Savagery In Lord Of The Flies Mask Analysis

The mask is a significant symbol of savagery and the dark side that lies within every human being. One instance is when Jack painted his face to fool the animals and blend in with the island for hunting. He painted his face with different colors and when he peered into the water he saw a stranger looking back at him.“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

These masks, which are used by Jacks followers called ‘the hunters,’ are made of clay paint. The evilness of the boys is clearly shown when they wear the masks. It is almost as if an infectious disease is spread upon them; they lose all sense of civilization. After Jack paints the mask on his face for the first time, it is clear what it does to him. “He began to dance and his laughter became a blood thirsty snarling. “He capered toward Bill, and the mask was a thing of its own, behind which Jack hid, liberated from shame and self-consciousness.” (Golding 64). This not only shows the cruelty of the mask, but it also shows how it opens Jack into the world of being a savage. Also, Golding mentions the colors of Jack’s first mask as being Red, White, and Black. These colors symbolize “violence, terror, and evil.” (Golding).

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

Symbols in literature are like the Earth, there are multiple layers until you get to the core meaning. In the novel, The Lord of the Flies, William Golding, utilizes symbols in order to get his deeper meaning across. In a novel about boys isolated on an island during the time period of World War II, Golding shows the outcomes of what isolation can have on a group of people. While trying to get these messages across, the author uses symbols as an aid These symbols range from strength, hope, and fear. One of the most important symbols in the book is Jack’s mask. The mask starts out as a way to help Jack hunt and grows from there. Therefore, Jack’s mask begins as protection from Jack’s own identity, evolves to his strength, and

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

To begin, Jack initially believes that he is using the mask to hide from the pigs, however, in reality, he wears the mask to hide from himself. From a young age, everyone is taught how killing is illicit, and Jack is no exception. In the Lord of the Flies Jack hesitates multiple times when trying to kill the pig. His hesitation is caused by the guilt he

In many parts of the world, humans live in a civilized society where law and order are organized and enforced. But within a lawless society, savagery surfaces in an ungoverned setting of bloodshed and harm. In Lord of the Flies by William Golding, Civility and Savagery are differentiated with Ralph and Jack, Ralph establishes a community compared to Jack who damage and divide civilization. Because of how Jack and Ralph use their democratic and dictatorial authority, through the examples of the declined civilization, the increase of savagery and the different ways of power by Ralph and Jack.

Men, without rules, can be led towards destruction. Lord of the Flies depicts at first a group of boys trying to maintain order, and a later descent into savagery. One of the most direct, apparent examples of this is through Roger. Through the contrast of the self-restraint Roger has at the beginning of the novel and the murder he absentmindedly commits at the end, Golding illustrates how man’s desire for savagery is restrained only by the enforced civilization of society.

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.

Allegory or a poem, story, or picture that symbolizes another hidden meaning is found in the Lord of the Flies. Lord of the Flies by William Golding takes place at the time of World War II as it pertains to Golding’s experience fighting in the war. Since he took part in the war his taste makeshifts the book into an allegory of human savagery within the characters during the story. The manifestation of savagery that takes place was at the sight of Simon, a shy and isolated character, and Piggy, an intelligent twelve year old that is overweight, has asthma and wears glasses, deaths. Simon and Piggy, however, were never corrupted by the boys ultimately died because of their actions. Which shows, that the minds of others can change by the people around us into full on savages and isolation from the world.

Everyone uses masks to free them to do, say or act in a manner that they normally wouldn’t. People use them all the time, whether it is just changing to treat someone a certain way or just needing to be a different way to make a situation better, but can also be used in harmful ways that can be used to compel violence. Masks manipulate us to hide from our true selves, they will make the one who wears one inferior to all others. In the story, The Lord of the Flies by William Golding, the world is in the middle of the biggest war ever, the power of masks and anonymity throughout this time period establish the terror. They put on these masks to give them the freedom to commit terrorizing acts and have no shame, alike with how William Golding allowed his characters have their power over the others. Golding had his characters apply paint to their faces which then altered the boy's mindset to act in a detrimental way. The mindset these boys obtain leads to many cruel parts in the story, including the killing of other boys on the island. This demonstrates the effect and power of being anonymous that is provided to these blood-thirsty boys. Before Jack and the boys used their masks to release their inner-savage, they were civilized, but having anonymity enables them to kill, not only pigs but other boys.

In the novel Lord of the Flies by William Goulding, body paint is used by the boys to not just appear as something else, but to completely transform into something else. “He began to dance and his laughter became a bloodthirsty snarling. He capered towards Bill and the mask was a thing of its own, behind which Jack his, liberated from shame and self-consciousness.” With Jacks face paint on, he leaves civilization and becomes savage. The mask hides his insecurities and gives him self-confidence and power. Without the mask, Jack would most likely not participate in these behaviors since he tends to be blushing underneath it, but since nobody sees how he reacts when the mask is on, he continues to act like this. The three colours that he used

Lord of the Flies, an allegorical novel by William Golding, holds truths about mankind’s true nature of existence. The novel explores the savagery in all men that lies dormant, yet when society’s rules cease to exist, the boy’s innocence perishes along with it. The boys attempt to band together and mock the society that they came from, but not understanding the complexity of the situation, results in their society falling into ruins. On the island the boys are returned to man’s primitive nature, without rules or discipline, and they slowly drift into anarchy. Without proper guidance, the boys resort to cloaking their innocence with body paint to survive. With the body paint coating their skin, the boys bury their old personas within and allow themselves to commit acts that society would frown upon. When Jack’s tribe uses the facade of body paint to dissociate themselves from civilization’s morals, they denote that hiding one’s true identity liberates them from the constraints of society.

Descent into Savagery William Golding's Lord of the Flies represents a society with innate evil instincts as in relation to his theory. Golding’s theory states “All humans are evil or have the potential to do evil”(Golding, ). Similarly this enthralling novel follows a group of young boys ages ranging from six to sixteen after they crash land on a deserted island without food or supplies. As time goes on the boys struggle to maintain a civilized society and it becomes apparent that everyone has evil inside of them.

Their masks hide the evil dwelling within their innocent souls, waiting to be set free. It emits human personalities and behaviors, allowing it to be impenetrable by visual perception. With these masks as a cover, Jack and his tribe members interact nicely; chaos rips through their society when they allowed their masks to fall off throughout many sequences of events.