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Savagery In Lord Of The Flies Essay

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Lord of the Flies by William Golding is about a group of young boys who crash land on an uncharted island, leaving them stranded without any form of adult supervision. Under the leadership of the book’s main protagonist, Ralph, the boys are able to establish a sort of civilization. As the story continues, most of the boys begin to become more savage-like, from the lack of connection to civilized society. In Lord of the Flies, the boys are expressing their true identities on the island as a result of not having any moral or ethical code be reinforced by an authoritative adult. To begin, every boy on the island at some point in the story acts upon their natural inclination to primitive behavior. During the dance in which Simon was killed, even Ralph and Piggy, two of the most civilized boys on the island, took part in the murder. “Piggy and Ralph, under the threat of the sky, found themselves eager to take a place in this demented but partly secure society” (Golding 152). In that moment they lost hold of their morals, giving into the savagery that they carry within themselves. Golding is really pushing …show more content…

For example, Jack and Roger are the first boys to succumb to savagery while Simon and Ralph are able to fight against the urge to act primitively. An example of this is when Ralph is making a concious effort to remember the significance of the fire following the murder of Simon. “Then at the moment of greatest passion and conviction, the curtain flapped in his head and he forgot what he had been driving at, He knelt there, his fist clenched… Then the curtain whisked back” (Golding 163). While most of the boys are apart of Jack’s tribe at this point, overcome with brutality, Ralph is still trying to maintain his connection to society through the fire, which represents rescue and return to his old

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