William Golding 's Lord Of The Flies

Similar to most literary classics, William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies contains allusions to the Christian Bible and character archetypes that convey universal ideas. Golding’s story focuses on a group of British schoolboys who are stranded on an island and ultimately succumb to their innate savage tendencies. Literary analysts often compare components of Lord of the Flies to various aspects in the Christian Bible. For instance, the setting in Lord of the Flies is often linked to the Garden of Eden, and some characters are thought to have religious-inspired names. Critics believe Simon’s name originates from Jesus Christ’s disciple, Peter, whose name was originally Simon. Biblical allusions exist throughout the novel associated with

Throughout the history of humanity, humans have different behaviors that change depending on what situations they are in. Psychologist Philip Zimbardo spent many years exploring human nature and has developed many theories about human behavior. One of Zimbardo’s ideas is about situational factors that states “one’s behavior is assumed to be dependent upon their current circumstances, situation or the environment that they are in.” He concluded the concept of situational factors after his Stanford Prison Experiment, in which he gave authority to regular people and observed any changes. The experiment proved that people’s behavior will change when they are in different situations. Zimbardo also believes that evilness is the exercise of power to harm people in anyway possible, so a five year old who teases others to Adolf Hitler would be classified as perpetrators of evil.

In today’s world, society often easily stereotypes people due to their outer appearance. In William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies, a group of boys are stranded on an island without any adult supervision. Without the guidance of an adult, the boys must build a society of their own. During the beginning of the novel, their civilization is peaceful and orderly under the leadership of Ralph. Ralph, the main protagonist, is a fair and reliable leader. However, as the story progresses, the boys slowly begin to follow Jack, who is manipulative and ruthless. Throughout the novel, the boys transform from civilized and nonviolent, to cruel and barbarous. Lord of the Flies portrays many different types of stereotypes, especially those based on appearance. As seen through Piggy and Ralph, Golding uses stereotypes so the reader can relate to and identify with the characters. Golding uses stereotypes in his novel to show how society classifies people by appearance.

Literary devices are techniques often used by authors to portray in-depth analyses of major characters, storylines, and central themes, which take place in a story. These analyses help readers understand a message the author is trying to convey. In the novel Lord of the Flies, William Golding uses different literary devices in order to demonstrate the boys’ struggle against the lack of society and law on the island, as well as the consequences that have transpired due to this loss. This conflict is evident through the different instances of irony, foreshadowing, and symbolism that occurs throughout the novel.

Lord of the Flies by William Golding is a classic novel and portrays just how the society surrounding us can corrupt our once pure nature No one is born a killer, no one is born with an intense compulsion to kill, the island that the boys are stranded on has a very unusual, corrupting society; A society that erodes the boys innocence through the power struggle between Jack and Ralph, readers see the transfer from innocent to savagely through the hunting and Piggy’s death.

In William Golding’s, Lord of the Flies, the recurring mention of the boy's’ clothing or lack thereof shows their attachment to society and rules. At first, the boys are wearing uniforms and are fully clothed, this represents their initial unity and regard for rules. As the boys’ time on the island grows longer, their growing lack of clothing mirrors their growing disregard for rules, and ultimately their descent into savagery. Golding shows that… through this evolution.

Many philosophers believe that a correct government can make a strong society. However, these philosophers do not agree on what form of government is the most “correct”. English philosopher John Locke believed that Man is inherently moral and that the purpose for government is to grant the fundamental rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness to its people. Another philosopher, Thomas Hobbes, however, held the belief that mankind is naturally evil and that society needs an absolute central authority to contain this evilness and grant its people with the common protection. Hobbes believes that in a state of nature, when there are no rules and everyone is granted equal power, the inherent evil impulses of Man are exposed. One

People interact together to create a society. And within that society, a political system is formed to regulate and govern. However, when that society corrupts, who is to blame? The leader? Political system? Or the people? William Golding, the author of Lord of the Flies believes that the defects of society are caused by the defects of human nature, and the society must depend on ethical maturity of individuals. The novel demonstrates the defects of an individuals’ human nature corrupting society through Ralph’s failed civilization, Samneric’s fear, and Roger’s natural evil.

The pleasure Ralph derives from the cruel nickname is common among children. It wasn’t something they picked up from the adults on the island but rather a cruelty of their own making, proving that rather than having to be taught to act “badly”, children are taught to act “good” or “proper”. This same reasoning is why children misbehave when teachers aren't present, because there is no one around to enforce society’s notions of “good behavior”. Without a teacher's presence the children are free to do whatever they

Rather than letting his full savage instincts pour out, he tries to keep them secluded. He witnessed traumatic events, and even shows signs of PTSD, leading to a mental breakdown. On the inside he is fighting a mental war between staying civilized or succumbing to his internal savagery. As the trend shows this is reflected in his physical appearance as he is depicted as a slender boy, and although he doesn’t wear a shirt for parts of the book he often wears clothes that are ripped and worn down, leaving holes and gashes in his body and in his clothes. This can be interpreted as almost mimicking his internal war, externally seen as worn down, beat up, dirty boy struggling to hang on to the polite, civilized English boy outside., as iInternally Ralph he tries to stay civilized even though he so clearly lost his innocent witnessing the loss of his friend and desperately wanted to succumb to the savagery that is a part of his blood.

In William Golding’s, Lord of the Flies, a few dozen boys are stranded on an island after a plane crash. The six to twelve year old kids turn to savages under the lead of the older males, and ultimately cause their own deaths. However, the smaller boys, such as Piggy and Sam and Eric, are the hope and reason of the group. Golding’s purpose of writing the book was to show that the defects in society originate at the defects in human nature. Golding allows the little ones to have no identities or personalities. This is symbolically showing that in society, the ignorant and innocent children are the only hope to a humane society. Innocence is purity, and the innocent children, in which are not corrupted by the bad people and things in the

    Ralph is one of the main characters in Lord of the Flies and throughout this book, he slowly loses his identity. “The fair boy said [there are no grownups] solemnly; but then the delight of a realized ambition overcame him” (Golding 8).  This portrays Ralph’s innocence and an element of his identity. Clearly, at the beginning of Lord of the Flies Ralph has a childlike innocence in him, for he rejoices in the fact there are no adults on the island. Later, Ralph shows his innocence by his lack of knowledge on curse words. “Ralph reached inside himself for the worst word he knew. ‘They let the bloody fire go out’” (Golding 68). However, Ralph slowly begins to lose his innocence and

In addition, to the conch revealing Ralph’s abandonment to civilization, Ralph’s transformation in hair coincides with the growth of savagery within him. In the beginning of the novel, Ralph is a well-kept boy. He is described as, “The boy with fair hair” (7). However, as the novel progresses and Ralph starts to face internal and external conflicts on the island the reader sees the meaning behind his hair. When the rules on the island are put aside, the other boys start to hunt and use their power for killing. In the midst of the

“Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results not attributes” (Peter Drucker). In the novel Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding, a decent sized group of boys are marooned on an island. This island starts as somewhat of an oasis, containing everything that the boys need to survive and thrive, except for one thing: a leader. One of the older boys would need to step up, and it comes down to Ralph, a boy around the age of twelve who finds the conch, which is used as a beacon for civilization, and Jack, a boy of Ralph’s age, but is also the leader of a group of choir boys, who advocate for Jack from the beginning. The decision comes down to a vote, and Ralph is chosen with all the

Ralph, who is the protagonist and plays the role as chief over the boys, represents order and leadership. Throughout the novel, Ralph attempts to keep the boys civil with each other by getting them to work with one another. From building a fire and shelter tents to making efficient rules to obey, Ralph gets the boys to all get along for a while, until they start to go stir crazy and break rules due to being deserted on an island for a long period of time. “We ought to have more rules” (Golding). As Ralph says this, he is referring back to when the boys just previously let the fire go out because of their carelessness as well as the fact that the boys were breaking rules and starting to act like savages. The character of Ralph plays an important role within the time period of all of the boys crash landing on the island to the point where Jack