Adversity In Lord Of The Flies

1282 Words3 Pages

Adversity is something that impacts everyone no matter of age, gender or circumstance. Literature often represents adversity as a way of creating an understanding in the reader for things that will impact them beyond the words of the page. In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies the presence of the beast created from fear, the lack of adult influence on the island and the destruction of the conch and glasses are used to teach the reader about the importance of acting in a moral and ethical way.

One of the main conflicts in the novel the lord of the flies is the “beast”, a horrific creature that all the boys on the island fear. Although this creature takes such a huge place in the destruction of the boys, it is nothing but a product of the …show more content…

Simply, the beast represents two things: darkness and the savagery that potentially exists in all of us, which is shown more in the boys when this “beast” comes about. As the boys grow more savage, their beliefs in the beast grow stronger. Also, it represents the boy's fears. The existence of this creature is driven by their imagination and is fueled by their fears. Even though the boys are all afraid of this beast, only Simon and Piggy realizes that this beast exists only in their mind. In this quote, Piggy states that the beast is just fear of the unknown: "I know there isn't no beast—not with claws and all that, I mean—but I know there isn't no fear, either" (99) . Simon, on the other hand, says that the beast is "only us" (195). But as soon as the boys see a dead parachutist who landed on the mountains, they feel sure that they now have proof that this creature exists which drives their imaginations and thoughts even more wild, even though the dead body proves no threat towards the boys. The fear of the beast and desire to kill it shows how almost all of the boys humanity has been lost during the time on the island. In addition, Golding uses the boy's’ behaviour to show …show more content…

Due to no adults or rules, the island is left in destruction and chaos. Although there isn't and adult guidance, there are a few boys who try to provide this care; piggy and ralph. For example, at the beginning of the novel, as soon as ralph realized their was no adults on the island, he started to act in a responsible way by setting up an organized government to establish rules and structure on the island, similar to how an adult would handle the situation. In addition to that, the following conversation between Piggy and Ralph shows their desire to have adult guidance: "Grownups know things," said Piggy. "They ain't afraid of the dark. They'd meet and have tea and discuss. Then things 'ud be all right---. "They wouldn't set fire to the island. Or lose--""They'd build a ship--" (126). The conversation continues with the boys discussing how much better the island would be if the adults were their, but only piggy and ralph agree with that. Also, Often Piggy will questions what adults would do in the situations and makes his decisions based on that. To Piggy, the "adult-way" is most fit way, so he thinks it is best for the boys to follow this method. This proves that the children are in need of adult guidance and are lacking in experience and knowledge of being stuck on an abandoned island. William Golding proves that the boys need adult guidance to make their decisions

Open Document