preview

Lord Of The Flies Character Analysis

Decent Essays

Throughout history people have worn masks when doing immoral crimes such as robbing banks. The novel The Lord of the Flies by William Golding based on what he saw during World War II is about young schoolboys stuck on a remote island. During their time on the island the boys lose their morals and turn to savagery. The boys use face paint in the beginning of the novel to camouflage when hunting. By the end of the book their use of face paint escalades to the use to separate them from their old lives back home. Golding changes the way the boys use face paint to show that loss of one’s individual identity changes their morals.
In the beginning of the novel the boys have a sense of self. Ralph after being elected leader he demanded that they make rules when he says “ I’ll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he’s speaking.” (33) in order to stay civilized. Ralph’s leadership skills shows that he is trying to keep the boys civilized by adding rules to the island. When Piggy is keeping track of names one of the littluns , Percival Wemys Madison, states his whole name address and tries to recall his phone number but can not remember it. This shows that Percival is trying to cling on to civilization. During the beginning of the book the boys help each other, “Simon found for [the littluns] the fruit they could not reach, pulled off the choicest from up in the foliage, passed them back down to the endless, outstretched hands.” (56) Simon is helping the

Get Access