...Caleb Alexander Mrs. Walls AP Literature May 8, 2015 Lord of the Flies Boys Fighting Man’s War I. Introduction Greed, jealousy, and murder three of man’s original sins. Since the time of Cain and Able, humans have had an inner hunger for power and savagery. Over time this nature has been hidden, but not totally erased from Man’s nature. In today’s world politics are filled with corruption in every corner of the globe, yet they hide their nature of greed for power. William Golding served in the Navy during World War 2 where he witnessed human tragedy like no other. Inspired by what he saw, Golding wrote his most popular novel in 1954 titled Lord of the Flies. The novel is set on a remote island where a group of young boys had survived an airplane...
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...How does William Golding support his hypothesis of what could possibly happen on an island when humans and boys in particular are marooned there? You may consider setting, characterization, themes and/or symbolism you must incorporate quotes from the text to support your analysis. William Golding wrote Lord of the Flies shortly after the end of WWII. The novel's plot, in which a group of English boys end up stranded on a deserted island struggle to develop their own society, is a social and political thought-experiment using fiction. The story focuses on their attempts at civilization, devolution into savagery and violence puts the relationship between human nature and society under literary observation. Golding uses several allusions to human evolution, such as when the boys discover fire, craft tools, and form political and social systems in a process that recalled theories of the development of early man. Golding's hypothesis about humanity is pessimistic, that is, there are anarchic and brutal instincts in human nature. He displays this throughout his conveying of the setting, characterization, themes, and symbolism. The novel takes place on an un-known inhabited island in the Pacific Ocean, Immediately in the novel Golding reveals the instinct of the restricted human savagery in the boys in regard to the setting. “Behind this was the darkness of the forest proper and open space of the scar” Page 10. Golding shows the...
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...Law and rules shape the foundation for civilization which is necessary to keep the darker side of human nature in order. The lawless country of Somalia in East Africa demonstrates that without an affective form of government and the restraints of civilization, the behavior of people will regress to their savage beginnings. William Golding’s Lord of the Flies explores the theme of civilization to savagery through the usage of symbolism to portray the premise that children are savages by nature and without adult guidance or supervision; their entire darker side will manifest itself in full force. The consequential regression of the boys from civilization to savagery is symbolized by the use of the conch, fire, and Piggy’s glasses. First of all, the conch shell manages to demonstrate civilization to savagery through its ability to establish order to build a civilization, lose its power and deteriorate civilization, and shatter to eliminate civilization. In the beginning, the conch is used to establish and uphold order and peace on the island, playing a key role in forming and maintaining a civilization. Ralph uses the conch and his leadership to summon the others, have meetings and delegate positions, assign power, and set rules such as: “[Giving] the conch to the next person to speak” (Golding 31). By adhering to the set of rules regarding the conch shell, the boys still maintain their civilized way of living back at home where there is the existence of government and laws...
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...Lord of the Flies: A Psychological Study of the Nature of Humans William Golding once said, “What a man does defiles him, not what is done by others.” The phrase is approached so easily with his novel, Lord of the Flies (September 17, 1954), to depict the darkness of the natural man. The twentieth-century British writer in his novel argues the savagery of true mankind through a prose involving a band of young British schoolboys who are stranded on an empty island after a plane crash. He generalizes the human race by first developing the boys as helpless as they try to create a form of democracy with Ralph being the leader (and protagonist), then by creating opposition to the governmental tradition through Jack and his followers who separate...
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...William Golding, in 1954, wrote the Lord of the Flies. Written after WWII portrays the inherent evil of mankind. Being evil is just easier than being good because there are no rules to follow and people get to do whatever one chooses to do, and a side effect of evil is power. Power then corrupts the brain into thinking people need it, then people just want more and more. All because of evil, respect then comes from fear, power comes from respect. Golding shows how evil and power is what corrupts the brains of the children on the island which makes them do horrible things that cause fear in the children. Evil is easy and because people get to do whatever they want, rules are the only things that contain evil within us and keep us human, Evil...
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...Lord of the Flies William Golding Analysis of Major Characters Themes, Motifs & Symbols Ralph Ralph is the athletic, charismatic protagonist of Lord of the Flies. Elected the leader of the boys at the beginning of the novel, Ralph is the primary representative of order, civilization, and productive leadership in the novel. While most of the other boys initially are concerned with playing, having fun, and avoiding work, Ralph sets about building huts and thinking of ways to maximize their chances of being rescued. For this reason, Ralph’s power and influence over the other boys are secure at the beginning of the novel. However, as the group gradually succumbs to savage instincts over the course of the novel, Ralph’s position declines precipitously while Jack’s rises. Eventually, most of the boys except Piggy leave Ralph’s group for Jack’s, and Ralph is left alone to be hunted by Jack’s tribe. Ralph’s commitment to civilization and morality is strong, and his main wish is to be rescued and returned to the society of adults. In a sense, this strength gives Ralph a moral victory at the end of the novel, when he casts the Lord of the Flies to the ground and takes up the stake it is impaled on to defend himself against Jack’s hunters. In the earlier parts of the novel, Ralph is unable to understand why the other boys would give in to base instincts of bloodlust and barbarism. The sight of the hunters chanting and dancing is baffling and distasteful to him. As the novel progresses...
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...William Golding, author of Lord of the Flies, lived through and experienced the thick of World War II, and he personally saw how destructive humans could be. How someone could go from a functional, civilized member of society, to a savage. In Lord of the Flies, William Golding uses the theme of human nature to demonstrate his believe in how fragile society is, and how easily it can collapse. Moreover, what better way to show this than through impressionable young boys? A prime example of Golding’s view of human nature is Jack Merridew, more specifically, his encounters with the pigs on the island. At the beginning of the novel, Jack, Ralph and Simon go to survey their new home, and it is there they first discover a piglet caught in the vines....
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...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”’...
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...10 February 2015 Lord of the Flies Essay "Humanity has evil tendenc[ies] within its nature" (David Wilson). Jack, a choir boy from England, represents the evil incarnate and explains that within human nature, evil lies in oneself even when it is not projected. In Golding's Lord of the Flies, Jack, the Devil Figure, expresses the ideas about one's inner evil as he evolves from a choir leader to a ruthless varmint while spending time on a deserted island. In the beginning of Lord of the Flies, Jack, who emerges from the jungle dressed in black, possesses a dominant trait of a controlling personality. When Ralph first blows the sound of the conch, Jack and his choir come from the jungle, and as they approach Ralph, Jack tells them to "stand still" (Golding 20). The reader can identify his authoritative nature as he demands these words, which establishes his significance and rule in the choir, and the other boys can sense this superiority as well. Moreover, the audience can analyze that Jack has a manipulative influence in the novel due to the fact that he claims he "ought to be chief because [he is]...head boy"; therefore, he is making himself out to be the most qualified for the position as he points out his role of control in the choir (Golding 22). Likewise, the other boys on the island describe Jack to be "the most obvious leader," which in return proves to the reader that Jack's commanding attitude is not the only reason that defines him as a leader; the other boys' perspective...
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...Myths in Golding’s novels “The Spire” and “Lord of the flies” A famous English writer William Golding was born in Cornwall, England. Golding started writing at the age of seven, but following the wishes of his parents, he studied first natural sciences and then English at Brasenose College,Oxford. Golding’s first book, a collection of poems, apperad in 1934. After study at university Golding moved to Salisbury, where he began teaching English and philosophy. During World War II, Golding served in the Royal Navy(armada) in command of a rocket ship. In 1945 Golding returned to writing and teaching, with a dark view of the European civilization. In many novels Golding has showed the dark places of human heart. His work is caracterized by exploration of “the darkness of man’s heart”, deep spiritual and ethical questions. In Salisbury Golding wrote several books, but did not get them published. “ Lord of the Flies”, an allegorical story set in the near future during war time, was turned down by many publishers until it finally appeared in 1954. The famous English writer Forster named this book “ The Book of the years”. At the time of its appearance,Golding was forty four, but the success of the novel allowed him to give up teaching. In the exciting story a group of small British boys, standed on a desert island, fall into violence after they have lost all adult guidance. Ironically, the adult world is ruined by nuclear war. The novel “ The Spire” concerned the construction of...
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...mom told me to the boys took advantage of it. They thought that went I didn't react to them that I was okay with and it got worse and worse. Like at my school in Lord of the Flies Jack and his hunters violent actions escalate out of control. In William Golding's “Lord of the Flies” Jack’s violent sense of identity administers an uncontrollable savage response to the boys island culture. This cultural collision directly influences William Golding's purpose to prove that all humans are born evil. Previously to his arrival on the island Jack’s beliefs were firmly rooted in his upbringing of british culture. An example of this is on page 38 Jack says “We’ve got to have...
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...The novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding follows the story of a group of boys who are stranded on a tropical island and must fight to survive. Led by the charismatic and attractive protagonist, Ralph, and his intellectual ally Piggy, the boys are initially successful at creating a new order on the island. Soon, however, an ambitious boy called Jack presents himself as the main antagonist. Jack’s return to savagery and the subsequent unravelling of order on the island results in multiple deaths and the destruction of the island. The book allows the reader to view the ways in which order and society break down in an uncivilized environment, as well as how easy it is to return to savagery. As this work is allegorical, symbols play heavily...
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...figure, is confronted by the sow's head, Lord of the Flies - which translates to Beelzebub, another name for the devil. Another example is the beast. The beast in the novel is a biblical allusion to the beast in chapter thirteen of Revelation. In Lord of the Flies chapter five is tilted “Beast From Water,” which complements Revelation 13:1. In chapter six, when the dead parachutist is lifted up by the wind, all the children think it's the beast. This event corresponds with Revelation...
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...Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, is one of the most symbolic books of its time. Golding employs symbolism so freely in the story that nearly everything in the book has a deeper meaning than one would think. From the conch shell used to call meetings together, to piggy’s glasses, to The Beast, to the dreadful Lord of the Flies himself; all of these things are symbols of much deeper aspects of humanity. Even many of the characters are symbols of deeper things, of carnal desires or raw emotions unexpressed by most. Overall, Golding out did himself with this book, managing to create a world where everything means something deeper. A big symbol in the story is the Conch Shell, the magical item that is used to summon the other boys to meetings, and grants the holder the right to speak. This shell becomes a powerful symbol of civility and order in the novel, and effectively governs all the boy’s meetings, as whoever holds it holds the power to speak. When the shell is being used, the boys are generally calm and orderly, highlighting Golding’s intent in putting the shell in the novel, which is to have a symbol of the civility of the outside world. As the novel progresses and the island community descends into total anarchy, the shell loses all power over the boys, thus their sense of order is vanquished. This is symbolized when the boulder that crushes piggy also crushes the shell, signifying the demise of the civilized instinct of most of the boys on the island. Another powerful...
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...Savagery vs. Civilization The civil and savage nature lies in all human beings, each instinct dominant when the other is not. This is the overall theme of William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies. William Golding was a British poet, playwright, and novelist, most famous for Lord of the Flies. This novel is about the internal struggles of young boys marooned on a tropical deserted island. They fight to maintain their civil ways, in which each boy learned, isn’t all that easy. When civilization isn’t present in a person’s life, the savage beast inside them takes over. Roger, Ralph, and Simon all have entirely different struggles with the opposing forces within them. Some succumb easier than others. Roger lost the civilized life he was used to and because of that the natural savage instinct inside of him took over, and a bully and eventual murderer was created. In this quote, the sadistic Roger is beginning to blossom, but he still has a stronger civil instinct in control. “Roger gathered a handful of stones and began to throw them. Yet there was a space around Henry, perhaps six yards in diameter, into which he dare not throw. Here, invisible yet strong, was the taboo of old life Round the squatting child was the protection of parents and school and policemen and the law” (Golding 56). Roger is so tempted to throw these rocks at Henry, a younger boy, but his socially acceptable standards at home are still burned into his mind, for he reluctantly backs down. The invisible...
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