Isolation In Lord Of The Flies

lost even from walking down the street. She elaborates her nighttimes, “I would wake up in the middle of the night, my heart pounding,” she described. “I’m not just saying that so people think I was suffering. There’s a real anxiety” [Schaeffer]. Isolation warps the mind in ways that allow outside forces in for manipulation. Michael Bond, a writer for BBC Future, describes actions of the 1950’s and 1960’s, when prisoners of war in Korea were brainwashed using solitary confinement as well. Symptoms such as anxiety, disorientation, amnesia, self-mutilation all come from damage to the hippocampus, all from exposing the brain to long periods of isolation. The madness that stems from this easily-infesting devastation, especially demonstrated in

Researchers have been studying for years why, however, is there such a difference between a the brain's “survival mode” and its regular-functions. Survival mode does not specifically pertain to being completely alone, however, as in Lord of the Flies. The boys are stranded together on an island, but instead of banning together to stay alive they split up and turn against each other. This irrational idea is not only seen throughout fiction novels but in the real world as well. Recently, in 2013, a Carnival cruise ship Triumph was stranded at sea with nearly 4,200 passengers, a small ration of food, and only 5 usable toilets. “People started acting like animals,” Michael Minkoff, writer for Political Outcast examines. “Apparently, raw sewage is running down the walls. The smell is so bad that people are vomiting everywhere. Onion and cucumber sandwiches were all the passengers got yesterday, and that was if they were willing to wait in line for hours. And the boat is listing at 4.5 degrees” [Minkoff] While the boat was only stranded for a few days, civilization on the ship sped downhill- fast. Michael Minkoff reminds us that once the brain is in survival mode, or a threat of death is detected, the body can go haywire: “Just like we see on the Carnival ship, and in countless other instances, it doesn’t take much to uncover the human heart of darkness. God help us” [Minkoff]. Researchers have been

Like the survivors of the Andes plane crash, the need for food often becomes so great a human may be willing to revert back to their caveman-like roots. The boys on the island in Golding’s novel attempt to hunt and gather at first the civilized way, which then quickly progresses into a violent and raging competition for nourriture. As George R.R. Martin tells in his book A Storm of Swords: Book Three of A Song of Ice and Fire, “There is a savage beast in every man, and when you hand that man a sword or spear and send him forth to war, the beast stirs” [Martin]. This proves that the fight for food is more important than any brotherhood or morals man has. In 1945, the University of Minnesota conducted the Minnesota Starvation Project, where volunteers were starved over a period of 12 weeks, where they were projected to lose over 25% of their body weight. Findings included reported cases of hysteria, depression, hypochondriasis, increased irritability, lack of concentration, and even self mutilation. One subject even used an axe to cut off three of his fingers in order to cope with the nutrient deprivation [Kaplan, Rucklidge]. Brain functions are dangerously compromised when the brain loses energy and nutrients. Even in minor cases, such as when one feels “hangry,” irritability and shortness do not follow far behind. The brain is by far the most important part of the human body, and it is so delicate