Savagery In Lord Of The Flies Quote Analysis

In a civilized society, certain aspects of humanity must be adhered to. Qualities such as empathy, respect, compassion, and kindness are key to maintaining order. What happens in society when these qualities disintegrate, and cease to exist altogether? William Golding’s “lord of the Flies” accurately demonstrates that in the absence of humanity, civilized society quickly evolves into one of savagery. Golding shows this evolution through the steady decay of the boy’s morals, values, and laws. The evolution of savagery begins with the individual.

Golding exhibits the gradual deterioration of Jack’s morals to reveal a character of savagery. The downfall of Jack’s morals begins when he loses the vote for chief His lack of respect and empathy is

seen in his relationship with the other boys. It is clear in the meetings, that Jack does not respect the other boy’s opinions, and rebels order. Jack wants to take control of the meetings with his concept of killing. He repeatedly brings brings down everybody's ideas, especially Piggy’s, which results in chaos. “Bollocks to the rules! We’re strong-we hunt! If there’s a beast, we’ll hunt it down! We’ll close in and beat and beat and beat! [...] The assembly shredded away.”(Golding 99) Jack bullies the boys to make himself look better in front of the group. His lack of empathy is clear when the littluns invent the concept of the “beastie”. Instead of being calm and reassuring, Jack insults them, saying they are a “useless lot of cry babies”. (Golding 88) He goes on, later in the meeting, to call Piggy a “fat slug”, (Golding 98) and tells Ralph to “shut up! Who are you anyway? Sitting there telling people what to do.” (Golding 98)
Jack’s morals become further corrupted because of his selfishness. Jack spends almost all of his time on the island in the jungle, hunting the pig. Jack is not doing this to provide for the group, he is doing it to gain power over Ralph, and establish control over the boys. The group’s survival and rescue are not the first things on his mind, which is evident when Jack lets out the signal fire, and only gives meat to certain members of the group. He means this as “an assertion of power”, (Golding 78) not as an act of survival.
Jack’s need to hunt and kill, leads to him becoming savage-like, and more primitive. This is shown when he paints his face before the hunt. The thought of killing excites him, which leads to his humanity slipping further away. “I cut the pig’s throat, said Jack proudly, yet twitched as he said it, [...] there was lashings of blood, said Jack laughing and shuddering, you should have seen it.” (Golding 73) The twitching and shuddering reveals to the reader that there is still a shred of morality in Jack.
Jack’s morals finally disintegrate and he becomes a savage when he kills the mother pig, and puts her head on a stick. This shows that he is proud, has no remorse for his kill, and that he is willing to commit horrible crimes to invoke fear in the boys. The evolution of savagery progresses with the decay of group values.
Golding shows how an individual’s corrupt morals influence the beliefs and behaviours of the larger group.

Like Jack, the boys no longer value kindness, compassion, or empathy, Instead, they resort to violence and force. This is shown when the boys do their dance and chant “kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!” (Golding 168) This chant is one of violence and savagery. When the boys see Simon crawling out of the jungle, they don’t care if it’s a human or a beast, their first instinct is just to kill. Another example of the boy’s lack of compassion and empathy, is when they participate in tying up Wilfred and allow Jack to beat him for no apparent reason. Jack’s tribe continues to slip further into savagery. They rebel against, and destroy everything that represents kindness, order and civilization. This is evident when Jack, Roger, and Maurice go to Ralph’s camp, taunt Piggy, steal his glasses to make a fire, and beat up the civilized group. Piggy’s death and the breaking of the conch also represent the group’s disintegration of humanity. Piggy says while holding the conch: “Which is better-to be a pack of painted niggers like you are, or be sensible like Ralph is?” (Golding 200) The tribe chooses savagery over order when Roger releases the boulder that kills Piggy, and shatters the conch. The evolution of savagery is complete when the group’s morals and values become the laws in which they abide

by.
The tribe consistently participates in inhumane and savage-like behaviours. Ralph, however, does not partake in this behaviour and is thus targeted by the tribe as an outsider, and a violator of their laws. In an attempt to eliminate Ralph, “the tribe, screaming now like the chief, began to advance,” (Golding 201) throwing spears. When this fails, the tribe uses more violent measures. They try to crush Ralph with a huge boulder, and then light his hideout on fire. When Ralph escapes, the tribe proceeds to hunt him like a pig. Roger even sharpens a stick at both ends like he did with the mother pig. The reader infers that Ralph's fate may be the same as the mother pig’s.