Selfishness In Lord Of The Flies

In society, people want to have an orderly civilization, however it can easily be ruined by the selfishness of an individual who turns on a group for personal benefit. In William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies, a group of boys get stranded on an island, and must work together in order to survive. However, throughout the book the characters clash back and forth as their civilization deteriorates, demonstrating the harsh effects of human nature. Golding suggests that a fight for power can be rendered because selfishness is human nature, making it nearly impossible to maintain an orderly civilization.

It is human nature to be selfish, rendering a fight for power, because people innately want to benefit themselves more than others. This is

seen through Jack’s quest to gain power over Ralph. At the beginning, however, Ralph gets chosen as leader, and the boys react, “The circle of boys broke into applause. Even the choir applauded; and the freckles on Jack’s face disappeared under a blush of mortification” (23).

The word “blush” is associated with embarrassment and humiliation. Originally, Jack is in charge of the choir, however, since even the choir votes against him, he is embarrassed and loses some of the pride he had while leading them. However, he desperately wants to regain this pride, making him fight for power over Ralph. Because of the embarrassment that Jack had when he was not chosen, it is clear that he is unwilling to let others get power over him, demonstrating the selfishness he possesses, and causing tension throughout the book between him and Ralph. In addition, near the ending, Jack is able to gain this power as explicitly described, “Power lay in the brown swell of his forearms; authority sat on his shoulder and chattered in his ear like an ape” (150). The use of personification demonstrates the enormity of the power and authority that he has. Additionally, the word

“ape” is associated with dehumanization and evilness. This can be related to the beast in the book, as the boys believe that there is a beast on the island, which divides them due to the fear they had because they were unsure how to cope with it due to the enormity of the power it has over the boys, showing how the fight for power is evil, as is the beast. As a result of this, in reality, the beast is within the boys. This demonstrates how Jack was evil when he fought for the power and authority that he eventually obtained, as he does it to benefit himself, showing how humans have an innately selfish nature.
Selfishness makes maintaining an orderly civilization an impossibility because it causes a group to split and develop hatred for one another.

Golding uses the shell as a symbol for order and civilization in the book. At the beginning, the shell brings the boys together with a blow, as described, “Immediately the thing sounded. A deep, harsh note boomed under the palms, spread through the intricacies of the forest, and echoed back from the pink granite of the mountain” (17). The word “echoed” is associated with a consistent, reverberating sound. The way that the shell brings the boys together shows how a consistent, orderly civilization is created between the boys. At the beginning, the boys did not split up because all of them respected Ralph’s position of leadership, as the shell gave him his undeniable power. This is because people might not be selfish because giving everyone equality in a civilization is fair. Throughout the book, the orderliness of their civilization depends on the shell. However, throughout the book, the significance of the shell rapidly deteriorates, as described, “Exposure to the air had bleached the yellow and pink to near-white, and transparency” (78). The word “bleached” can be associated with loss of color, showing how the shell loses its usefulness, as the boys begin to disregard the power that it once had. In the book, the shell starts to deteriorate when Jack starts fighting for power caused by his selfish nature, which leads to a divide

between the group and their civilization as mentioned before. When the group is split, all hope of an orderly civilization is lost. It is clear that when a selfish person fights in order to seize power, it is impossible to maintain civilization to stay humane.
Golding argues that there are harsh effects of human nature, because it means people will be selfish, making an orderly civilization impossible to maintain. He views humanity in a negative way, because his book portrays how a normal civilization in the world usually runs, and a lot of them get overthrown due to selfishness. It can be learned through his writing that being too trusting to others can lead to harsh consequences, as people often like to turn against others in order to benefit themselves.