Lord Of The Flies By William Golding

The conflict between individualism and collectivism has always been of interest to humanity. While one ideology places high importance on the one person and their abilities, the latter emphasizes the need to put the common good of the group before any single individual. “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding explores this ideological struggle through an allegory that pits two boys – Ralph and Jack – and their respective philosophies against each other. Golding portrays Ralph as a relatable, sympathetic main character whose key focus is rescue from the island the boys are stranded on. As a foil to his character, Jack’s main desire is to gain power and control without care for the group’s fate. Hence, Ralph’s perspective is closely linked to conforming to the civilization they have always known – England. Though conformity carries a negative connotation, Golding challenges this by showing the disasters that occur when the boys implicitly choose to not adhere to the social standards they first set-up. When Jack gives into his bloodlust, he inspires the same craving in many of the boys, which leads to their descent into animalistic behaviour as a collective. In “Lord of the Flies,” William Golding demonstrates, through the character of Ralph, the constant inner battle an individual faces between choosing to follow the social rules of an established community for the common good and giving into their most primal, impulsive wishes for the sake of pleasure and fun.

Almost everyone knows someone who appears to have grown up without rules or authority figures in his or her life. This person may often act like he or she is better than everyone else. To everyone else, though, this person does not seem to be as civilized as the rest of society. He or she is often rude and inconsiderate and are very mean to others. This happens when no one ever tells the person what he or she is doing is wrong. In William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies, something very similar happens. Young boys have no rules set by an authority figure, and this causes them to decide that they have to make the rules themselves. When some of the boys start to rebel against the rules, the island spirals into a hysteria of savagery.

William Golding utilizes Lord of the Flies to prove that the inherent nature of man is truly savage and cannot be contained by any form of civil government. Characters, setting, atmosphere, and other elements are all used by Golding in the novel as metaphors and symbols to ultimately reveal the natural intention of man. In Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan, John Locke’s Concerning Civil Government , and Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s The Social Contract, they share their own personal interpretations on man’s inherent nature, with the closest to Golding being Hobbes. Although both Golding and Hobbes state that man’s true nature is evil and selfish, Hobbes advocates for an absolutist government as capable of controlling man through fear of punishment, as opposed to Golding’s belief that no form of government is sufficient to control man. Conversely, Rousseau argues that men are born with morality and inalienable freedom, and John Locke believes that man is free but is neither inherently reputable nor immoral but a blank slate. Both want the people to be in control to prevent corruption from changing man, although Rousseau insists that a direct democracy to completely give power to the people would be more effective rather than only a representative democracy where the people would have individuals represent them which Locke suggests.

In the beginning of the Lord of the Flies we are introduced to two young boys, who have survived a tragic plane crash. The aircraft was an evacuation plane and it was transporting the group of boys out of England. One of the boys named Piggy is trying to catch up to the other boy, Ralph. Piggy is described as being very fat and shorter than Ralph. He wears “thick spectacles” (William Golding 7) and he is the first to determine that they are on an island. Piggy is also the one that knows how to use the conch shell and comes up with the use of it, which is to call everyone else to the beach. He believed the conch created order. Once the conch had been used we are introduced to more boys and they gain interest in Piggy’s glasses. They discover that Piggy’s glasses can start fires and they refer to them as “burning glasses” (Golding 40). The boys also rejoiced when they discovered that his glasses could create the fires. They proclaimed, “His specs - use them as burning glasses!” (Golding 38). The spectacles symbolize Piggy’s intelligence, which distinguished him from the others. Without the glasses Piggy would be blind and he would not know what to do. Although Piggy is portrayed as being physically weak and not having a great chance at survival, he is the only one that seemed to know a few survival skills. He is the one that created the fire, sundial and shelter. Without his glasses he would not be ‘intelligent’. His appearance and personality cause him to be shunned

Does every human have an inbred evil quality within their soulful selves? Nobel-Prize winning author, William Golding accurately exemplifies the fact that evil is an inborn characteristic in “Lord of the Flies” one of his finest books explaining to his readers the acrimonious truth about human nature. Golding started establishing his pessimistic view about human nature throughout his times at World War Two where he came to realize that everyone has some sort of cruelty within them and it is a natural part of mankind. Set during the time period of World War Two, the book is about a group of English boys being evacuated safely out of the country, but the plane crashes, leaving the boys stranded on a deserted island, the boys try to manage themselves in a civilized way, but instead end up becoming savage. Lacking of being in a civilized area, Roger one of the characters, starts attaining pleasure from hurting others. Jack the antagonist of the novel, due to his immense lust for power, he started showing attributes of savagery. Ralph the protagonist of the book who started off kind and supportive towards the idea of civilization, he too became a victim of savagery later on. As portrayed by Golding through the symbolic representation of the “Beast”, evil is an inborn characteristic that cannot be evaded and is forever within humankind. Similar to the Yin-Yang, a Chinese symbol for qualities in life, states that there is a bit of bad within everything good and a bit of good within

“Many leaders are competent, but few qualify as remarkable” (Economy). In William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies, A group of are stranded on an island as a result of a plane crash. A struggle for leadership quickly ensues between the protagonist, Ralph and the antagonist, Jack. From the start Ralph emerged as leader and gets elected, edging jack out of the position. Ralph’s focus, his ability to think and his selflessness ensure his effectiveness to lead the boys while they are stranded on the island.

William Golding believed that all humans are innately evil but are controlled by the confinements of society. In Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies, a group of school boys crash their airplane onto a stranded island during World War II and are forced to live without adult supervision. Hunting and killing pigs are methods that the boys use to obtain meat and they celebrate using chants and dances. Golding’s theory is supported as innate evil surfaces and overtakes the boys through the progression of the pig hunts ranging from a piglet, to a sow, and then to a human being.

Lord of the Flies, William Golding’s famous novel, reveals the influence that personal advantage can convey in human decisions. The novel describes the diversity in the fundamentals and corruption of power, exemplifying the lure of personal advantage in contrast to a moral sense. When first on the island, the boys held a common view of order and leadership, in which they gravitated to the evidence of classical social order they found in Ralph. As time progressed the group of boys stranded on the island experienced a change in mindset and they rebelled against the classic expectations of society, as the lack of adults on the island led the boys to decide what actions needed to be taken. Jack corrupted Ralph’s authority using the lure of personal advantage and reciprocity, and the conflict between Jack’s goals, driven by personal gain, and Ralph 's goals, driven by a moral sense, caused the boys to act against their morals and thrust Jack into power.

All of a sudden, a group of children find themselves stranded on an island in the middle of nowhere—pretty scary right? Well this is just what happens in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies. This piece of literature is used by the author to describe the very real society of human beings, through the eyes of young, “innocent” children. There is savagery, evil, goodness at heart, and the sense of hope, whether being lost or discovered, in this book. In Lord of the Flies, there are multiple different symbols that Golding uses to show the fall of society. Two of them being the beautiful conch shell, and the hopeful signal fire. These two symbols are brought up throughout the book, however, they don’t always bring out the best in the boys living on the island.

Savagery is not a characteristic developed through exposure to a given environment, yet a vile quality that dwells deep within the hearts of everyone. Certain circumstances don’t plant this trait upon us, yet nurture this dark quality until it ravages through us like a vicious disease. Until drawn out, it lies dormant inside of us, civility having compressed it within, yet it still rears it’s ugly head when drastic situations arise. We see this primal characteristic of brutality slowly take hold of the boys on the island until the ‘Lord of the Flies’ has claimed it’s latest victims. Not only Simon and Piggy, but all the boys on the island. Throughout the novel, we see all the boys go from having fun and exhibiting civilized behavior to

Someone’s dead, bloods been shed, and people are being hunted one by one. In most horror stories, the next step would be finding out who the murder is, and how to either stop it or get away from it. But in this story, the murderers are already given and how they killed the others are revealed. So what’s the use of these scenes of violence? In Lord of the Flies by William Golding, several boys ranging six to thirteen are stranded on an island after the plane they were aboard on crashed. They all survived except the pilot, so they’re all alone with no adults to supervise them. How lucky! Or is it? As they band together to kept order and survive on the island, things get out of hand and blood is shed. The boy’s

Over thousands of years of civilization, leaders have achieved success and also obtained misfortune. The fashion in which they achieve their success differs from one another. What makes one leader better than another depends on the scenario. It is hard to quantify this because each leader has their own unique qualities. However, for the most part, the shift and yearning of power is what corrupts. In Lord of the Flies, the author William Golding uses the dynamics of power to develop how the desire and shift of power causes chaos and creates an uncivilized environment. In Lord of the Flies, the desire and shift of power is what ends up breaking the boys ' feeble attempt at civilization. It is ruined through conflict and unnecessary competition. Jack’s use of tyrannical leadership, Ralph’s loss of control with his democratic leadership style and Roger’s attempt to gain power are all examples of how the thirst for power ends causing corruption on the island. Absolute power corrupts and potentially defined power creates a greater society.

Imagine yourself in one of the characters shoes in the novel “Lord of the flies.” You would see yourself loaded with responsibilities, major decisions, etc. “Lord of the Flies” represents a microcosm of adult society. The island can act as a democratic government, demonstrate knowledge, and each character can demonstrate an aspect of adult society. William Golding was in the Royal Navy during WWII. He creates a smaller image for what’s really happening in the world.

“Lord of the Flies” was awarded the prestigious Nobel Prize for literature in the year 1983. It has also received positive and optimistic comments from The Times. The provided positive feedback to the renowned piece of literature has made the novel and other written masterpieces of the author highly demanded. The author of this award winning novel, William Golding, was also known for many of his other highly favoured books. For example, “The Spire” and “The Inheritors”. Though the author has written other well known pieces of literature, “Lord of the Flies” will always be his most renowned piece. Not only was this his most famous piece of writing, but also his first. William Golding was not only an astounding author, he has also served in

CRASH! A plane crashes full of people near an island. The plane is full of grown-ups and