Lord Of The Flies Reflection

The Defects in Society are the Defects of Human Nature in Lord of the Flies

Everyone would like to believe that man is not naturally evil, but that is not the case; Natural evil is real, and it can be evident everywhere. Not only are there many studies supporting the fact, but even the Bible acknowledges man’s natural evil. And if these evil are left unchecked, they leave to treacherous situations, as presented in William Golding’s, Lord of The Flies. The novel takes place on an island run by kids, and only held together by flimsy society lead by Ralph, the original chief. Only when Jack, Ralph’s former partner, challenges his authority that is when it starts to fall. Jack’s temptations to undo Ralph’s doing and to revert to primal savagery takes over him and eventually leads him to do actions that could only describe as an anarchist criminal. The only

Mankind is, by nature, an evil, vile, and savage species. This is nowhere more apparent than in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, a novel detailing the adventures of a group of shipwrecked British schoolboys, who must survive on an uncharted Pacific island, while seeking rescue and order. Golding’s exploration of Man’s inherent wickedness is no more apparent in Chapter Nine, “A View to a Death”, in which the group of boys, in a riotous ceremony, brutally murder one of their own. The many events of the book lead to one conclusion: In Lord of the Flies, William Golding propagates the idea that Mankind is inherently inclined towards savagery and evil, which is conveyed via symbolism, juxtaposition, and foreshadowing.

The human mind is made of up two instincts that constantly have conflict: the instinct to live by society’s rules and the instinct to live by your own rules. Our civilized will has been to live morally by law and order, and our savage will has been to act out for our own selfish needs. We each choose to live by one or the other depending on how we feel is the correct way to live. In this allegorical novel, William Golding represents the transformation from civilization to savagery in the conflict between two of the main characters: Ralph who represents law and order and Jack who represents savagery and violence. Lord of the Flies has remained a very controversial novel to this day with its startling, brutal, and truthful picture of the

The instinct to follow rules and act in a civilised manner is highlighted throughout the first four chapters of Lord of the Flies, but is especially

Lord of the Flies, A novel written by William Golding, teaches many themes of human nature some true and some faulty. When a group of young british boys crash land into the ocean, they find themselves stranded on an undiscovered island. No one could anticipate what these civilised boys would turn into as time went on. From proper, clean-cut, disciplined schoolboys they slowly morph into the opposite of their initial characters. Throughout the story the boys turn to their primitive sides and begin to show an unknown evil inside of them, while killing each other and forming clans. As the audience sits back and observes, it is almost impossible to not compare the boys to the rest of mankind. After all they are Golding’s little human nature experiment.

The two boys differ on the issue of government. Ralph insists on a democracy and allows the group to vote on certain issues. All boys are allowed to speak at meetings if they have a mind to do so; a conch found at the beginning of the novel is held by any individual when he desires to speak to the rest of the boys. This is one of the strongest remnants of his time in civilized England: the belief that all people deserve representation, regardless of their abilities. Jack, however, adopts more of a dictator like attitude, as illustrated when he says to Ralph, “It’s time some people knew they’ve got to keep quiet and leave deciding things to the rest of us” (102).

In Lord of the Flies, Golding shows how important objects, and the power they authorize are only maintainable when humans are civilized enough to handle the power. In the novel Lord of the Flies, a plan crashed and a school of boys of twelve or younger are forced to survive on an isolated island until they are rescued. When they are on the island they find a conch, which when they blow it the boys gather. The conch represents civilization and authority, and is very respected by the boys. However, as they spent more time on the island the conch and everything it symbolized is disregarded.

In the middle of the book we see that Jack has ultimately changed his attitude towards the conch when he and Ralph are arguing. When Ralph mentions that Jack is breaking the rules, Jack responds, “‘Who cares?’” (91). And “Bollocks to the rules!” (91). Jack’s change in character shows how that the conch is becoming less valuable and the boys’ need for being civilized is

Lord of the Flies, written in 1954, was a notorious book of its time because of the novel’s thrilling story of a group of children’s loss of innocence and civility in the absence of a figure of authority. William Golding, the author of Lord of the Flies, wanted to show the world how corrupt one can become without any rules to follow. Golding successfully demonstrates the mutinous ways of a human by creating many different scenarios the children will encounter on the road to savagery when they have lost their sole leader in their life. The author’s theme of the novel was to show the conflict of a human’s tendency to become more savage and rebellious in the absence of civilization. In Lord of the Flies, William Golding conveys how society might become more rebellious with a deficiency of authority by utilizing symbolism, irony, and imagery to make his novel become more complete and uniform throughout itself.

Science tells us that humans are animals, and as animals we are subject to factors such as survival of the fittest, and natural selection. Although some may coin us as “humane,” different and set apart from the savagery of animals, we still retain our primal side, even if it is deeply rooted within us. Humanity has come a long way from the grumbling of cavemen; however, it is the constrictions of society that keep us civilized and sane. In the novel Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, boys are stranded on an island without civilizations blinding restrictions. With the absence of adults to keep the boys under control, and serve punishments for violations of moral taboos residing from the old life, the true nature of humanity gradually begins

Imagine a world where no rules apply. No Parents, no laws, no restrictions, no problems, right? Wrong. Without the presence of civilization, mankind would unravel and become a primitive, uncontrollable species. In the novel Lord of the Flies, this theme of savagery is revealed as the author, Sir William Golding, elaborates in detail of how man innately acts out his primitive urge of survival and dominance. The story shares that when a group of schoolboys survive a plane crash on a deserted island, they are electrified with happiness when they find out they have no parents to obey, or schoolteachers to listen to. Little do they know, but civility and order will help them survive, and when it is lost, chaos will prevail. The boys soon lose self

To begin our discussion will be based on the lack of civilization that the boys faced after the they lost the ability to keep their inner savagery in check. The lack of civilization has caused the boys to fight for power and it has shown us that the boys are forgetting what is important. Ralph held the ties with civilization and the boys knew this, so they continued to vote for Ralph as leader over Jack. The boys also adopted their own rules to help run the island civilly. Ralph explains, “‘That’s what this shell’s called. I’ll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he’s speaking’” (Goling 33). The conch represents order and encourages the boys to respect others opinions and patiently wait to state their ideas on the subject. In addition to the conch another example of the lack of civilization that is shown to us is the power struggle between Ralph and Jack that leads to the split of boys. Jack declared,

Human nature is one of the numerous gifts society that can never change. When nurtured correctly, human nature has the possibility of creating beautiful civilizations; however, people are cable of savagery with the loss of guidance that is expressed in the Lord of the Flies, by William Golding. In the Lord of the Flies, children are faced with isolation on a remote island. With no adults for guidance, the children welcome the new sense of freedom. However, reality catches up with their decision, challenging them with the reason for civilization. Through setting, characterization and plot, Lord of the Flies challenges the theme of civilization vs savagery.

William Golding’s Lord of the Flies is a gritty allegory of adolescence, innocence, and the unspoken side of human nature. Countless social issues are portrayed, however one of the most reoccurring is the nature of man. Throughout the novel there is an ever-present focus on the loss of innocence amongst the boys, shown by the deterioration of social skills and their retrogression into a barbaric form of society. Also portrayed is the juxtaposition of a cruel, evil main character and a more classically good counterpart, and their eternal rivalry for power and authority over their younger subjects. Does society or the lack thereof create evil in human nature, or simply magnify a pre-existing