The Lord Of The Flies: Savagery Character Analysis

As man ascendes from the stone age, Man renounces savagery. Throughout the book, Lord of the Flies, Rocks symbolize qualities of savagery: selfishness, the ease, and that the strong survive. Unlike Ralph, the savages concern themselves with one entity, their enjoyment. When picking a base Ralph picks the beach areas due to its close proximity to resources, verse Jack, who wants to designate castle rock the base as “it would make a wizard fort” even though there is “no fresh water” (Golding 108). Ralph stays at the beach as it lessens the workload and emotional stress, especially for the littluns, versus Jack, who would move the base to Castle Rock just because it would be grandiose; making life harder on everyone; Jack’s selfish decision

gives rocks the selfish aspect of savagery. Being a savage is easy, you have a simple schedule: hunt eat sleep. Jacks base, Castle rock, requires no work, unlike Ralph’s base which will “never get done” due to its complexity and building it takes time and effort, much like society (Golding 50). Savagery takes no effort, as Castle rock was equipped as a base when they arrived, in addition, Castle Rock, which is just rocks, represents the Savages simple life: hunt, eat, sleep. Compared to, Ralph’s shelter’s which require work, thought, and collaboration; much like a society. In a society of Savages, the strong survive and the weak perish. In Chapter four, “Roger led the way right though the castles,”made out of feeble rocks, “kicking them over” and later Roger throws rocks at the castle (Golding 60). The strong control and exploit the week, like the larger rocks that can pulverize the week rocks, moreover, look at Castle Rock which is steadfast and king of the rocks due to its immensity; much like Jack’s power over the savages. Rocks represent the power of the strong, the simplicity, and selfishness of savagery.