Lord Of The Flies By William Golding

There are many examples of the corruption of power and the downfall of humanity due to the loss of civilization and authority. An example of the corruption of power is the difference in the way Ralph rules and the way Jack rules; As a ruler Ralph seemed to get more mature and when Jack made his own tribe he became savage and craving more power, this is proof that absolute power corrupts absolutely. Being stranded on the island left the boys left them without direction and consequence, the result proves that a society without laws or enforcement of those laws, will unavoidably fail. Roger’s behavior emphasizes this point. Earlier on in the book he throws rocks at the littluns but doesn’t necessarily aim to hit them because he

The act of sinning is very bad to the church, though they don’t consider Roger’s action a violation. The church’s priest believes that “children who may be old enough to take communion... are not necessarily thought of as capable of understanding the nature of sin as a break with God. ‘It's the conviction of virtually all people that children of that age [10] are incapable of serious sin,’ (Sachs). If a child is not capable of a sin, the he or she cannot be guilty of murder. It is absolutely preposterous to blame a youth for a large-scale felony. This relates to Roger because he is just a young boy, and he doesn’t know what he is doing. He could have accidentally pushed the rock, or maybe he did not mean to hit Piggy. But, either way, Roger cannot be proven guilty of any crime.

Although not mentioned much at the start of the novel, by the end, Roger becomes Jack’s right-hand man. The following quote best captures Roger’s merciless savagery, Golding writes, “‘High overhead, Roger with a sense of delirious abandonment, leaned all his weight on the lever… The rock struck Piggy a gleaning blow from chin to knee… the body of Piggy was gone.”’(Golding 181). Roger, in this scene, murders Piggy in cold blood. Roger clearly knows it is wrong to kill; but, with “abandonment” pushed the rock. Roger, who was first seen throwing stones at Henry, throws the rocks in the area around Henry. This demonstrates that he still has traces of civilization left and that the thought of rules exist. Roger; although, slowly afterwards loses most of his civilization. Once again seen with Jack after they kill the mother pig, Roger, tortures the pig with no remorse. During this sick scene, Roger stabs the pig in whatever place he can find. After all of this, the first thing Roger asks is how are we going to cook it. Finally, when Roger kills Piggy he reaches his final transformation into savagery; therefore, without parental supervision, Roger’s extremely corrupt human nature emerges. Along with Roger’s exhibition of corruptness, Ralph also displays the true human

Roger in the quote is throwing rocks at Henry who is younger than him, he is doing this because he is now somewhere where there is no one to punish wrong doings; however, he seems to avoid Henry, later in the quote Golding specifically wrote “Round the squatting child was the protection of parents and school and policemen and the law”. (Golding 87) Roger is reminiscing what it felt like to live back where he used to which had parents, school, policemen and laws. Even though none of those are there

The self-restricted actions of Roger before savagery fully settles on the island are the result of the imposed order of everyday human life. Roger is playfully throwing stones at Henry, but does not allow any of them to hit his target. To show the importance and connection of Roger’s actions, Golding writes, “Roger gathered a handful of stones and began to threw 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 the old life” (Golding 62). Roger, throwing rocks at someone to begin with, has a desire to hurt people. The “taboo of old life”, however, is able to completely restrict this desire from doing any harm, being “invisible yet strong” as well as making Roger unable to “dare” to throw a stone close to Henry. This language makes it seem as if Roger, having gone through the civilization of “old life”, is forced to

“Roger led the way straight through the sand castles, kicking them over, burying the flowers, scattering the chosen stones. Maurice followed, laughing, and added to the destruction.”(62).Roger justifies the school-bully persona he’s conveying with the power he has over the younger children, considering they’re smaller in size and weaker than he is.

One of the most intricate themes in the novel is the survival instincts of human nature. The savagery that will soon overtake the children is first seen in Roger as he throws rocks towards Henry. “Roger stooped, picked up a stone, aimed and threw it at Henry-threw it to miss... Roger gathered a handful of stones and began to throw them. Yet there was a space round Henry, perhaps six yards in diameter, into which he dare not throw... Round the squatting child was the protection of parents and school and policemen and the law. Roger was conditioned by a civilization that knew nothing of him and was in ruins.” (Golding 62) As Roger throws these stones, the foundation of his character is built. He turns out to be one of the most ruthless boys who will hurt or kill

William Golding, the creator of the book Lord of the Flies describes evil as a trait we are born with and learn to control it, while another man by the name of Jean-Jacques Rousseau thought of the opposite whereas we are born good, but the world and society around us change us to doing evil things, but what is considered evil? The one who decides what is evil and what is not is not just one man or women alone, it is decided as a community, and this description of evil seems to fit Rousseau’s beliefs more than William Golding and it is what I believe in with stronger feelings.

Maurice continues with the original plan and goes swimming, but Roger hides in the forest and starts to throw rocks at Henry. His intent is not to hit him, but rather to scare him and feed into the fear of the beast. This evil act is significant to Henry and the rest of the impressionable littluns, because in their eyes it is another offense from the beast which is the embodiment of all the boys fears and insecurities. Even though Roger obviously takes pleasure in hurting other people, he is still “conditioned by a civilization that knew nothing of him and was in ruins” (82) and therefore decides to only throw the rocks in his general direction. Roger’s behavior at the beach demonstrates an overall negative presence which is Golding’s way of portraying Roger as the shadow archetype. This furthers the theme of all people are inherently evil by describing how the only reason Roger does not throw the rocks directly at Henry is because he has not forgotten all of the rules modern society has set. The rules most of society follow are to never hurt anyone unjust and to be respectful and kind. In this situation Roger is not fully savage and still has societies basic rules lingering in the back of his head when he only throws the rocks near Henry and not directly at him. Although, Roger was more civilized, he becomes full savage and forgets all of the rules of civilization when he malevolently kills Piggy. After Jack and the

In Lord of the Flies William Golding is able to portray Roger as a dangerous character early on in the book. When Roger and Maurice bother the littluns, the reader can sense Roger's violent mentality.

Roger’s character resembles the fall of innocence. At the beginning of the novel Roger is shy and when asked to introduce himself he muttered his name and was then silent again acordding to http://blog.yssd.org/ . Roger decides to throw rocks at Henry (one of the younger children). His morales stop him from harming the child. At that time he was still the innocent young boys he was back home. Roger , having to turn to survival instincts, he starts to feel rebellious. As the novel progresses Golding

Early on, the unspoken rules of society keep Roger from causing harm to other boys. He throws stones at Henry but he “(throws them) to miss”pg.62 which shows that he is still impacted by societal rules. However, he is isolated from society for an extended period of time. When conflict erupts within the boys, he “(leans) all his weight on (a) lever” pg.180 that “(strikes) Piggy a glancing blow” pg.180 and ultimately takes his life. Roger being isolated from civilized society for an extended period of time leads him to kill Piggy.

Once Roger leaves Ralph’s group he is manipulated by Jack, and he joins his group, so Jack can tell him whatever he wants him to do. Jack, Roger and another hunter one night went and attacked Ralph and Piggy and stole Piggy’s glasses. Ralph and Piggy went to Jack’s camp site to try and peacefully retrieve them. As Ralph and Piggy are walking up to Jacks camp, Roger and other boys are waiting for them as guards. “Someone was throwing stones: Roger was dropping them, his one hand still on the lever. Below him Ralph was a shock of hair and Piggy a bag of fat” (Golding 180). This quote shows that Roger views these two human beings as targets. When they arrived on the island, he was a peaceful boy who was in the choir, who is now so brainwashed by Jack and savagery that he kills Piggy. The island would have brought out the evil in all of them on its own, but Jack sped up the

He “led the way straight through the castles, kicking them over, burying the flowers, scattering the chosen stones,” only to remain, “watching the littluns.” Maurice, however, “still felt the unease of wrongdoing.” Jack’s only fault was yearning for power, which corrupts those who wield it. Roger is corrupted and malevolent without ever thirsting for this power, and is therefore more evil than Jack. Roger keeps to himself, much like Simon, and remains consistently evil throughout the novel. Near the beginning, he “picked up a stone, aimed, and threw it at Henry-threw it to miss,” held back by “the taboo of the old life.” Later, he did not miss and “with a sense of delirious abandonment, leaned all his weight on the lever,” releasing a huge boulder and killing Piggy. Under the weight of the boulder, “the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist.” The main symbol for the democracy, equality and justice was indirectly destroyed by Roger. To him, “Ralph was a shock of hair and Piggy a bag of fat,” thus dehumanizing and objectifying them. When Sam and Eric were cornered by Jack’s group of savages, Roger demonstrates his enjoyment for hurting others by “[advancing] upon them as one wielding a nameless authority.” It was not for the sake of supremacy or control, but for unbridled sadistic pleasure. When Ralph finds Sam and Eric, they say that Roger is “a terror”. He also points out that Jack is a terror, but the twins respond with “only

Roger is unconsciously hanging on to his previous life of morality and goodness, his conscience hindering him from divulging the beast of violence within himself. Though this instance shows Roger being held back, it also hints at his slow but sure descent into power. Nietzsche said that “the content of our conscience is everything that was during the years of our childhood regularly demanded of us” (52 WS), meaning that our individual consciences and morals are a result of our upbringing. While testing the boundaries of societal rules, Roger gradually loses innocence and falls into a beast-like vicious primitivity, which all display Nietzsche’s belief in the will to power. Eventually overcome by this will to power, he sets the jungle on fire, not only to smoke out Ralph, but as a symbol of his dominance and evil.