Savagery In Lord Of The Flies

Without laws humans could commit countless of unforgivable crimes. The hierarchy of courts trying to decide the vile, vigorous mistakes humans has created. What would happen if there were no laws? The novel “The Lord of the Flies” by William Golding published in 1945, after World War II. Through the novel, it expresses Golding’s views on human nature and shows how evil and barbaric humans are. It starts off with a group of English boys who has been washed up on an isolated island. At first they celebrate their freedom without adults and created their own rules. However, as time passes on the island their order collapse and it becomes a world of terror and fear. “The Lord of the Flies” conveys civilisation through Ralph and savagery through

Jack and a combination of the two aspects through Simon. He is there to show how savagery will always defeat civilisation.

Ralph is the protagonist in the novel, and because of his good looks, he was chosen to be leader.

Ralph represents leadership and civilization. Unlike the other kids, Ralph is more mature and takes surviving seriously. “There aren’t any grownups. We shall have to look after ourselves. And another thing, we can’t have everybody talking at once. We’ll have to have ’hands up’ like at school.” (Pg. 42) this shows that Ralph creates rules in order to maintain order and civilization. He is a natural leader, who puts a hefty-weight of pressure on how he’s going to get people to survive. He restricts himself not to goof around with the others, very insistent to keep the signal fire in order to be saved, and prohibit the boys from peeing in places where they use as a food resource. “They were dirty… and… did not mind” (pg. 110) because of the amount of filthiness that was presented by the boys, Ralph became immune to it and finds it very normal. Almost at the end of the novel, tragedy struck and Piggy was killed leaving Ralph with “no one left” (pg. 188) because Jack’s animalistic tribe murdered the only friend Ralph had left; he would have had Sam n’ Eric but they were abducted too. Alone and afraid, Ralph ran for his life when Jack’s tribe hunted for him, but with a glimmer of hope a naval officer came to his

rescue.

Jack, the protagonist in “The Lord of the Flies" explicitly shows evil and the dark side of human nature. He is a leader who uses violence and fear as an approach to gain power. He was the leader of the choir and so he thinks that he should also be a leader for the boys who have landed on the island. "I ought to be chief... I can sing C sharp" (Pg. 22) this identifies that he thinks he is the best and so he should be chief. "After all, we're not savages. We're English; and the English are best at everything. So we've got to do the right things."(Pg. 42) Jack Merridew was taught into believing that Britain is a superior country, which ironically he initially became the leader of a tribe full of savages. "I'll split my choir, my hunters that is into groups."(Pg. 43 – 44). Jack splitting the group gives him many advantages. He would have more power towards the choir, so that he will be in power. As the novel progresses, it starts to show the inner side of Jack. With a painted face, ripped clothes and a crafted spear, his savage personality became more evident. Jack and Roger killed both Simon and Piggy; they also kidnapped and tortured San n’ Eric because they were loyal to Ralph. At the end of the story he plans to kill Ralph and makes a big fire to use to kill Ralph, however, Ralph get saved by a naval officer who are also fighting in their own war.

Simon represents a godlike figure, he is there to show how savagery will always defeat civilisation.

In the novel " The Lord of the Flies" Simon he is very different from the others due to the fact that he faints countless of times." He hid his face." ( Pg 146) shows that he is a shy person, however on the island he displays concern for the boys. He helped the littlun pick fruits from tree branches that were too high for them, he also helps retrieve piggy's glasses when Jack took them off piggy. As he talked to the pig's head ( the lord of the flies) while hallucinating, " What are you doing out here alone, aren't you afraid of me." (Pg 143) However rather than saying yes, he shook his head. "May be there is a beast... May be its only us" (Pg 89) Simon is also very smart, but because he is shy no one understood him. " You knew, didn't you I'm part of you." this shows that he knows there is no beast on the island rather in themselves. When Simon rushed to tell the others that there were no beast, but a soldier on a parachute, he was mistaken for the beast and was killed by

everyone

Golding based the novel through his perception of the functions of human in society. He suggests that because of the barbaric attitude of humans, it defeats the civilization that they try to build upon, and his views is explained through the characters and the situations they went through. Due to Simon state of mind, he was too late to tell the truth and when it came to reveal his new discovery to the boys, in an instant he was killed. Ralph barely managed to survive the incoming attacks of the savages until a naval officer saved him. Although he was saved, he became a different person from his view on savagery behaviors. Jack being the worst of all, even after they were rescued, he will no longer be the innocent boy he once was due to his false knowledge on the world. I believe that because of the amount of blood that was handled through Jack, he found it norm to be physically attacking the boys too, which is completely taboo. Just because you’re used doing it, it doesn’t mean it becomes an acceptable norm.