Punishment In William Golding's 'Lord Of The Flies'

Lord of the Flies Essay

What would happen if you acted on your every desire? Punishment? Well, on a deserted island, punishment would be nonexistent. William Golding’s Lord of the Flies displays the results of isolation from human civilization, as the boys on the island begin to follow a trend of violence which intensifies as the duration of the boys’ marooning is prolonged. The physical state of the island the boys are trapped on is representative of the boys’ mental state; as the island deteriorates the boys’ mental stability does as well, and they begin to descend into a state of savagery and insanity. According to Golding’s psychological allegory, the Id is the dominant facet of the human psyche, as the island, which is symbolic of the

Jack recklessly sets fire to the island in order to draw out Ralph, the equivalent of the ego: “[n]ow the fire was nearer… The fools! The fools! The fire must be almost at the fruit trees--what would they eat tomorrow?”(198). Jack’s shortsightedness is highlighted in his burning of the island, as the best food source of the island is nearly eliminated. The destruction of the “fruit trees” implies that Jack is only able to satisfy short-term cravings, and not able to create long-term welfare; similarly, the Id portion of one’s mind is only able to assuage primordial desires rather than adhere to sophisticated social structures. Furthermore, Jack lacks the self-awareness to know that he would never be able to survive without

Whereas in a healthy mind the Id, Ego, and Superego are interconnected, on the island the three become segregated, with the Id trying to remove the other two from the mind. After the plane crashes on the island, a “scar” is created and soon after the children begin removing their clothes: “[s]ome were naked and carrying their clothes; others half-naked…”(18). The injury to the island caused by the plane crash is followed by the boys “removing” their clothing, directly correlating to the boys' civility being eliminated. The link between the civility of the boys and the condition of the island substantiates the claim that the island is the book’s representation of the boys’ mental soundness. Towards the end of the story, the island is engulfed in flames, and British naval officer finds the boys on the smoldering island. Percival, a little boy attempts to speak with the officer but fails: “One of them came close to the officer and looked up. ‘I'm, I'm--’ But there was no more to come. Percival Wemys Madison sought in his head for an incantation that had faded clean away”( (-- removed HTML --) ). The boy who had once remembered his full name, address, and telephone number, now has no memory of any of those things; similarly, the island is nearly destroyed, portraying the “fading ”of the boys’ minds, resulting in only the Id being left (Jack being the only boy left with any