Savagery In Lord Of The Flies Essay

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.

William Golding explores the theme of violence throughout his novel ‘Lord of the Flies’. He believed that every individual has the potential to bring out their inner evil, and that every human being is flawed in their nature. Hence, he wrote a novel with

“There are too many people, and too few human beings.” (Robert Zend) Even though there are many people on this planet, there are very few civilized people. Most of them are naturally savaged. In the book, Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, boys are stranded on an island far away, with no connections to the adult world. These children, having no rules, or civilization, have their true nature exposed. Not surprisingly, these children’s nature happens to be savagery. Savagery can clearly be identified in humans when there are no rules, when the right situation arouses, and finally when there is no civilization around us.

THE LORD OF THE FLIES – Essay If we were observing beings on another planet behaving like our own species, we would very likely call them monsters. We humans are capable of immense love and sensitivity, but we have been also capable of greed, hatred, war, murder and brutality. What is it that causes this ‘evil’ side of humans? “THE LORD OF THE FLIES” written in 1954 by William Golding illustrates the darker side of human nature. A plane carrying a group of British schoolboys is shot down over a deserted tropical island.

The struggle between humanity and savagery portrayed through the events of William Golding’s Lord of the Flies demonstrates how simple it is for one to succumb to the mannerisms of depravity. This is impossible with the implementation of structure and order, as such concepts provide boundaries and keep man sane and behaved. Once the boys arrive on the island, isolated and expelled from society, they look to a shell to relieve them of this hardship, and to institute a form of government that will keep them from acting out. Despite the trust they put in the shell, it fails to hold them from corruption, only adding to the growing tension between all of the boys inhabiting the mysterious island. Through the escalating tension surrounding the

This begins to explain one of the main themes throughout the novel Lord of the Flies. For one to be uncivilized is to be barbaric and inhuman, without having a sense of culture and social development. When innocence or civilization is lost, levels of economic, social, technological, political, and cultural evolution differentiates from that of the normal, because ideas, values, institutions, and achievements of a particular society is changed. The boys in Lord of the Flies find themselves in a situation where their only option was to learn to grow up and learn to do it fast on their own. They have to learn how to survive and fend for themselves without the presence of any adult figures, and create a prosperous society for their own. They

When Jack’s side obtains more members, they go hunting and kill a pig, brutally. Jack begins thinking that the act of hunting and killing animals is his entertainment now. Golding describes how Jack giggled and rubbed pig innards all over Maurice’s face, right after they killed the sow. Jack then orders the kids to mount the pigs head onto a stick, and says, “The head is for the beast. It’s a gift” (Golding 137). This is false idolization and similar to ancient tribes who sacrificed animals and other people to their gods, which is extremely uncivilized now. Jack is doing whatever he pleases, empowered by the mask and the children who follow him now, along with the lack of consequence for anything he does. He has completely descended into savagery almost all on his own, and will drag his tribe down with him. The

In William Golding's novel, "Lord of the Flies", Golding provides several varieties of moods and tones. One identified most throughout the novel would be man's inherit evil. This could be represented by the savagery actions and lack of civilization on the island. In the novel "Lord of the Flies", Golding conveys man's inherit evil by savage behavior and the loss of civilization.

In Lord of the Flies, Golding uses Jack as the symbol for savagery. Readers can hear Jack’s disappointment when he says this. “ I thought I might kill (Golding 51).” Jack couldn’t bring himself to kill a pig. At this point, he had some humanity left. However, Jack vows to kill the next pig when he goes on a hunt. Readers can read this quote and see

In William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies the faults of society are followed back to the faults of human nature. He uses children to depict human behavior at its most pure and innocent form. The story begins when a plane filled with English schoolboys crashes into a deserted island and the boys are left to fend for themselves. Golding uses the lack of adult authority figures to make the boys set up their own form of order and civilization. Throught the frightening unveiling of the boys’ ingrained savagery and the hidden perversion of the human mind, Golding included the inescapable demise of order and civility.

Degeneration of the civilized way of life on the island is very evident through the painted faces. When concealed by the masks, the hunters and Ralph changed to a different personality and they dismissed the society that once kept them from their savage natural urges. This is shown when Jack first paints his face and the author explains this moment by “he began to dance and his laughter became a bloodthirsty snarling” (64). This shows that Jack felt like a different person when he painted his face. It also proves this because Jack would have never done these types of actions back in his home society. In addition to this Golding uses the colours of the paint to illustrate human nature. The paint was red,black, and white and these colors are closely interpreted with violence. Secondly, the feeling of liberation gained from the paint caused the boys to participate in barbaric actions and the hunts they went on symbolized their primal urges. When Ralph tried to explain the importance of keeping the signal fire alive the boys did not listen whatsoever as they were occupied with thoughts of their hunts. A quote that supports this argument is when Jack interrupted Ralph and said “ There was lashing of blood” (69) and “ You should’ve seen it” (69). This emphasizes how badly the boys wanted to hunt and they

There was no civilization in their mind and no judgment. The only thing that they thought was killed the “ Beast”. William used these bloody and savage kids show us the destructive personality which is concealed in people’s hearts was a kind of sin to make people become

“What is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary.” James Madison. In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, a group of boys crash-land on an island, and struggle to maintain order as their fragile society begins to crumble around them.

“‘Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood! Do him in!’ The stick fell and the mouth of the new circle crunched and screamed” (141).

“Isolation is a dream killer” (Barbara Sher). In the novel Lord of the Flies written by William Golding, kids stranded on an island must figure out how to survive. By hunting pigs and building shelters the kids tried to subsist on the island. Through the process of hunting, the kids became cruel, evolving to the point of being barbaric. Thus, through the barbaric actions of the boys and the outside world, Golding shows that savagery exists in all people.