No One Thing Is To Blame For The Island Case Study

Let’s be honest; being stranded on an island is a real nightmare. Now, imagine being stranded on an island with a bunch of kids! Though a group of kids may not sound too intimidating, when released from society's constraints and adult supervision, the saying “all’s well that ends well” certainly doesn't apply here. In the heavily famed novel Lord of the Flies written by Nobel Prize of Literature winner William Golding, a group of schoolboys from the age of six to twelve are caught in the midst of the next world war. As they are flying on a plane to escape the dangers on their hometown, they are shot down and crash-land on an island whose population of humans is zero. Once everything gets set in order, the boys begin creating their own society. They even elect a chief and make rules that everyone must follow. Unfortunately, not everything goes as planned, and with hostility rising between the characters as the book progresses, the fragility of human civilization is heavily explored upon in this exhilarating novel.

It all started with a man by the name of Thomas Hobbes. He believed in many things about human beings and how they react to their environment. One of his beliefs was, that people will not get along unless their is a higher power making them.(“Hobbes, The leviathan”) His words in “The Leviathan” states: “Again men have no pleasure in keeping company where there is no power able to overawe them all”.(“Hobbes”) This was shown an awful lot in William Golding’s book. The boys on the island did not get along or stay civilized for very long.This was because there was no one around of higher power to make them. Therefore their little civilization did not stay strong for very long. Another thing that Hobbes said, was if humans are of equal power, and want the same thing, we will become enemies.(“Hobbes, The leviathan”) Here is his words: “and therefore if any two men desire the same thing, which they both can not enjoy, they become enemies: and in the way to their end, endeavour to destroy or subdue one another.” (“Hobbes, the leviathan”)The boys on the island were all around the same age of six through twelve. This made them feel as if they were all equal in power. Also in the beginning of the book we see Jack and Ralph both wanted to be “chief” since they were the oldest.(“Golding”) They become enemies because in their minds they were equal in power because they were

William Golding uses young boys on an island as an example to show that the world is

To summarise, Golding is using the island as a microcosm for the outside world as he writes about how the boys use fire against the island and this can symbolise man’s destruction of nature. Golding uses a lot of different techniques throughout the story, but the technique he uses the most is, pathetic fallacy as in the weather, as he uses it in many different place to show the feeling of the boys and the island of what is happening at the time. For example, at Simon’s there is a wild storm going on but there is also a wild dance going on, this could also show how the island is shouting out to the boys to try and make them stop. When Simon is washed out to sea, the weather is very peaceful as if the island is respecting Simon and what he tried to tell the

In the novel, Lord of the Flies, William Golding is able to use his outstanding writing abilities utilizing metaphors, symbolism, and other literary devices to establish a hidden message throughout the novel. The hidden message that Golding builds on is that there is a natural evil inside every human being, which is suppressed in an organized society through laws, rules, and punishment. The young boys in the novel are on an island all by themselves. There is no punishment for their actions, therefore allowing that evil to come out of most of the boys. All humans have an innate evil within them and that evil is brought out when there is a lack of civilization and consequence as seen in Simon’s murder,

According to Golding the inherent nature of man is evil when entirely free from societal restraints. When the boys first arrive on the island in Lord of the

There are many things people could say to contradict William Golding believing the human race. On the opposing side, people may say William Golding saw hope for the future when he had the boys saved. “The fire reached the coconut palms by the beach swallowed them noisily. A flame, seemingly detached, swung like an acrobat and licked up the palm heads on the platform. The sky was black” (200-201). The reason they were saved was because the island was set on fire. Human morality has save many wars from ending catastrophically. William Golding implies that one day we will lose this decency. Another point that could be made is how William Golding reminds us that the boys, although disturbed killers, are still innocent little boys. When being rescued Simon looked back and saw: At the end of the book Ralph looks behind him and sees not killers but boys. “Dumbly, Ralph shook his head. He turned a half-pace on the sand. A semi-circle of little boys, their bodies streaked with colored clay, sharp sticks in their hands” (200). On the contrary, the fact he reminds us that they are boys makes their

In the renowned novel written by Golding, young boys have crashed and landed in a uninhabited island full of vegetation. On the first few pages of the novel, many of the boys are very enthusiastic about being on an island without any parental supervision of any kind. At first order was shown and there was more civilization than savagery. However, as the novel continued, we could see the kids having some constant issues with fear on the island. Slowly disorder had taken over and most of the boys had started a new era of savagery on the island.

Because they have been away from organized society for such a long time, the boys of the island have become Golding's view of mankind, vile, destructive beasts. Although Golding shows that the longer one is away from society the closer to his view one becomes, the institution of civilization does not escape his criticism. Golding shows through many examples that those who are "civilized" are just as prone to violence and war as those who are isolated. The first example presented in the novel occurs when the boys attempt to emulate the British democratic government. The boys prize the adults that run the government as the best decision makers. It is these "civilized" adults, however, who started the war which has forced the boys onto the island. Also, in their mimicking of adult society, one of the first things that the boys do is establish the choir as an army or a group of hunters. Another of the criticisms of orderly society comes when Ralph asks for a sign from the adult world. Ralph does receive his sign in the form of a dead parachute shot down in an air battle above the island. This can be interpreted as saying that the savagery existent in man is even shown in the so called "civilized" world through acts of war. Golding clearly sees war as an action of destruction caused by man because

      In the novel, Lord of the Flies, William Golding tells the story of a group of boys on an island left out to self survive. The time was World War II when the plane the boys were in was shot down leaving young survivals on a deserted island without any adults. The whole story is about what happens during their stay on the island representing metaphoric ideas of humanity in each incident as Golding describes. Golding has reportedly said that he wrote the novel in response to his personal war experiences. “ (The war)… taught us not fighting, politics or the follies of nationalism, but about the given nature of man.” (Golding) By looking at Lord of the Flies, it is clear that Golding’s view of

The metaphysics (the philosophical look at existence) of Golding’s book are quite interesting. He questions the existence in essence of war, and desperation. It is absolute that the world around the boys’ existed. However, the world that they lived in was also one of their own creation. They created their own laws, and built boundaries for their characters’. The island, though, seemed to have a mind of its own. The boys were always at the will of the crashing sea, and the creatures that lurked in the trees. While, their biggest downfall was themselves, the island itself was their greatest fear, and what ultimately drove them mad. Simon, went mad with the knowledge that he had gained about life and death.

In the novel Lord of the Flies, William Golding depicts the sinful nature of man, “maybe there is a beast… maybe it’s only us.” The book begins with a plane crash, which leaves a group of young boys stranded on an uninhabited island. Throughout the book, readers witness the boys losing their innocence while giving into savagery. By the end, most of the boys act upon their evil thoughts without a moment of hesitation. Although most people would think young boys couldn’t hurt anyone, Golding explains that even the most innocent people are inherently

Knowing William Golding took part of World War II, we as readers can understand why Golding wrote Lord of the Flies and other survival-fiction novels. When the story was released in 1954, Golding described his book as "an attempt to trace the defects of society back to the defects of human nature." It is unmistakably obvious to anyone who reads this book that Golding is trying to exaggerate the good and evil in the boys on the island. Throughout the book, we learn that people, including children, are not pure goodness. Deep inside there is an evil constantly trying to rise to the surface of our minds. Golding proves that eventually the evil within us will destroy us. Golding saw in World War II what