Violence In Lord Of The Flies Research Paper

In scholarly studies, symbolism and imagery apply to enhance a reader’s knowledge of theme development. In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, the general theme is the conflict between human inclination towards savagery and the rules of civilization. The purpose of symbolism and imagery is essential to the theme development of civilization versus savagery. Three symbols used to illustrate the theme of civilization versus savagery throughout the story are the conch shell, the conflict between Jack and Ralph and the hunter’s painted faces.

(Violence) "Ralph too was fighting to get near, to get a handful of that brown, vulnerable flesh. The desire to squeeze and hurt was over-mastering.” (Golding 114-115)

In the novel ‘Lord of the Flies’, Golding uses the theme of violence surfacing throughout the text. One reason for this was, Golding believed that every individual has the potential for evil and that the flawed human nature is seen in ‘mankind’s essential sickness’. His belief in this arrived through his time spent in war, so his aim was to challenge Ballantyne’s novel ‘Coral Island’, and in which Golding’s book the truth would be shown about his own thoughts of the darkness of mankind. As the theme of violence is in the heart of the novel, another reason of this is due to the quick breakdown of civilisation on the island. Through the breakdown, an ideal situation of

In William Golding’s The Lord of the Flies, Jack and others use their acts of cruelty towards the other boys to show a sense of power and role on the island higher than everyone else’s. In the book, Jack and his choir are obsessed and driven to find and kill a pig. While killing the pig they chant, “Kill the pig! Cut its throat! Kill the pig! Spill her blood!”. These words are evidently an act of cruelty because they could have simply killed the pig quietly and civilly. However, by chanting and frolicing about, they were given the power they had desired through cruelty. After successfully killing a quantity of pigs, the author states, “The Compulsion to track down and kill was swallowing him up”, meaning that he desires to kill because

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

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.

“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.” -William James (https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/w/williamjam157170.html?src=t_savage)

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

Mankind is taught evil by society. Throughout society, you see acts of evil that a child could not even fathom. In this essay, I will compare mankind and Lord of the flies in terms of violence,lack of trust and authority.

Throughout the book and movie, societal influence lessens, and the savagery increase. In the book, Lord of the Flies, savagery is shown through Jack and his followers. Throughout the book, Jack is a leader and has his followers. Jack's actions progressively become more barbaric, causing his followers to also become ruinous.

Thesis: The natural impulse for brutality in humans present in The Lord of the Flies by William Golding, is caused by the desire of humans to act savage from fear during regression in society, and from the constant fight of power for authority between individuals.

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.

A portal to the beast within us, a battle between truth and superstition; these statements characterize The Lord of the Flies, which today is considered a literary classic that tells the story of children who are marooned on a deserted island, after their plane is shot down in the midst of a nuclear war. With no adults, the children try to govern themselves, leading to dangerous results. School districts around the nation have fought to remove it from district libraries. Some succeeded, but the book remains still remains popular among teens today. Although The Lord of the Flies has garnered much criticism for its supposed use of extreme violence, Satanism, and racism, it is a novel that should be allowed to remain in the high school curriculum because it presents how the problems we face today result from the corruptness of human nature.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German theologian, states that “ The ultimate test of a moral society is the kind of world that it leaves to its children.” In William Golding’s Lord Of The Flies, societal topics run rampant throughout the text with Golding’s use of individuals to represent different aspects of society. Many writers view the Lord Of The Flies as an allegory, as societal topics such as politics make appearances throughout the text. In the 1940’s Golding served in The Royal Navy of England during World War II for 6 years. These six years of experience in the war play a major role in his text. Having been a witness to the the hardships and cruelties associated with war, Golding utilizes these experiences in the novel to display the cruelty of men and their inner savagery. His use of young boys to promote this theme makes it all the more significant. In his novel, Lord of The Flies, Golding’s use of literary devices such as characterization and symbolism serve as allegories to the negative aspects of society, and display Golding’s pessimistic view towards war and violence in society.