Hope In Lord Of The Flies

Lord of the Flies has many important themes and with an alternate ending, there are many new concepts for a theme introduced. Lord of the Flies has the theme of civilization versus savagery, which can be seen through Jack and Ralph. There are many similarities between the alternate ending and the original ending, but there are also many differences that can be noted. Lord of the Flies is a complex novel with a complex ending that can be analyzed to find the deeper meaning.

The fictional novel, Lord of the Flies by William Golding, has many characters that each represent a different core human trait. One of these characters is Jack, who is one of the leaders. Jack throughout the book shows that he has no concern for what anyone else wants or thinks. Many words and traits could be used to describe Jack but he could best be described as apathetic. A person who is apathetic does not care about what anyone else wants or feels and only focuses on what is best for them and their own desires.. This behaviour overall halts the group’s advancement as a team and compromises their chance of rescue.

Pessimism is defined as being “the tendency to see, anticipate, or emphasize only bad or undesirable outcomes” and the belief that “all things are naturally tend to evil.” This term is one often used to describe Lord of the Flies, a novel from the author William Golding. Lord of the Flies tells the tale of a group of English schoolboys that crash landed on a deserted island. At first, the group attempted to maintain civility, however, as fear and jealousy overtook their minds, many of the boys became savages of the island. Due to the novel’s prominent theme of former occupants of civilized society turning to chaos for survival, Golding’s views are often viewed as being overly negative. However, those who believe this overlook the aspects to Golding’s writing which prove that even when there is no stable law and order, good will prevail in some. This part of Golding’s views is emphasized throughout Lord of the Flies by the fact that Ralph, the main character, defied the savages, Sam and Eric refused to betray Ralph, and Ralph was ultimately rescued.

It is often suggested that Golding has a pessimistic view of human nature with the idea that though humans are capable of both evil and good, evil will always trump good. While there any many points which support this such as the boys descent into savagery and jack’s resentment and subsequent rebellion against Ralph. However there are some lighter spots in the story such as Sam and Eric's refusal to betray Ralph which may counteract this view on the story.

A group of boys stranded on an island are debating which leader to follow: the leader with food, or the leader with fire and shelter. Tough as it already is, the boys must make their decision quickly, or else they will be left with neither. Food is necessary for survival because without it, people cease to exist. When food is scarce and in selfish hands, it can lead to troublesome situations such as physical fighting. Through the articles by Coskren, Baker, and Niemeyer, and Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies, mankind is given no hope as pessimism is strongly portrayed by the boys’ violent actions.

Hope is a feeling of desire to have something happen in a person’s favour. For example, when someone writes a test, majority of the time that person would hope to do well. One would hope to get a good mark to be proud of it, or to improve their grades. In The Book Thief, hope is seen in the books that Liesel likes to read. Additionally, Liesel’s guardians show hope for her to have a better life. As a final point, Liesel’s friends represent hope throughout the novel. An examination of her books, guardians, and friends, will prove that hope is a strong desire or feeling that is presented in the novel The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.

For example, he writes a very detailed part in which the “[dad] walked out in the gray light and stood and he saw for a brief moment the absolute truth of the world. The cold relentless circling of the intestate earth. Darkness implacable. The blind dogs of the sun in their running. The crushing black vacuum of the universe”. (McCarthy 66) This elaborates on the idea of the dismal situation humans are in. Despite this, the dad and son continue to withstand obstacles and reach their goal to go South. The secret symbolism of fire is portrayed again because it moves them figuratively. McCarthy writes specific word phrases such as “Every day is a lie. But you are dying. That is not a lie”. (McCarthy 123) The quote reveals the truth of the world which inevitably ends in death. Even though death will take place in their life, the dad and son can still push their hardest to even survive one day at a time. The dad continuously reminds the boy to “carry the fire” which contributes to last part of the book. The boy ultimately chooses to follow the family by asking if they are “carrying the fire” (McCarthy 149) and thus the influence of the symbolic fire is

When a group of people is stranded on an island, it is very easy to lose hope, even if rescue is very close. People never know when something will happen, especially if no one knows to do it. In the young adult novel, Lord of the flies, William Golding writes the events that happen to a group of kids, with varying personalities, who are stranded on an island, and how their personalities affect the outcomes. A message saying to never give up is effectively shown leading up to the conclusion because the boys are very close to being rescued, but they do not know it, then the conch breaks, which symbolizes the loss of the social structure that has been developed. After that, Jack’s group becomes savage and hunts Ralph, but shortly after that, a naval officer appears.

Sometimes after so much struggle, giving up seems like the right thing to do, but it shouldn’t be an option.

Even though all around them is completely hopeless, they pursue on. I think “carrying the fire” is an allegory, or an allusion to the greek story of Prometheus. The Man believes his son carries the “fire” just as Prometheus did. The fire in the story is essentially the last dying flames of humanity. In this book, ash and the neverending grey represent death, and if that is death, then the “fire” is the hope that life will renew itself again in this world of ruin and decay. Also, with the same Prometheus concept, the Man passes down knowledge to the Boy about survival. Hopefully, later on the Boy will gradually pass that knowledge down to other survivors he meets in his travels. Lastly, the Boy acts as the fire to the Man himself. The Boy is the only reason why the Man continues on. And now, despite the Man himself being extinguished, the Boy will tread on through a world that is “barren, silent, godless.”(Page 4). Reigniting the last dim flames of humanity to whomever he meets.When the boy asks if the fire is real, the father says, "It's inside you. It was always there. I can see it" (page 234) This quote holds a lot of significance to the entirety of the message, and the book

Explorer Edmund Hillary once said “I think it all comes down to motivation. If you really want to do something, you will work hard for it.” Being driven allows people to stay on their track until they get what they achieve. In Macbeth by William Shakespeare, the main character Macbeth was motivated to become the king. In Lord of the Flies by William Golding, Jack kept his goal of becoming the leader of the island, and stuck with it throughout their time on the island. Although intelligence allows one to be in power, motivation is more important for attaining power because it allows one to keep trying until they achieve what is desired.

Perserverance is the Steady effort to maintain a course of action, purpose, or belief, of in spite of difficulty. Perserverance could have a example like a job, someone could have beem gave a task that is hard, but with belief to do it, it can be accomplished. As perserverance is used, it can be applied in media, literature, and personal expericene.

There are more significant symbols in the novel such as The Boy. The Man and Boy fight to survive many hardships, but through the darkness there is light, The Boy. He is very mature and cares for every stray person they pass. One person he cares for is a man named Ely, an old man with nothing but the clothes on his back, until he meets The Boy and his father." 'You should thank him you know, I wouldn’t have given you anything' "(McCarthy 173). The Boy wants everyone to survive and is willing to share his supplies even if it means he won`t have all the things he needs to live.

All humans act differently when their survival is put on the line. In the novel, Lord of the Flies, Golding depicts Jack and Ralph’s characters to argue that civilization is hard to attain when survival is at risk. To begin, Ralph and Jack’s personalities contrast each other when it comes to survival. Although, in the beginning of the novel, both of the boys start out civil, but as the novel advances, the reader sees Jack start to turn more savage than Ralph. Even though Jack and Ralph have been gone for home for the same amount of time, Ralph is still gripping onto his sense of civilization while Jack does not care about being civil anymore.

The theme and the message that is hidden in the story is quite unique compared to other novels that would rather prefer using emotive language and aspects that would bring out a deep message of the story. This story presents message such as ‘children should not go out in forest alone’. The novel uses things like descriptive language and the atmospheric settings to describe the message which is quite unique in a way if you compare this particular novel with any other novel. This can particularly be known at the start of the