Savagery In Lord Of The Flies

The novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding tells the story of a group of young boys who are stranded on an island after a plane crash. Without any adults to guide them, the children have to look after themselves. The group is led by a boy named Ralph, who gathers them all by blowing on a conch shell. Ralph is elected by the others instead of the choir leader, Jack Merridew. Ralph gives Jack control of the choir, who decides that they will be hunters. As the novel progresses, order begins to deteriorate among the group of boys, leading to them showing their true characters. The theme of the novel is that every human being has a basic instinct of savagery as depicted by the actions of Jack and Ralph.
Throughout the novel, the main boy who

displays a basic instinct of savagery is Jack Merridew. This becomes evident when Jack becomes obsessed with hunting. After deciding that his choir will be hunters, hunting becomes Jack’s main priority. His obsession becomes so strong that when the goal of being rescued is mentioned to him, he “[has] to think for a moment before he [can] remember what rescue [is]” (Golding 73). At this point for Jack, the idea of rescue is slipping toward the back of his mind, quickly being replaced by the idea of hunting. Jack’s display of savagery is furthered when he lets the fire, the signal for boats passing by the island, extinguish in favor of hunting. Because of this, a boat passes by the island, but it is not aware of the fact that the children are on the island. Jack is “vaguely irritated by this irrelevance but too happy to let it worry him” (Golding 97). The pig that Jack and his band of hunters killed means more to him than the chance of rescue. As the novel progresses, Jack develops issues with Ralph. He states that Ralph is “not a hunter… [and] he just gives orders and expects people to obey for nothing” (Golding 182). Jack goes off to form his own tribe and says that they “hunt and feast and have fun” (Golding 201). Jack does not dream of going home anymore. Hunting is the only thing he cares about. The boys in Ralph’s tribe begin defect to Jack’s, are forced to join Jack’s, or are killed, highlighting the savagery of Jack. By the end of the story, the only boy that remains in Ralph’s tribe is Ralph himself. Jack organizes a manhunt for Ralph, leading to a thicket being set ablaze to draw him out. Had it not been for a naval officer that Ralph encounters on the shore, Ralph would have been killed by the savage Jack.
Despite the savage acts that Jack displays in order to try to kill Ralph, Ralph is not innocent of savagery.

Ralph displays his inner savagery when he goes to join a hunting session for the island beast with the group. During the hunt, they encounter a boar. Ralph throws his spear and hits the boar. The boar runs away, but Ralph still feels proud of himself. He starts to feel “that hunting was good after all” (Golding 162), seeing that Jack may have been right. After the boar encounter, one of the boys, Robert, playfully snarls, mocking the boar. The other boys get caught up in the moment, and they make a ring and move in towards Robert. They grab him by the arms and legs, and Ralph “[grabs] Eric’s spear and jab[s] at Robert with it” (Golding 164). Not even Ralph can resist his instincts. The boys all try to get in close to get Robert. Ralph also tries “to get near, to get a handful of that brown, vulnerable flesh. The desire to squeeze and hurt [is] over-mastering” (Golding 164). Ralph’s desire to get to Robert illustrates his savagery. After Jack leaves and forms his own tribe, Ralph and Piggy, the first boy Ralph meets on the island, go to check out his tribe. After Ralph argues with Jack, Ralph and Piggy end up joining the dance of Jack’s tribe. They “[find] themselves eager to take a place in this demented but partly secure society” (Golding 218). Although Ralph tries to encourage order among the boys, deep down he enjoys the way Jack’s tribe is run. Simon, one of the choir boys, shows up and tries to tell everybody the truth of the beast. The boys circle around him, accusing him of being the island beast. Simon breaks out of the circle, but he falls over a steep edge. The boys follow him. Ralph’s instinct of savagery is exhibited here as he follows suit after Simon. After Simon’s fall, “the crowd surge[s] after [him], pour[s] down the rock, [leaps] onto [Simon], scream[s], [strikes], [bites], [tears]” (Golding 219). Ralph does not stop to think about what

they are doing to Simon as his inner savage has temporarily taken over.
Ralph and Jack both display instincts of savagery throughout the novel. Their love of hunting shows this as does their involvement in the incidents with Robert and Simon. Golding uses these scenes as a tool to enforce the theme that deep down, everybody has an instinct of savagery.