Savagery: Lord Of The Flies

Lord of the Flies analysis essay

If you were stranded on a deserted island full of savagely behaved boys, would you be able to maintain order and overcome the savagery or would you too become feral and lose control of your morals?…This question seems to come up often in the book Lord Of The Flies. William Golding’s book Lord of the Flies is an allegorical novella. It is a very symbolic book showing the flaws in today's society, that when exposed to certain environments could often uncover the evil we all hold within us. The novel is about a group of English boys that are stranded on a deserted island during World War II. While waiting to be rescued they agree to create some sort of society to keep the boys behavior in order. Although this seems

Both exist and can come out at different times when exposed to certain things. The boys were nurtured to follow rules when given. However, there are other impulses in their nature. This references to “nature versus nurture.” This conflict is shown and comes up in multiple ways such as order versus chaos, reason versus impulse, and the main one I will be focusing on, civilization versus savagery. Throughout the novel, the author ties in the instinctual civilized type of manner resembling the good and the savagery that later comes out of the boys with evil. All during the novel there are endless symbols the author uses to represent civilization and savagery. An example that is constantly referred to throughout the book is the fact that Piggy represents civilization while Jack represents savagery. Here is a powerful quote that relates to the topic of savagery versus civilization; “We can't have everybody talking at once. “We'll have to have 'Hands up' like at school. He held the conch before his face and glanced round the mouth. "Then I'll give him the conch." "Conch?" "That's what this shell's called. I'll give the conch to the next person to speak. " (33). In this part of the book Ralph manages to establish the conch as a symbol for civilization and order. He uses the conch as a icon in their meetings for taking turns while speaking. The domination the conch holds over the boy's calls them to assemble and remain civilized during

Similar to Adam and Eve the beast has an impact on the boys. Though the force isn’t external like it is in the bible, it makes the boys turn a type of evil that is internal and comes from within, the beast just helped uncover that evil. Slowly the boys fall deeper and deeper into a state of violence and savagery. The evil impulses take over and they almost act as if they were completely different people. Progressing into the story the boys now call the satanic type being “lord of the flies” and “the beast” which in religious beliefs refer to satan. Soon the boys become so tied up with the concept of the beast and what it is capable of that they start to develop alternative religious ideas about it and what it wants. In the bible it is really shown that the evil is external and that everything was perfect before the incident but in the novel it's almost is if the island was eden already fallen, and the evil in these boys are just waiting to be discovered or uncovered by something. On another note Simon in the novel is a representation of Jesus Christ. Simon is calm, intensively spiritual, non violent, a little delusional and in harmony the natural world. Very similar to the stories in the bible, Simon is an outsider much like Jesus and when Simon is killed it’s much like Jesus dying on the cross. The author uses characters throughout the book to resemble certain realistic things we are