Lord Of The Flies Character Analysis

It is difficult for Roger to break away from the crowd, so in order to fit in with his society he decides that he must kill Piggy. However since his decisions are based purely on his surroundings rather than his personal values, Roger is not guilty for Piggy’s death. But Roger’s genes or how he is raised do not determine his cruel decisions, his environment does. If Roger was still tied to the views of a civil community, he would never commit murder. The consequences are too great in an organized society for killing someone. Yet in Jack’s tribe there are no consequences, as execution is encouraged. Therefore there is pressure and tension within the group that is forcing Roger to act similarly to everyone else. If he does not act as a savage, he is seen as different which makes him unwanted and unaccepted. Roger is not purposely trying to kill Piggy, but is instead being pushed over the edge into doing something where he has no other

Society is now very clearly out of the equation. For Roger, that means he gets unleash his true persona, the barbaric sociopath. When Jack and his hunters killed the sow, “Roger began to withdraw his spear and the boys noticed it for the first time. Robert stabilizing and the thing in a phrase which was received uproariously. ‘Right up her ass!’” (135). Clearly Roger has become disturbed. When Ralph, Piggy, and Samneric attempt to go to Castle Rock to get Piggy’s glasses back, Roger lets go of a lever which releases a big rock and “struck Piggy a glancing blow from the chin to knee; the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist” (181). Not only does it show how Roger has become the barbaric sociopath by having a big rock kill his peers, but symbolically this is important as well. The conch, which is symbolized as society or the old life, is destroyed by Roger, which Goulding purposely included to show Roger’s rejection of society's values. Roger in this moment has truly lifted the mask and become his original persona. This is very clearly showing when Roger begins torturing the twins Samneric. “...cries of pain from Samneric, cries of panic, angry voices”

Throughout the novel, Roger’s evil aura becomes larger and more apparent. The beginning of his evil tendencies start out small, but gradually reaches to the point where he becomes responsible for Piggy's death. By then, all of societies conditioning of repressing his sadistic side is gone.

There are many themes between the two texts, but one prominent one is the theme of savagery. The isolation from civilization that the islands from the two texts provide, easily gave way for savagery to be instilled in the various characters. Roger from The Lord of the Flies definitely displayed a descent into savagery as the story progressed. Roger was quiet and barely said much, yet his savage side was clearly shown through his actions. At a time near the start of the novel, " Roger stooped, picked up a stone, aimed, and threw it at Henry – threw it to miss. (Goulding 62)" Although roger threw to miss, he still threw a stone at a living human. It was clear that he attempted to hurt Henry, but couldn’t due to the sliver of civilization he had left. However, as the story neared the end, Roger seemed to have lost every bit of civilization making him completely savage. It was then that Roger " with a sense of delirious abandonment, leaned all his weight on the lever". Owing to the fact that Roger did this, a huge boulder fell and killed piggy – another character- on its way down. Roger had cruelly taken a life. This proved

A human 's reaction is to get rid of their fear, where in this situation the hunters had to get rid of the beast, meaning killing Simon. In addition, Piggy is a character who symbolizes intelligence and level-headedness throughout the book. Consequently, Roger displays his rebellious and violent nature by killing Piggy. When him and Ralph approaches Jack 's tribe and attempting to make peace the author reveals, “The rock struck piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee; the conch exploded into thousand white fragments and cease to exist. Piggy, saying nothing, with no time for even a grunt, travelled through the air sideways from the rock, turning over as he went.”(Golding 200). Perhaps if Roger had a voice of authority there to remind him that although he really acted impulsively he would have not killed Piggy. The shows, when there are no rules or laws enforced in a society humans can act out in a savage and violent manner.

and four in chapter seven. This finally solidifies at the ending of the book, Close to the end jack completely lets his instinct take him over and has zero sense of societal standards left. “Then there was that indefinable connection between himself and jack; who therefore would let him alone” Said by Ralph, on page one sixty eight. Jack in confronted with the choice, to kill Ralph and gain ultimate power and dominance, to be the only leader, or to let him go, and due to Jacks time in the darkness of the island he of course resorts to chasing Ralph down to kill him. Jack however is not the only corrupted one on the island, other boys were also dramatically affected. Roger is much like jack in the sense of sanity. He too also had a breaking point in which he lost the sense of moral good. This evil was first introduced in chapter eight “With his spear whenever pig flesh appeared.... Roger found a lodgement for his point and began to push till he was leaning with his whole weight” This is the point when roger starts the decent into savagery. This is finalized when he in the end kills piggy with out thought “High overhead, roger with a sense of

Jack and Roger are two prominent “savage” boys. At the end of the book, they are very violent and cruel to all those near them. It’s made clear from the beginning that they already are prone to being violent, as can be seen in this quote from chapter four: “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. Here, invisible yet strong, was the taboo of the old life. Round the squatting child was the protection of parents and school and policemen and the law.” Here, William Golding also makes sure to note that Roger is not completely giving into his desire to hurt and harm due to the moral code that is deeply rooted into our society.

Humankind has savage tendencies that are shrouded by civilization or savagery gets smothered out by order. Without laws and order humankind would resort to chaos as their new order which is evident by the book, “Lord of the Flies.” In “Lord of the Flies”, a quiet choirboy named Roger is often seen bullying the “littluns or the youngest boys on the island. It seems without the restraints of civilization, which is what everyone realizes in chapter 1, he knew he could do whatever he wanted. Roger was the one who dropped a boulder on Piggy causing him to fall off a cliff. Roger also tortures Sam and Eric after Piggy’s death, because he wanted to know where Ralph was. Roger has this inner dark side in him, which is the reason for why he bullies,

The civilized nature of mankind is questioned through an existential crises of the characters forcing them to act immorally and violently. When humans live within a community without order, they become savages without even realizing it. The influence of each leader affects the boys the boys tremendously as they follow each others immoral actions. Therefore the novel Lord of the Flies portrays how the boys undergo a powerful transformation from acting civilized to acting savage as they become disrespectful, murderers and remorseless.

This snippet from Chapter 4 describes the beginning of Roger’s cruelty to the smaller boys, which was a step towards the group’s outbreak into savagery. At this point in the novel, the boys are still building their civilization, and they remain to act like civilized human beings. However, they are slowly slipping into savagery, especially when some of the older boys are willing to use violence to show superiority. This quote begins the trail to savagery. Roger feels like throwing stones at Henry but his sense of behavior that he was taught is too strong for him to slip into savagery just yet. Roger still feels the need to abide by “parents and school and policemen and the law” or otherwise known as the figures that teach the right and wrongs

Lord of the Flies, a gruesome novel wrote by William Golding, has several main characters. One of the main characters that stands out is Roger. Roger is a dark boy who ends up changing the plot near the end of the novel. Roger changed the plot by his actions. Roger is one of the most dynamic characters in the novel and ends up crushing civilization into a million pieces. As a reader, Roger struck me and stood out to me which is why I am choosing to discuss his savagery.

In the allegorical dystopia, Roger is used to demonstrate the impact of anarchy. Roger in the beginning of the novel is a conformist to the leaders of the island. They all follow Ralph because he blew the conch shell, which all the boys see as “a link with the adult world of authority”(Golding 59). Since Ralph gives them a link to the real or adult world, they trust him as their leader. By following the rules and having a leader of the group, the island has almost no sense of anarchy. As the novel progresses, so does Roger’s characterization. You can start to see hints of nonconformity in Roger as he threw rocks at one of the boys but left a “space around him, perhaps six yards in diameter, into which he dare not throw” (Golding 62). By playing

However, without adult supervision, the boys on the island struggle to remain self-disciplined. In addition, adults also play an important role in the civilized society. They make rules and enforce them, as well as ensure that children are following proper rules until they become mature enough to know what the right thing to do is. However, the rules of civilization on the island are not enforced and they were frequently broken. “The stone, that token of preposterous time, bounced five yards to Henry’s right and fell in the water… Round the squatting child was the protection of parents and school and policemen and the law. Roger’s arm was conditioned by a civilization that knew nothing of him and was in ruins.” (Golding 64) This quote demonstrates the need for social orders, since a society without rules is dangerous. In a civilized society, throwing rocks

Roger’s evolution appears to be much more drastic than Jack’s, and is arguably one of the most savage of the bunch. During the exposition of the book, when Roger is first mentioned, he is noted as a quiet, reserved boy who enjoyed knocking over sand castles. At first he seemed relatively normal, he did very seemingly playful, things such playing the in the water, and couldn’t harm anyone. There was a time where Roger, had attempted to throw rocks at another person, but couldn't because “ Roger's arm was conditioned by a civilization that knew nothing of him and was in ruins.” Due to the policies, teachings and laws that he still felt obligated to follow, he could not willingly injure another human. However, as the rules created by the boy started to falter, Roger’s barriers were removed allowing his true colors to be shown. He started to quickly show

Moral behavior is when individuals demonstrate the ability to differentiate between good and bad and it is believed that society forces moral behavior upon individuals, however society only lays foundation of moral behavior to which individuals themselves determine what they believe is just. Individuals, even those who exhibit exemplary virtue, all have demons lurking within themselves and it is when these individuals are exposed to greed, failure, or loss that their demons cannot be kept concealed. Although William Golding, author of the novel Lord of the Flies, believes that man is, by nature, barbaric and savage, society cannot control the barbaric nature of individuals because it is ultimately released by some force.