The Attempt of Civilization in Lord of the Flies

Lord of the flies - Out-line the civilization the boys attempt to

establish on the island. How and why does this descend into anarchy?

When the boys first crashed on the island, they tried to create a

civilization like the one they had in their homeland, Britain. When

Ralph and Piggy first found the conch, they used it like a town bell,

to call everyone to a meeting, so they would be able to elect a leader

and start an ordered society. This worked very well, as boys all over

the island heard it, and came to Ralph and Piggy. This was the first

step towards an ordered civilization. At the first meeting, there was

an election, and Ralph was elected to be the chief of the tribe.

During this meeting, they also agreed that there would need to be a

signal fire at the top of the mountain, so they could be rescued. They

also planned on building shelters in case as storm like the one that

has drowned them when they first got to the island.

They also made other rules to try and make the island like their

homeland such as hygiene and when someone wanted to talk they had to

use the conch, so that everyone was not talking at once. They made

places to go to the toilet away from the shelters, and they climbed to

the top of the mountain so build a signal fire as it would be easiest

to see by a passing ship when it was lit. In doing all this, they were

starting a small civilisation so they would be able to survive while

they waited for rescue. Their civilization showed cracks from the

start, when they tried to light the signal fire Ralph could not

control all the kids and they made the fire too big, leading to it

sweeping down the mountain and killing the little boy with the

birthmark.

Jack assigned himself to the job of hunter. He had lost face with the

other children when they had not elected him as leader as he had

expected. By making himself hunter he thought he might win back some

face when he got them some of the meat which they had been craving.

This proves to be incorrect as he cannot bring himself to kill the

pig, losing all the respect he still had in the process. This makes

him even more intent on making himself look better and stronger than

Ralph. Eventually this leads to the destruction of all the

civilization they had worked to establish. Jack split the group and