Deterioration of Civilization in Lord of the Flies

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Deterioration of civilization has been speculated by the human race for centuries. As a result of these prophecies of chaos, William Golding wrote the novel Lord of the Flies in 1954. The story concerns a group of schoolboys that have been beached on an island from the crash of a plane. Without any adult guidance, the children must last and construct a civilization of their own until rescue arrives. Unfortunately, the schoolboys are quickly struck by the corruption of their attempt of an orderly and innocuous civilization. Various atrocious occurrences take place in the novel once the society starts to decline; from bullying, to endeavored murder, to indisputable murder. In my opinion, the deterioration of the boys’ civilization on the island is attributed to the existence of subsequent distrust, the need to survive, and tribal alliances.
Numerous boys in have trust in one another in the initiation of their days on the island; however, this trust swiftly alters to distrust amidst the children. The focal presence of distrust is amid Jack and Ralph, and subsequently, Ralph and Piggy. “I'm not going to play any longer. Not with you.” (Golding, 127) Jack declared this when he was about to leave the group, expressing his distrust. He didn’t want to “play any longer”, “Not with [Ralph]”. This portion of the novel is extremely vital to recognize as it reveals Jack’s recognition of independence and self-trust, along with his desire to part from the group. “I'm scared of [Jack], and that's why I know him. If you're scared of someone you hate him but you can't stop thinking about him. You kid yourself he's all right really, an' then when you see him again; it's like asthma an' you can't breathe.” (Golding, 93) Piggy verbalizes his fear of J...

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... cooperation. The civilization starts to deteriorate as distrust propagates, mainly between Ralph and Jack, the need to survive develops, and tribal alliances finally occur. The novel stresses the worries one may have regarding the fall of a structured society from children’s points of view – the point of view of innocence. Lord of the Flies is a very descriptive and monumental book that has been studied and treasured for decades, since it is an extremely convincing story regarding the breaking of civilization, and will linger as one of the most treasured novels for a myriad of years to come.

Works Cited

Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. The Penguin Group, 1954. Print.
[1] http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/trust
[2] http://adventure.howstuffworks.com/survival/wilderness/wired-for-survival1.htm
[3] http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/civilization

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