Mask Of Civility In Lord Of The Flies

Similar to William Golding’s idea of mankind, William James, who was an American philosopher, had the idea that, “We are all ready to be savage in some cause. The difference between a good man and a bad one is the choice of the cause.” This idea transfers nicely to William Goldings’ book, Lord of the Flies, which follows British boys who have been stranded on a deserted island, and now must survive, using their surroundings, as well as their wit. However, it isn’t all smooth sailing for the boys, and eventually almost all of them become savage-like, and disconnected from the outside world. The conch, and the mask are both important symbols in the book, that demonstrate how the boys turn from innocent school-boys to unforgiving beasts, capable of evil.

In the beginning of the novel, Jack’s mask represents hiding from himself and to hide from the responsibility of the real world. Jack is standing over the water when he begins to create the mask out of different colors of charcoal. Once he creates his mask, he sees himself in the reflection of the water, “he began to dance and his laughter became a bloodthirsty snarling. He capered toward Bill, and the mask was a thing on its own, behind which Jack hid liberated from shame and self-consciousness” (Golding 64). He becomes a different person and hides from his true self. A sense of anonymity arises to help relieve

There is something that all people have in common: masks. Whether it is behind a computer screen, a Halloween mask, or makeup, all people have one thing that they hide their true identity behind. At the time, World War II was a furious war filled with atomic bombs and thousands of deaths. Soldiers across the country were putting on their uniform and going out to battle. Millions of people died during this war- and most of them were ordinary civilians. A war this destructive convinced William Golding, a schoolteacher and film director, to not only join the army, but also to write about it. In Lord of the Flies, Golding uses his knowledge of war and humanity to create a book featuring the war inside humans. A major topic he used in his novel to show the darkness in a man’s heart was the theme of masks. The anonymity of a mask is something that is pondered by the characters in the book, especially by Ralph- the athletic and charismatic boy on an island filled mostly with savages. The savagery comes out as a result of the masks worn by the boys on the island. By putting on a mask, the boys were able to let their inner savages come out and commit violence against others. Wearing a mask increases the boy's willingness to dehumanize themselves because the taboos of society are gone, it allows them to let their inner beast out, and the anonymity relieves the wearer of responsibility.

The conch had called all the boys into an assembly. The conch was also used to allow a boy to speak in one of these assemblies. The use of the conch is to establish order on the island between the group of boys. When the boys are creating the foundation of their society they are using the intellect that they had learned from their home country. The relation to the theme is how with intelligence came the knowledge that people are not perfect and that rules are needed to keep people organized in society. “‘We’ve got to have rules and obey them. After all, we’re not savages.’” (42) At this time the boys realize that they need to respect the rules, just like what was done in their home place. The significance of Jack’s statement is how after saying this, he disregards the rules when they apply to one other than himself. When Piggy wishes to speak atop the mountain, while creating a signal fire, Jack states that since it is the mountain that the rules made upon the beach do not apply. Jack believes he is above the rules, another example is when he disregards the building of shelter, to hunt down a pig and meat. HOwever unlike before

The true nature of man is revealed when faced with arduous challenges that test one’s character. Golding's novel, Lord of the Flies, is set during world war two when a group of boys’ plane crashes onto an undocumented island with no adults. The story follows the journey of the band of misfits as they try to survive with the taunting pull to leave civilized behavior behind. As seen throughout the novel, Lord of the Flies, the evil side of man is challenged through the symbolism of the conch, mask, and glasses.

Ralph, one of the main characters, was initially the leader, but a boy named Jack came along, and took over the group of boys and the madness began. When Jack took over, Ralph was pushed over to Piggy’s side, Piggy is a slightly overweight boy, and is often teased by the surrounding boys, including Ralph. “Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy.” (Golding 202). The quote explains how the island and the people surrounding him stole his innocence and savageness lies within everyone’s hearts. Similarly, Ralph resembles the Jews being killed by Hitler (Jack) and the German Nazis (Jack’s followers) for their beliefs. The overall theme of his novel is all humans naturally have a little bit of evil and savagery inside of them. All of the boys stranded on the island are initially innocent and civilized, but as the leaders changed along with the rules, the evil and savageness buried in their hearts shone through. Both Jack and Ralph have very different views of leadership. Ralph is more interested in making the boys build shelters and fires and do useful stuff to help keep them alive. Whereas on the other hand, Jack is primarily interested in hunting. Jack’s camp is parallel to the practice of the internment camps of World War Two. Ralph realizes that Jack had stole the fire so he

Subsequently, the boys’ moral compass initiates breakdown, as society and their humanity begin to disintegrate and transform them into savageous, aggressive beings. Furthermore, Jack’s deliberate, intentional actions of harming Piggy merely augments to the barbarity of the boys. Triggered by Jack’s

At first none of the boys were savages, including Jack. Jack agreed with Ralph that they had to have rules and obey them. When the boys were assigned jobs, Jack wanted to hunter. When Jack saw the first pig on the island he chased it and was going to kill it with his knife, but he couldn't kill it and the pig got away. As time went on the boys started to make several errors. Jack started to hunt more and more and he got more hunters. Some of the boys got distracted from their task, like keeping the fire burning and making smoke. One day, a boat passed by the island, but the fire died and there was no smoke to alert the boat.

Even Jack himself looks at himself as a completely different individual, describing himself as an “awesome stranger” (Golding 63). Not all of our masks are literal and hide aspects this extreme. Most masks are present to give misdirection, and give off a good impression. For example, some teenagers may be more polite with their parents and use little to no profanity; however, they often behave much differently around their friends. Masks can be the spark or the water to the fire of our savagery.

Steven James once said, “ The true nature of men left to himself without restraint is not nobility, but savagery.” This concept of human nature’s dark side has been a fascination for many over the centuries. While some people would believe that humans are not capable of darkness, Goldings uses characters such as Jack to prove that under certain conditions humans are truly capable of anything. In the fictional novel, Lord of the Flies by William Golding, the author uses Jack’s fall of civilization to savagery to emphasize the idea that human nature is flawed and everyone is capable of evil.

Lord of the Flies, a novel by William Golding, reflects upon the very core of human beings. Golding described human beings as innately evil. He also showed readers that all it takes to bring humans’ true nature out is by being in an unknown environment that is free of laws. Being surrounded by mysterious creatures in an unknown land, the stranded boys are left for dead. In the small world without adults, the boys slowly corrupt in to follow their instinct to satisfy their immediate desires. By being in a microcosm of society with no rules or restriction, the boys begin to seek absolute power. By setting the novel in an island without adults, Golding shows how civilization can quickly deteriorate into savagery.

Golding utilizes symbolism of the mask to depict Jack’s growing savagery attitude toward the population and denial of civilization. “The mask was a thing on its own, behind which Jack hid, liberated from shame and self-consciousness.” According to the text, it is fair to say that the mask is a representation of evil and Jack’s denial of morality and civilization. “I cut the pig’s throat…There was lashing of blood”. As someone who was hesitant in even stabbing a pig, now vividly describes the gruesome steps he took to slaughter a pig after putting on the mask. In normal contexts, masks would be used for camouflaging purposes. However, in this context, the mask uncovers the savagery within Jack. This is proven in the book because only after he

There is darkness inside everyone. Evil, malice, wickedness. Society attempts to stomp out these innate traits. In his critically acclaimed novel, Lord of the Flies, William Golding explores what happens to a person when the pressures of society are removed. A group of British boys are stranded on an island without any adults. They form a society that slowly falls apart as half of the boys, led by Jack, are drawn into the savage life accepted on the island. Ralph’s group attempts to remain civil, but their success is questionable. Jack's group becomes more and more brutal and savage, and three of the boys die. Golding wrote this book as an allegory for the psychoanalytic theory of the personality, the Id, Ego, and Superego. The Id is the “evil”

For centuries philosophers, have debated the question of whether man is naturally evil. William Golding poses this question in his novel Lord of the Flies. Set on a tropical island during World War II, the novel begins when schoolboys from Great Britain are being flown to safety and their plane is shot down. No adults survive, and the boys are left to control themselves and get rescued. The boys find a conch, which is a symbol of power and authority to whoever has it in his possession. William Golding uses symbolism in the form of the conch to represent the concept of society. Throughout the course of the novel, the boys developing relationship with the conch

Everyone thinks of a mask, as a silly object that makes people laugh, the book Lord of The Flies proves otherwise. To begin with, the English boys were on a plane heading towards safety from the German air raids, until all of a sudden the plane started heading down for an island. As the plane was inching towards the deep jungles of the island, it hit with a sudden strike that scared every living thing in its way. Everyone survived the plane crash except the pilot who probably shot right through his window like a slingshot. An English boy named Ralph and his new friend Piggy were the first of the characters to find each other after the accident. Often Ralph teased him because his name was Piggy and it matched him perfectly. Piggy was fat, stubby, wore glasses, and had asthma. As the boys wandered the island they found a conch shell within thick vines. They managed to get it out, and Ralph blew into it a couple of times. Suddenly, every boy from the plane crash was alarmed and they started to walk over to Ralph. Consequently, the teenage boys and the littluns established order and gave each other specific jobs to accomplish while staying on the island. Ralph was in charge of making shelter with a couple of other boys, while a boy named Jack was in charge of the choir, but later on became in charge of the hunters. The mask in Lord of The Flies begins as a symbol of surviving, becomes violent, and concludes as a symbol of evil.