Savagery In Lord Of The Flies Research Paper

When left alone, deserted on an island, what would happen to the human psyche? Would we create a new civilization or turn into evil savages? The novel Lord of the Flies depicts this exact scenario. When a group of young, British schoolboys are left abandoned on a tropical island, they begin to turn to vicious savages with disastrous qualites. In these boys, the true evil of human nature is shown. The evil of human nature is shown through the decline of civilization, the rise of savagery and urge to be powerful.

The decline of civilization is shown in the novel is shown in many forms. A good example is when the conch loses its power. A once powerful object soon becomes a useless shell: “‘And you haven’t got the conch! Let him speak!’ Jack’s

Firstly, the a kill the boys make is of a sow, a female pig. This sow was caught off guard as she was nursing her baby piglets. The sow is killed violently: “The spear moved forward inch by inch and the terrified squealing became a high pitched scream. Then Jack found the throat and the hot blood spouted over his hands. The sow collapsed under them and they were heavy and fulfilled upon her.” (page 149). Of all the pigs to hunt, they hunt a mother. Due to the boys slaughtering this sow, her piglets will likely die as well. This savage murder was done for food and meat, but the boys could have lived off of the nuts and fruit they are said to have. Instead, they brutally kill a mother pig. Only a harrowing, savage person would commit a murder such as that. Next, Ralph, a symbol of order and civilization and the last ‘sane’ boy on the island nearly kills. When Jack’s tribe is hunting down Ralph, an armed savage boy almost attacks Ralph in hiding. Ralph responds: “In a panic, Ralph thrust his own stick through the crack and stuck with all his might.” (page 215). Ralph at this point in the novel is the only sensible person on the island. And yet, when his life is threatened, instead of acting rationally, he goes to stab the other boy. Even if he is savage, he is still human. Ralph goes to stab another person, which could have delivered a fatal stab and hypothetically killed him. It did