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Essay on Following Instincts in Lord of the Flies by Golding

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Be civil, or be savage, the conflict between the instincts, stuck in the mind of boys who arrive at an unknown island after a plane crash. In many parts of the book Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, the lost boys face an inner conflict between their instinct to be civil, and their instinct to be savage. Some conflicts are faced in the novel throughout different scenes, such as; playing around, jealousy, hunger, mistrust, and death. Both the main characters, Ralph and Jack, are used as excellent examples to portray this idea of civil and barbaric, this comes as the group of boys separate. Because Ralph and Jack were on odds since the beginning, the group of boys eventually separates, giving them the choice to choose their own leader. …show more content…

It is clear that some boys want to be civil and other boys just want to be savage. Ralph, Piggy and Simon represent the instinct to be civil. Simon was sensitive, goodhearted, and kind. Piggy was intelligent and only wanted best for the boys, and Ralph was a leader, someone all the boys could look up to. They all wanted to be organized and treat the little ones well and equally. On the other hand, Jack and Roger represent the instinct to be savage. They manipulated and integrated evil into their groups. They treated the little ones as if they were slaves or servants and they think that the strongest one should be the leader. This is a valid example because it shows the conflict between the civil and savage instincts of the boys. It clearly shows how the boys are being separated because of this instinct. It also clearly shows that because of this instinct, Jack no longer wants to cooperate with Ralph because he is jealous of his power. Another way to demonstrate the divergence between Jack’s group and Ralph’s group is when some boys, instead of working to create a better place for them to live, are busy playing and splashing in the waters of the island. Ralph gets furious when he realizes that the motivation of this disobedience comes from Jack and his hunters, who besides that have been failing to bring food to the boys. Jack rebels and believes that Ralph shouldn’t be the leader anymore. “I’m not going to play any longer. Not

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