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William Golding 's Lord Of The Flies

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William Shakespeare states, in one of his famous plays, Hamlet, that “We know what we are, but not what we maybe,” (4.5. ). The author suggests the idea of the human’s true self, hiding behind one’s mask, which further leads to the question of human identity. The question “Who am I?” becomes one of the most complex topics in literature and philosophy because no one yet finds the answer. This subject inspires different writers such as Phillip K. Dicks, Aldous Huxley, and William Golding to pursue people seek for the unknown. One of the dystopian novels, called Lord of the Flies by William Golding, tells the story of a group of children, on an uninhabited island in the Pacific Ocean during the atomic bomb war. By choosing the character between the ranges of ages 6 and 12, the author displays the idea that men return to their natural creatures without identity as the human nature. Identity allows humans to rise beyond other creatures by giving people the power of creating new identities, and reminding one about human’s state of evolution, as well as constructing one’s consciousness.
First of all, people tend to feel more powerful when they hide their true selves under masks, as like Jack Merridew does not fear other’s disapprovals under his painted mask, which furthers illustrates the connection between power and one’s identity. Jack Merridew, one of the oldest boys, becomes a savage because of his hunger of power. He explains “hunting” as the reason of the mask, however,

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