How do the aspects of setting create conflict? How does the author William Golding use these aspects to build conflict in such a simple story about young English boys? To precisely exemplify how conflict truly builds within a story. During Golding’s participation in the Second World War as a Solider, Golding had observed how the natural environment surrounding us can create such conflict. Golding’s participation in the Second World War would further prove to be fruitful material for his fiction. In the novel, Lord of the Flies Golding makes use of these aspects to indicate how easily conflict can form in which resulting in the breakdown of society. Throughout Golding’s novel, William conveys that setting has the ability to create intense conflict …show more content…
greater that it can lead us to believe. The setting has many different aspects that Golding has established throughout his novels such as social conditions, geographical location, and meteorological conditions. These types of aspects have attributed to the rising build of conflict throughout Golding’s novel, which led to the collapse of society. Author, William Golding uses his Lord of the Flies novel to demonstrate how the aspects of setting lead towards the creation of conflict. First, Golding has a very good use of social conditions between characters. In the novel Lord of the Flies, Golding demonstrates social conditions using both good and evil throughout each character with their own personal traits and characteristics. Furthermore, Ralph’s social conditions between different characters affect the conflict between himself and others. For example Simon, a pure character that represents goodness and fellowship throughout Golding’s novel. Specifically, Simon is a truthful and positive character as Simon has the most positive outlook in most situations. ‘’Simon sitting between the twins and Piggy wiped his mouth and shoved his piece of meat over the rocks to Piggy, who grabbed it." (Golding, pg. 74) This quote interprets an example of Simon’s wholeheartedness as Golding tries to portray Simon as a Christ- like figure. The conflict that builds off of Simon’s character with Ralph turns out to portray a positive effect on the tribe’s survival. In an analysis of Simon’s connection with Ralph’s character they both have respect and loyalty towards each other as Simon determined the beast was the deceased parachutist and immediately departed in an effort to tell Ralph the truth to protect their tribe with one less issue to deal with. Conflict is generally viewed as negative, having discord, disharmony, and hostility. But actually, not all conflict is bad. Conflict is always difficult, but it leads to growth and change. Simon’s positive impact on survival created constructive conflict which benefits the costs; it generates productive, mutually beneficial, shared decisions. In constructive conflicts, the process becomes as important as the end result. On the other hand, Golding attempts to demonstrate the build of conflict within darker characters such as Jack. Jack is a character that Golding uses to symbolize a cruel political leader, such as Castro, Hussein, and Hitler. Furthermore, the social connection between Jack and Ralph is quite poor. Earlier in Golding’s novel, Jack and Ralph had a positive connection and nothing seemed to change that. ‘’We’ve got to have and obey them. After all, we’re not savages. We’re English, and the English are best at everything.’’ (Golding, pg. 40) This quote interprets that Jack was a positive character, but assuming that because we're ‘’English’’ they will be no problems between characters. Golding portrayed Jack as a bloodthirsty person ready to kill anything in sight which affected the connections with different characters. The conflict that up arises from Jack's actions are his desire as chief because Ralph was considered to be a poor leader and weak. Jack orders a separate tribe from Ralph who emphasizes on shelter construction and rules while Jack wants to hunt and have fun. Their differences collided, but unfortunately, Ralph fails to keep order as chief and Jack's poor decisions and mischief as chief lead to brutal savagery and death, lowering the tribe’s survival chance. Jack is the representer of savagery and evil within humans. Jack lost his ability to remain civilized while helpless on the island. Jack gives in to his inner savagery and transforms becoming dehumanized. Jack is finally a wretched evil person responsible for the death of Simon and Piggy. Second, Golding also has a very good use of the geographical location. In the Lord of the Flies, Golding demonstrates how the natural environment surrounding us can lead to the build of conflict in a novel. Golding could have used a variety of locations for his novel such as the desert, jungle or even the arctic, but Golding determined that an island would best fit the story and build interesting conflict. It’s predicted that Golding used an island to make designated points such as people left without civilization will act in savage ways and perhaps it seems logical to accomplish this setup of characters and plot. When Ralph and the other boys crashed onto the island there was little concern about the dangers between the boys and being on the island, but slowly did they realize that the island was slowly building tense conflict between them. The main conflicts that the island forms are an Island life is like small-town living and everyone knows everyone and everything, Island life can be isolating, and Acquiring resources can be difficult on an island. First, the island is quite a small area, the word usually spreads fast in small communities as there are no secrets. For example, in the novel word spreads easily that a ‘’beast’’ or ‘’monster’’ present on the island affecting their safety. ‘Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood.’’ (Golding, pg. 138) This quote interprets how quickly rumors of this false beast evolved, leading to the creation of Jack’s hunting tribe which had led to many unfortunate events such as Simon and Piggy’s death. This imaginary beast that frightens the boy’s stands for the instinct of savagery that everyone has deep down inside them, Simon was the only one who had the realization and curiosity of a false beast, potentially prevent further conflicts in the novel. Second, island life can be quite isolating. When living on an island space is limited and there is no connection to civilization, its effects can be quite consequential. For example, when Ralph was the only one really remaining from his tribe Ralph was theoretically experiencing social isolation. Social isolation can exacerbate a person’s feeling of low self-worth, shame, loneliness, depression, and other severe mental health concerns and issues. Conflict can follow from these effects as Jack was experiencing mental health issues too leading to his aggressive characteristics as an island can alert anyone into the fight or flight response which may be the resultant of Jack's poor decisions, savagery, and evil. Conflicts that form from isolation are Ralph’s loss of control and confidence as chief and his efforts to bring both tribes together as a group. Third, acquiring resources can be quite difficult. Whilst living on the island the boys weren’t prepared as they had a little survival education. Fire, Water, Food, and Shelter were all complications which required the collaboration of the tribe to succeed. They needed fire which was essential until they decided to use Piggy’s glasses which was successful, but this was a build towards conflict. Piggy’s glasses are a symbol of innovation, technology and most importantly power. When Jack’s tribe stole the glasses, Ralph was left with no hope left in the dust. Whoever had control of the glasses had fire an essential need and power of fire. ‘’This is ‘jus talk….I want my glasses.’’ (Golding, pg. 138) This quote interprets how as Jack stole the glasses which represented power Jack also wanted them to have control of resources and power. This ended in the conflict of smoking out Ralph from hiding and burning the island down. The fact that the glasses can be used to kindle a fire is a positive attribute, however, the same resource can turn into a destructive force if misused. Third, Golding uses meteorological conditions as another aspect of setting.
In the lord of the flies, Golding demonstrates how these conditions on the island can build conflict in Golding’s novel. When Ralph was a strong chief at the beginning of the novel, Ralph did not hesitate to begin shelter construction. Usually islands experience storms much worse than most places as there usually hit first and with a stronger force, most storms form over water close to the islands where it can be quite severe. Ralph takes notice of these potential conditions and organizes construction underway to protect his tribe for what lies ahead. ‘’You remember the meeting? How everyone was going to work hard until the shelters were finished?’’ (Golding, pg. 50) This quote interprets how very early as Ralph was chief that the shelters had to be completed in advanced. This built conflict in the novel because Jack had disagreed with Ralph’s plan of shelter construction and how hunting and death of the beast were the top priority of their tribe. This debate between Ralph and Jack built towards the separation of their tribes and doing what each chief thought was best for their people. ‘’were masked in black and green.'' (Golding, pg. 160) This quote interprets how Jack wanted to only hunt preparing face painting as the shelter and protection from the elements was not important as it caused the conflict of Jack and Ralph’s separation and the start of a battle between the boys. Golding takes note of this and understands how the simple weather can play out in a novel's
conflict. It has been shown, therefore, that Golding’s Lord of the Flies demonstrates how different aspects of setting will always have an effect on the build in conflict, and probably will always do so. The aspects of social conditions, geographical location, and meteorological conditions have all attributed to the rising build of conflict within the novel leading the collapse of society. Each aspect has led to a conflict leading to one major conflict of Ralph and Jacks differences. The novel Golding has written demonstrates how the boar’s head surrounded by the flies represents the breakdown of society which has been caused by the conflicts that occur coming from the different aspects of setting and events that follow. Therefore, the setting can create conflict and effects everyone changing into savagery despite the fact that the characters have been raised in a civilized way.
William Golding, the author of the novel The Lord of the Flies, lived through the global conflicts of both world wars. World War II shifted his point of view on humanity, making him realize its inclination toward evilness. His response to the ongoing struggle between faith and denial became Lord of the Flies, in which English schoolboys are left to survive on their own on an uninhabited island after a plane crash. Just like Golding, these boys underwent the trauma of war on a psychological level. Ralph, one of the older boys, stands out as the “chief,” leading the other victims of war in a new world. Without the constraints of government and society, the boys created a culture of their own influenced by their previous background of England.
Ralph, the first character introduced to the audience, is probably the most likable character in the entire story. Although he does not ponder such deeply like Piggy, is not as spiritual like Simon, or as energetic as Jack, there is something in him that attracts the audience. Ralph serves as the protagonist of the story. He is described as being a playful, innocent child in the beginning, but towards the end he matures significantly. In the first chapter where he takes his clothes off and goes swimming like any child would do, he seems to be Adam in the Garden of Eden, a child left to play with the nature.
The Lord of the Flies by William Golding is a peculiar story about boys stranded on an island, and the plot and characters relate to many prevailing events and problems. A specific problem that is currently occurring is the mutual hatred and enmity between North Korea and South Korea. This is a current event, but the North and South’s hostility has been ongoing since 1945, when Korea was split into North and South, Communist and Capitalist. When the 38th parallel(Border between North and South Korea) was created, Kim Il-Sung ruled the North, and Syngman Rhee ruled the South. As of now, a power hungry dictator, Kim Jong-un rules the north, and an optimistic president who wants to see change was recently elected in the South, named Moon Jae-in. In Golding’s book, Ralph is a character who aimed to keep everyone alive and to stay together. Jack on the other hand, wanted to have fun and hunt, and although he also wanted to be rescued, he made no effort to help. In this sense, North Korea is a clear representation of the character Jack and his quest for power, and opposingly, South Korea is a representation of Ralph and his strive for order, democracy, and civilization.
William Golding’s novel ‘The Lord of The flies’ presents us with a group of English boys who are isolated on a desert island, left to try and retain a civilised society. In this novel Golding manages to display the boys slow descent into savagery as democracy on the island diminishes.
Golding's motives for choosing the island setting for the novel, Lord of the Flies was to have the characters isolated, where the laws of their governments could not reach them. The boys on the island represented a microcosm of world society. Golding chose children because they have not yet been fully conditioned by society to understand right from wrong, and thus are guided by their instinct and what is inherent within them. Golding uses a great deal of symbolism throughout the novel. Different characters provide different symbols. Jack is a symbol of savagery and anarchy. Golding relates the inherent evil with Jack to the evil and cruelty of the larger world, which we all share.
Importance of Leadership Leadership is something that stands out in people. In a group, people tend to look for the strongest person to follow. However, the strongest person may not be the best choice to follow. In Lord of the Flies by William Golding, Ralph and Jack each have leadership qualities. Jack is probably the stronger of the two; however, Ralph is a better leader.
Lord of the Flies is a novel written by William Golding in 1954 about a group of young British boys who have been stranded alone together on an island with no adults. During the novel the diverse group of boys struggle to create structure within a society that they constructed by themselves. Golding uses many unique literary devices including characterization, imagery, symbolism and many more. The three main characters, Ralph, Piggy, and Jack are each representative of the three main literary devices, ethos, logos, and pathos. Beyond the characterization the novel stands out because of Golding’s dramatic use of objective symbolism, throughout the novel he uses symbols like the conch, fire, and Piggy’s glasses to represent how power has evolved and to show how civilized or uncivilized the boys are acting. It is almost inarguable that the entire novel is one big allegory in itself, the way that Golding portrays the development of savagery among the boys is a clear representation of how society was changing during the time the novel was published. Golding is writing during
Much of history’s most renown literature have real-world connections hidden in them, although they may be taxing uncover. William Golding’s classic, Lord of the Flies, is no exception. In this work of art, Golding uses the three main characters, Piggy, Jack, and Ralph, to symbolize various aspects of human nature through their behaviors, actions, and responses.
My Essay is about Ralph and and his Motivation’s and did he contribute to the tragedy in any way. Also about if he prevented any of the deaths and what would I have done differently in his situation. I defend Ralph’s actions as leader, He had tried his best but everyone fell apart. Did Ralph contribute to the tragedies? Ralph had tried his best but he was struggling at handling the problems on the island, He was unaware of the boy’s and what was going on. He had tried to contribute to all of the tragedies but there was too much going on around him it was just hard. What was wrong with Ralph too was that jack ignores everything and try’s to do his own thing the whole time instead of working together with everyone. All Jack wants is his way or his way to him there is no other way. So yes Ralph had try to contribute to the tragedies but Jack and other boys had just did what they wanted to do instead of doing what they should have done. So Ralph had really struggled dealing with everybody. In my opinion Ralph was doing a good job, Yes he kind of gave up for a little b...
Throughout the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding, many different conflicting societies develop. These groups of young English schoolboys have conflicts between them for many different reasons. Some of them are so spread apart in age that their beliefs and actions are very different. Other groups are conflicting because they have different opinions about who the leader of the entire group should be. The groups also argue about what their priorities should be while trapped on the island. These conflicts continue to grow until the very end, when one group finally gains supremacy.
Lord of the Flies is “an attempt to trace the defects of society back to the defects of human nature” (Themes). Many times society will trump human nature, and other times it may be engulfed by it. Freud Sigmund Psychology expresses these thoughts using the terms id, ego, and superego. Freud states that the id is the instinctive and primitive part of a personality, and ego is “that part of the id which has been modified by the direct influence of the external world” (Freud). Sigmund Freud also uses superego to represent the values and morals that are taught through someone else. Golding wrote the novel Lord of the Flies during a time of war. In times of war, people become killers and savages to “protect” the country they are fighting for.
One of the main themes in William Golding's 1954 novel Lord of the Flies is that without civilization, there is no law and order. The expression of Golding's unorthodox and complex views are embodied in the many varied characters in the novel. One of Golding's unorthodox views is that only one aspect of the modern world keeps people from reverting back to savagery and that is society. Golding shows the extreme situations of what could possibly happen in a society composed of people taken from a structured society then put into a structureless society in the blink of an eye. First there is a need for order until the people on the island realize that there are no rules to dictate their lives and take Daveers into their own hands. Golding is also a master of contrasting characterization. This can be seen in the conflicts between the characters of Jack, the savage; Simon, the savior; and Piggy, the one with all the ideas.
People are privileged to live in an advanced stage of development known as civilization. In a civilization, one’s life is bound by rules that are meant to tame its savage natures. A humans possesses better qualities because the laws that we must follow instill order and stability within society. This observation, made by William Golding, dictates itself as one of the most important themes of Lord of the Flies. The novel demonstrates the great need for civilization ion in life because without it, people revert back to animalistic natures.
In chapter 10 Lord of the Flies by William Golding, readers are shocked to see Simon’s death come about in such a grotesque fashion. When Ralph talks to Piggy about the murder to make himself feel better, Piggy refuses to acknowledge his partake in the “accident”. Ralph confronts Piggy, “At last Ralph stopped. He was shivering. “Piggy.” “Uh?” “That was murder.” “ You stop it!” Said Piggy, shrilly. “ What good’er you doing talking like that?” He jumped to his feet and stood over Ralph. “ It was dark. There was that- bloody dance. There was lightning and thunder and rain. We was scared!” “ I wasn't scared,” said Ralph slowly, “ I was- I don't know what I was.” “We was scared!” said Piggy excitedly. “ Anything might have happened. It wasn't- what you said.” He was gesticulating, searching for a formula.
The Lord of the Flies is an ultimately pessimistic novel. In the midst of the cold war and communism scares, this disquieting aura acts as a backdrop to the island. The Lord of the Flies addresses questions like how do dictators come to power, do democracies always work, and what is the natural state and fate of humanity and society, getting at the heart of human nature in a very male-dominated, conflict-driven way. The war, the plane shot down, and the boys' concern that the "Reds" will find them before the British, shows Golding's intention of treating the boys' isolated existence as a microcosm of the adult military world.