...One of the main themes in William Golding's Lord of the Flies is the struggle between Society and Savagery. The boys' first intention on the island is to create a society based on the one they had in the adult world: one with rules, limitations and order. But at the same time, they want to have fun. As time progresses, they start ignoring the rules that they had originally set. Instead of using the designated lavatory stones for bathroom purposes, they start using the bathroom wherever they want, even near their special meeting place. The shelters that they all intended on helping to build end up being built by only a few of the boys and therefore, are not as sturdy as they could have been. According to Henri Talon, "[The boys] planned order and allowed disorder to settle" (Talon). The longer they stayed on the island, the more they lost touch with the boundaries set by society, and they eventually started to resort to primitive behavior. Throughout the novel, each of the boys struggles to keep remnants of society in tact, while their primitive nature tries to reel them into savagery. Some of the boys give into their primitive behavior very quickly, while others strive to hold on to their civility as long as possible. This struggle is portrayed masterfully by Golding who uses symbolism to enhance the reader's understanding of it. The first prominent symbol of society that we see is the conch shell that Ralph finds near the shore at the beginning of the novel. Upon Piggy's suggestion...
Words: 1752 - Pages: 8
...In Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, Jack is a prime example of a person very determined. In Lord of the Flies, Golding shows that Jack has very straight, strict motivations that help him reach his goals by making them apparent and clear throughout the book. I will be touching on three of those motivations today. In Lord of the Flies, Golding shows Jack’s motivation for power with quotes and actions. You can see this at the part of the book where Ralph is elected Chief instead of him. On page 23 it states:“Jack’s face disappeared under the blush of mortification”. In this quote when Ralph gets voted in over Jack, Jack is not very happy about this, and his emotions are translucent when it comes to jealousy. You can also see this motivation...
Words: 518 - Pages: 3
...“‘They hate you, Ralph. They’re going to do you tomorrow.’ ‘They’re going to hunt you tomorrow,’” (Golding 188). This may sound like an intense children’s game, or even a warning for an animal that will be hunted the next day. However, it wasn’t. These words were aimed at Ralph, a human boy and the main character in Lord of the Flies. In William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies, there is a group of young boys trapped on a deserted island. The book is about the boys’ fight for survival and follows their fear and slow decivilization. Part way through being on the island, the boys think they discover a “beastie,” but are never able to find the physical “beastie.” Whether the “beastie” was a snake, lion, bear, or anything else, the main character,...
Words: 759 - Pages: 4
...evil ways.” In essence, this quotation denotes that because every human being has a brain, they also possess the ability to think and act in a malicious and inhumane manner. Considering this, William Golding, the author of Lord of the Flies, illustrates that uncivil behaviour will prevail on the adult-free island. In a like manner, Macbeth by Shakespeare gives insight to the lengths people will go to so that one can achieve personal profits at a rapid pace. Through similar fashions, both novels depict the true nature of human beings. Similarities between the characters of Jack from the Lord of the Flies and Macbeth from Macbeth reveal that power and greed is the root of all evil. In addition, the use of knives and representation of blood in both novels plays large roles in the quests for power. Also, similarities in plot structure help to further establish the sinful nature of humans. One can conclude that both Macbeth and Lord of the Flies give insight to the fact that human nature is predominantly evil through the characterization of Jack and Macbeth, symbolism of knives and blood and similarities within plot structure. Initially, the predominantly evil aspects of human nature show through the characterization of Jack and Macbeth. In the Lord of the Flies, the society the boys live in begins to crumble as Jack becomes less and less civil while the others follow. Jack quickly turns from an innocent young boy to an uncivil animal, “He looked in astonishment, no longer at himself...
Words: 1473 - Pages: 6
...Millions of years ago, our ancestors were hunting for food, murdering people, and running around in the wild to survive before making many civilizations like the ones we currently have. Even though we have societies, many humans possess primitive instincts that cannot suppressed for long. After a plane crashes on an undiscovered island, a group of British schoolboys were stranded and attempted to make a civilization. However, as terror, sin, and evil reigns and authority collapses, the darkness of a man’s heart is inescapable. Humans are naturally inclined to be savages. Jack demonstrates that humans are naturally savage because he is bloodthirsty and power-hungry. “Kill the beast! Cut her throat! Spill her blood!” (Golding 76)...
Words: 638 - Pages: 3
...Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies takes place during the first World War when a plane full of British schoolboys is shot down and crashes on a deserted tropical island. They immediately presume that it will be all fun and games. Ralph, a boy who calls the group together by blowing into a conch, is deemed leader and begins to set rules and plans for the future. As the boys quickly lose interest in the day-to-day tasks they are asked to perform, they waste their time playing and hunting pigs. Jack, an aggressive and arrogant boy, encourages this behavior by taking out the boys routinely to help him catch and kill a pig. When Jack defies Ralph’s authority, the boys degenerate into a savage state of mind that overtakes their innocence and common sense. Without the guidance of authority and law, the youth of the world would become evil and egocentric....
Words: 647 - Pages: 3
...When Children are doing nothing, they are doing mischief ~ Henry Fending Using children as a focus point, William Golding speaks of human savagery in his novel The Lord of the Flies. He shines a light on human nature and behaviors using children as a paradigm to show what human beings are inside; savages. In his novel, Golding uses Jack in particular to show how total freedom can affect a human being. When we are young, we grow up knowing that there are people who are here to protect us or here to cause us harm. The people that protect us are our parents, policemen and the members of our family. But those who harm us are the criminals, the bullies and the Jack Merridews of the world. In The Lord of the Flies ack poses as a threat to the rest of the boys. He is a natural bully and he has no respect for others; especially a young boy named Piggy. When he speaks to Piggy it always starts the same; “You’re talking too much… Shut up Fatty” (Golding 21). To Jack, insults were a way of life. Because he was not able to control the situation at hand, he felt the need to control everyone around him. He had taken this behavior from modern society. He learned that to survive in the normal world, he would have to be violent; he would have to hurt people. But as the societal bounds were removed from the boys, Jack felt the freedom of the island; and started to embrace the animal he really was inside. “Jack, his face smeared with clays, reached the top first and hailed Ralph excitedly...
Words: 1077 - Pages: 5
...Comparing the dystopian features of 'Lord of the Flies' and 'The Handmaid's Tale' 'Lord of the flies' and 'The Handmaid's Tale' are two dystopian novels that I'm going to compare. These two novels have got various dystopian features. Dystopia refers to a work of fiction that describes an imagined place or state where everything is unpleasant or bad due to terror or deprivation. Lord of the Flies is a very gory dystopian novel. This novel includes various dystopian features. One of them is greed which has been reflected by the behaviours and attitudes of the characters. Greed has been shown by Jack's obsession over killing the pig as once the pig escaped, getting it back and killing it was his only goal. He proclaimed that he was hunting for the group but his desperation to kill the pig said otherwise. This act showed his greed for pride as his ego got hurt when the pig escaped. Another way greed has been shown is by Ralph's desire to constantly be in charge and have control. This has been shown when Ralph first went with the hunter group he saw that the boys had started lazing about so in order to get control over them, he yelled at them to get back to work and light the fire. At denial, his ego got hurt and so he screamed at them until they agreed to do do. This reflects Jack's greed for authority and control over others. One other way in which greed has been shown is through Jack's intense and selfish desire for power. Jack's greed for authority and power has been shown...
Words: 891 - Pages: 4
...In William Golding's Lord of the Flies, a group of boys have survived a plane crash and have landed on an island. Without any grownups, the boys are forced to learn how to survive and cooperate by themselves, but the boys will soon be uncoordinated. The boys lose their innocence, and most will turn into savages. In developing the theme of the predatory, bestial atavistic nature of man, Golding employs numerous symbols using characters, symbolic acts, and objects. Of the groups of symbols, characters in Lord of the Flies symbolize different aspects of man. Some characters represent the different personalities that are involved with Sigmund Freud's id, ego, and superego. Piggy, a fat boy who wears spectacles, represents the superego as he is...
Words: 1313 - Pages: 6
...Lord of the Flies Comprehensive Test True/False- Mark “A” for True and “B” for False. 1. When Ralph is elected chief, Jack is so frustrated that he refuses to hunt. 2. Ralph starts the signal fire by rubbing two sticks together. 3. The signal fire goes out because Jack and the hunters neglect it. 4. A wild boar eats the littlun who has a mulberry-colored birthmark on his face. 5. Piggy’s parents will come find them. 6. The conch provides a symbol for authority that the boys recognize as civilized. 7. The main source of food on the island is food scavenged from the wreckage of the airplane. 8. The boys murder Simon because they think that he is “batty.” 9. Piggy is not afraid of Jack because he knows that SamnEric will protect him. 10. Ralph and Jack initially had a mutual respect for each other that diminished by the end of the book. Match the following descriptions with the choices given (A-E) a. Ralph b. Piggy c. Jack d. Simon e. Roger 11. dies when a rock falls on him 12. the elected leader of the group 13. the most evil character; kills Piggy 14. puts his own lust for hunting ahead of everyone else’s needs 15. sees people for what they really are 16. represents the power-hungry dictator in society 17. represents the mystic philosophers in society 18. represents the good-hearted rule-following leaders in society 19. represents the evil sadist figures in society 20. represents the scholars...
Words: 1447 - Pages: 6
...Most people would believe that Ralph’s foils is Jack, but what about Jack’s foil? In Lord of the flies Jacks foil is Roger, as sadistic who finds joy in killing. Throughout the book Jack changes with the help of Roger due to similar goals and personalities. This ends up leading to destruction and confirming Goulding’s idea on that humans are inherently evil, that the “beast resides within each human, giving us the capacity to destroy civilization, Jack wasn’t always evil, in the very beginning of Lord of the flies he’s a normal kid. He” Chapter chorister and head boy. I can sing C sharp” (Goulding 15). Jack uses this as a reason to be chief. But ends up losing to Ralph. His reaction to this is shocking “The freckles on Jack’s face disappeared under a blush of mortification” (Goulding 15-16). He’s so used to getting his way and being controlling because he was the leader of the choir now known as “hunters”. “The boy who controlled them was dressed in the same way through his cap badge was golden. He shouted an order and they halted gasping, sweating, swaying in the fierce light” (Goulding 13). His pride and selfishness leads him to becoming a dangerous new person. Moving on, like any other boy Jack was a bully to Piggy. At first it was verbal abuse “Your always sacred, Yah Fatty”...
Words: 1285 - Pages: 6
...Lord of the Flies Lord of the Flies is a fantasy book that tells the story of what happens to a group of boys stranded on an island after a plane crash. Many events occur while the boys are on the island. Some are good, others are not quite so good, and then there are some events that are just down right horrible. Even though the boys are on an island that seems to be very far away from civilization, almost all of the events that happen are caused by the war that is going on in the adult’s world. In Lord of the Flies, William Golding demonstrates how the wickedness of mankind causes the destruction of the boy’s civilization on the island. There are many events that symbolize how the boy’s civilization was corrupted by mankind. Simon’s death is a good symbol for this because his death was caused by “the beast”. A dead parachuter floated onto the island because he was shot down out of plane from the war and the boy’s called it “the beast”. Simon is the only boy brave enough to get close enough to “the beast” to find out anything more about it, and when he does he finds out that it is just a dead man. Simon goes down to the beach to try to tell the boys what he discover but they are doing their hunting dance, and being caught up in the moment they kill him (52). Simons death illustrates that mankind corrupted the boys civilization because they new it was Simon that they were attacking but they didn’t care. They thought nothing about what they were doing and the consequences that...
Words: 636 - Pages: 3
...Golding’s point of view on the issue of man can be evil, when they want to be, because recent studies or events demonstrate that men do have the power to control the amount of evil inside of them, it is just the way that they express or use that amount of evil. Power, is good when used correctly, but on the other hand power can be evil, when used incorrectly. In “Lord of the Flies” and in CNN’s “Trump’s Korea hopes thrown into turmoil”, they both express the differences between good and evil, and the use of power. Since biblical times, people, especially men, have been influenced by man’s potential for evil, because to most people it is easier to express yourself in a negative or evil manner, than a good and peaceful manner. According to...
Words: 561 - Pages: 3
...Good or Evil? The Fight For Dominance The fierce battle between the lightness and darkness of man’s heart has coexisted since the earliest of times. William Golding’s award-winning novel, Lord of the Flies, is one that captures this very judgment. A group of young British schoolboys who were once innocent and pure of heart are quickly devoured by the dark powers of destruction, savagery, and murder. However, even with these destructive powers at hand, the young schoolboys along with their distant memories of being in a civilized society, fight in an epic battle to try and prevent the full outbreak of evil. Golding illustrates the never-ending combat of “good” and “evil”, amidst the young schoolboys and the Beast; Ralph, the democratic leader, contrary to Jack, who favoured dictatorship; and the strength of civilization versus the forces of human nature. First and foremost, the story displays the constant conflicts between the innocence of the British schoolboys and the dark nature of what they come to know as the Beast. An example of this is when the twins Sam and Eric encounter the Beast in Chapter Six: "Beast From Air." In the beginning of the chapter, Sam and Eric, who were on duty to watch the fire, falls asleep as a dead parachutist falls from the war in the adult world and lands on the island. When they awake from their sleep, they noticed a “figure that hung with dangling limbs” (103) and mistake it as the Beast. Sam describes to Ralph that the Beast was ‘“furry”’...
Words: 1542 - Pages: 7
...Lord Of The Flies is about boys trapped on an island with no parents, forcing them to grow up and start working together. William Golding did a good job at making the kids seem like normal, power hungry, trouble making boys. He also made this book relevant throughout the years and even in today's time. The adolescent ways of thinking, and acting as shown in the book are still being seen in this day and age. We all think we are more mature people who know how to logically solve problems, but no there are so many examples of childlike thinking everywhere. There are still many ways Golding’s old novel is relevant to today. During the book you see a lot conflict, savagery, fear, and civilization. All of these themes are still relevant today in school, the workforce, and in politics. One specific example of relevance would be the democracy the boys displayed at the beginning of the novel. When the boys wanted order and law they decided to pick a chief, and to do so they voted just like we would when picking a president. However, there was conflict after choosing the chief which was definitely demonstrated when our president was picked. The different opinions the boys had made it hard for them to get along and stay together. That...
Words: 676 - Pages: 3
