizes the freedom of living on an uninhabited island. His opposition to Ralph is symbolic because the latter character represents civilization and morality. Since there is no need to comply with social norms and laws, Jack lets his natural inclinations for aggression and cruelty, which were otherwise suppressed when he lived in society, manifest to their full.
At the same time, in situations when Jack’s influence increases, Ralph tends to lose control and forget his morality more easily. For instance, in the scene where Robert pretends to be a pig as part of a mock-hunt game and others pretend to be hunters aiming to kill him, Ralph became “carried away by a sudden thick excitement, grabbed Eric’s spear and jabbed at Robert with it” (Golding). Later, as everyone is trying to catch and hit Robert as a pig, “Ralph too was fighting to get near, to get a handful of that brown, vulnerable flesh” and his “desire to squeeze and hurt was overmastering” (Golding). This episode demonstrates that cruelty is also like Ralph. It becomes expressed when, during the game, he turns less conscious of strict behavioral rules and when everyone around seems to forget about them as well, giving way to their basic, almost animal-like, emotions. Thus, this mock-hunt is a perfect example of a chaotic situation in which moral values have no power and others’ feelings no longer count.
To a significant extent, fear also contributes to the characters’ aggression in the novel. All the boys on the island are afraid of the beast, which, however, is just imaginary. Ralph attempts to persuade them that the beast does not exist and even arranges a meeting “to talk about this fear and decide there’s nothing in it” (Golding). In this way, he tries to maintain order and keep the group cohesive. At the same time, Jack uses others’ fear of the beast to gain power, manipulate others, and create a divide in the community. Consequently, fear overwhelms Ralph as well, and together with Piggy, he finds himself “eager to take a place in this demented but partly secure society” that Jack had created (Golding).
Ultimately, the fear and the frenzy that takes hold of the boys’ minds in the moments of chaos leads to one of the most tragic events described in Lord of the Flies – Simon’s death. The killing of the latter character is symbolic since he is the most innocent and pure among all others in the book. Moreover, he is the most intuitive and, thus, first comes to realize that the beast is, in fact, nothing but the darkness that hides inside. It is Simon who understands that the beast is part of every human’s nature and, therefore, the boys are threatened by themselves and each other more than anything else on the island.
It is valid to say that the abovementioned statement is one of the main ideas that Golding wanted to convey in Lord of the Flies. He showed that in some circumstances it becomes harder to keep a civilized face and live by ethical values. Moreover, by instilling and using fear, one can easily manipulate others. Regardless of a seemingly pessimistic message, the novel teaches readers to become more aware of their inclinations and strive to do good despite circumstances and pressure from the majority.
Reference
Golding, W. (2014). Lord of the flies. New York, NY: Spark Publishing.
The similarity between a beast and a human being is striking. Despite centuries of progress and the ability to think abstractly, there is still a remnant of the beast within every single person. The essence of being human is, therefore, not to get rid of it entirely, but to be able to control it even in the circumstances that encourage the most violent and outrageous behavior.
Although Jack Merridew, one of the lead characters of William Golding’s shockingly unforgettable Lord of the Flies novel, is a child and still has a lot to learn in terms of how society works, the fact that he let his craving for power coordinate his actions and even lead him to commit a murder makes it obvious that he is to blame for the desperate state that the residents of the island finally happened to be in.
Re-Establishing The Theory Of Crime
The case is relatively simple. Although Jack did not kill Piggy on his own and did not succeed at murdering Ralph, his opponent, he still had a huge influence on his tribe and, therefore, must be held responsible for the effects that his influence had on the members of the tribe.
Such responsibility is predetermined by the self-control theory of crime (Goode 3), which presupposes that criminal behavior is a result of poor self-control, the latter triggered by the lack – or, to be more accurate, absence – of deterrents.
Reviewing Evidence: Clear As Day
Technically, Jack did not murder Piggy with his own hands; nor did he manage to kill Ralph, his arch nemesis. However, the numerous attempts that he undertook to murder Ralph, as well as the fact that he fooled his “tribe” into thinking that Piggy deserves death, is equally as big a crime as the actual murder.
To start with, Jack mentions on several occasions that Ralph must be exterminated so that Jack and his tribe could live peacefully on the island. At this point, it becomes clear that Jack is becoming obsessed with power and that the desire to be the leader takes hold of him, ousting his common sense and the need for returning to the civilization: “I’m chief then” (Golding 29).
It should also be mentioned that Jack never actually considers the members of his tribe as an individual; instead, he envisions them merely as valuable – or invaluable, as the case of Piggy’s murder will show – resources. Instead of using his power to help the children survive and attract the attention of the ships passing by, he abuses his power to create his cult: “He began to dance, and his laughter became a bloodthirsty snarling” (Golding 89).
While the facts above may be considered irrelevant to the case, they show the transformation that Jack undergoes. He turns into a vengeful monster from a sensible and self-assured leader very soon: “Jack clamored among them, the conch forgotten. ‘Come on! Follow me!’” (Golding, 52).
As a result, in several days, he craves for nothing but killing Ralph, his opponent: “Viciously, with full intention, he hurled his spear at Ralph” (Golding 201). He commits attempted to murder several times, though, fortunately, with no success: “The pint tore the skin and flesh over Ralph’s ribs, then sheared off and fell in the water” (Golding 201).
Though the case of Piggy’s murder is not that simple, it is still obvious that the tribe started ostracizing Piggy under Jack’s influence: “We don’t want you,” said Jack, flatly. “Three’s enough” (Golding, 31). As a result, Jack has to share the responsibility for the murder; more to the point, he is to be held the organizer of the murder, seeing how the tribe was obeying his orders.
Arguing Against The Opposition’s Case
A single look at the opponent’s case will show that the evidence in favor of Jack does not hold any water. One of the most common arguments is that Jack is still a child and, therefore, cannot yet comprehend the wrongfulness of his actions. However, one must mention that the narrator never actually states the characters’ age, which means that they might as well be in their early teenage years.
Also, the fact that the characters manage to form a kind of society shows that they have an understanding of how society works. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that they are capable of differentiating between the moral and the immoral as well.
Conclusion: The Duty Of Being Humane
Even as far as Jack’s youth and lack of experience go, he was still capable of having influence over the rest of the tribe and control others, which is why he is to blame for the effects that his influence has had on the other children. It is the duty of any person to stay humane in any circumstances, which Jack has failed at, succumbing to hatred instead of contributing to the mini-society and striving for their salvation.
Therefore, Jack must answer for a range of attempted murders, as well as for solicitation of murder, the latter resulting in Piggy’s tragic death: “Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart, and the fall through the air of a true, wise friend called Piggy” (Golding 291).
Works Cited
Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. 1954. Global Village Contemporary Classics. Web. 21 Nov. 2013.
Goode, Erich. Out of Control: Assessing the General Theory of Crime. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2008. Print.