Lord Of The Flies Critical Analysis

Fear is everywhere, in everything, and everyone. Lord of the Flies starts with a group of boys getting stranded on an island after a plane crash, their lives start slowly decomposing into chaos. The boys split into two groups and are manipulated by Jack, a “bigun” who thinks that hunting is the only thing that matters. Ralph tries to keep it all together as chief of his clan. Through Lord of the Flies the boys are tormented by the Beast. Murder, savagery, and hope, in William Goldings Lord of the Flies, the conch shows how fear of chaos controls, the beast/ Lord of the Files uses fear to control, and how the fire represents the hope that is constant though all.

William Golding’s allegorical novel, Lord of the flies, is about British schoolboys stranded on a deserted tropical island due to a plane crash. The beginning of the novel foreshadows what events will happen throughout the novel. However, I think the ending of the novel is more important because Golding gives us the message that we are all capable of being a savagery and it teaches us the need for civilization by showing changes in characters in a negative way at the end of the novel.

William Golding's bias towards society due to World War II influences the novel Lord of the Flies to show the state of man to be barbaric and uncivil. Without societies influence on man's natural state of nature, man can turn to savagery. Jack uses his dominance over the boys to gain on his personal obsession of killing while Ralph uses his lesser dominance for the greater good, thus, causing a competition between Ralph and Jack in a struggle for power despite their unspoken bond.

William Golding places the integrity of human nature and its relationship with society on the chopping block in his novel “Lord of the Flies.” Golding brings to light the complex truth hidden in every single person- everyone is capable of being evil. In his novel, the children devolve into savages who murder and torture one another. When I first read Golding’s novel, I did not agree with his belief that humanity is evil because I originally believed the opposite. Golding somehow changed my view on the world and the people in it to see the underlying shadow of evil. Although not completely present, there is just as much as good as there is bad in people. Not only did Golding change my view of the world, he entertained me at times with his complex characters. After reflecting on the novel, I realized that I enjoyed the novel because of its complex message and loveable characters despite my dislike of his writing style.

When I was younger, I went to a small school where the attendance was roughly 300 people. I had gone there for about 6 years, so I knew all the students, teachers, and rooms. The next year I transferred schools, at this new school I knew nothing and no one. I realized I missed my old school, even though it was small it was familiar. William Golding’s Lord of the Flies is about a group of boys who are stranded on an island due to a plane crash. They elect a boy named Ralph to be their chief, to the disappointment of a boy named Jack. As time goes on Jack developed his own following and ends up overthrowing Ralph and trying to kill him, in the end the boys are rescued and returned to civilization. There are two claims that can be made about this story, one is that you don’t know what you have until it’s gone and the other is people are afraid of change, but things always change. The theme you don’t know what you have until it’s gone is the best theme.

When the modern era’s media outputs are bombarded with morbid images of the world's current state on television, the mass shootings, nuclear war threats, and numerous amounts of injustices, society cannot help but think evil is ubiquitous. People in society often forget evil is not a mystical force but rather a factor that is located in every human. The novel, Lord of the Flies, written in 1954, deals with the dark underlying themes of human evil, violence, and the loss of innocence. The grim ending of the novel calls upon its readers to understand the recurring theme of the inert evil that lies within all humanity when societal rules are forgotten. William Golding uses the three primary characters to symbolize the negative aspects of human nature through Ralph, Jack, and piggy's experiences in Lord of the Flies.

Imagine a world where everyone got along without conflicts. Would that be possible in the world as it is now or would everyone's inner darkness and greed come out? In Lord of the Flies by William Golding and Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad it was not possible. In Lord of the Flies, many boys are stranded on an island, alone. At first, they decide to work together but as the novel went on, it became clear that they were going to split up. And then in the frame tale Heart of Darkness, Marlow tells a story about a character named Kurtz' obsessions with ivory. Throughout both novels, the authors have the audience questioning whether the true nature of humans is good or bad. Even though it could be argued otherwise, Golding and Conrad use literary devices to show that the true nature of humans is essentially bad.

Thought-provoking books have underlying themes that may remain with the reader. William Golding’s Lord of The Flies is a perfect example of this. This novel tells the story of a group of British schoolboys that become stranded on a deserted island. The boys are unharmed but soon realize that they are without any adult supervision and will have to rely on themselves and each other for survival. The boys react in different ways, causing anarchy to break loose. Golding’s most significant message is that during stressful situations, man’s need for civilization becomes greater and, without it, chaos erupts.

“If he ever wrote a book, he thought, he would present one person at a time, so that the reader wouldn't worry about memorizing a lot of names.” (18)

William Golding’s best selling novel, Lord of the Flies showcases his cynical view on humanity. This book depicts how a society of boys would function if civilization had not been forced on them. The outcast of the characters Simon and Piggy gives us a window into his view on which parts of society are valuable and what is not necessary. The killing of the pig and the bloodlust show us that Golding believes that humans are violent by nature. Finally, he shows us how rules are not followed, and how chaotic humankind can be. These facts will prove that Golding has a negative view of humanity.

Consequences are key to keeping people in control (alliteration). Without enforced rules or consequences for one’s actions, conditioning from civilization will inexorably dissipate and intrinsic evil and savage desires will recrudesce. In Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, a plane flying after WWII smashes into an uncharted island, stranding a young group of schoolboys. The boys are left alone to govern and fend for themselves, which inevitably leads to the collapse of civilization and order. The group of boys, with Ralph voted as “chief”, establish a few rules. Jack Merridew, inclined to leadership, decides to go against his orders of keeping up a signal fire built using the glasses of a fat boy derisively named Piggy. This causes a ship to pass by oblivious to the boys captive on the island. As more conflicts arise between Jack (savagery) and Ralph (civilization), Jack forms his own “tribe”, using the boy's’ fear of the beast to his advantage, leading to tumult and the death of a wise, good-natured boy named Simon. Eventually, Roger, a malicious human-being involved in numerous nefarious activities, kills Piggy and trucently torture the twins, Sam and Eric, into joining Jack’s tribe, leaving Ralph all alone. When Jack lights the whole island on fire in an attempt to kill Ralph, the smoke from the fire ironically leads to a ship appearing and rescuing the boys. Golding, through the use of the signal fire as a symbol, which represents civilization and acts as a barometer

The Lord of the Flies portrays the years of adolescence in a way not commonly perceived. In the novel, William Golding depicts childhood as times of tribulation and terror when the children are put in certain adult-like situations. Without mature role models to look up to, children turn to other children for leadership. Additionally, when given the chance children would rather play around than do manual labor. Lastly, children stray to savagery without rules or social boundaries. Therefore, Goulding effectively portrayed the attitudes of adolescents which shaped the meaning of the book as a whole.

Is there a savage beast lurking inside the deepest, darkest parts of all of us? Will human nature take advantage of people at their most vulnerable state? The depiction of Pinker’s philosophy on the admirable process that mankind has evolved into, strongly contradict Zimbardo and Golding’s beliefs. The two make it very apparent that the evil within us may only be shown through certain events and situations we are put in. Although humans have constructed a more civilized world for themselves, and convey the impression of a more peaceful era, there are still extensive measures that can be taken revolving around enhancing every aspect of human life in itself.

The novel, Lord of the Flies, was written by William Golding in 1954. The novel tells the story of what a horrible and disturbing world looks like when things go wrong. Sigmund Freud was a psychologist that studied how humans minds work and our controlled by basic impulses in the unconscious brain called the Id, Superego, and the Ego (CommonLit Staff). In the book, Jack represents the Id, Ralph represents Ego, and Piggy is the Superego.

When reading the Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, many people have been tending to question; Would the same situations and experiences have occurred if the characters were all little girls? A remake with all girls wouldn’t work well with the type of plot, unlike the boys, they would build their own groups with respect and peace. The boys choose the leader of the island based on toughness, strength, and ability to exhibit acts of violence. Since the boys tend to focus on these predominantly masculine traits, the island will ultimately end up in chaos, in a patriarchal society. With a group of boys stranded on an island alone and without adult supervision, lots of wrongs are yet to be transpired.