Imagine living for months with a group of immature, smelly, and hormonal 12 year old boys… William Golding’s take on that scenario is probably much different than what you’re imagining in your head right now. In the renowned novel, Lord of the Flies by the brilliant William Golding, the novel follows the development of a group of schoolboys abandoned on an island during an attempt to escape the nightmare casted by World War II. Upon crashing, the charismatic Ralph is elected as leader with Piggy, a level headed intellect, acting as his voice of reason. As the audience witnesses the band of boys fight towards survival, the raw form of each character is unmasked allowing readers to watch their actions and morals revert back to savagery without …show more content…
the standards set by civilization. Golding makes it apparent that the true nightmare inside mankind is far worse than anything a war could inflict. Without being able to hide behind the mask of a civilized society governed by authority figures on the island, it comes to light which characters belong to the different categories of the hierarchy of ethics. With his brash and insensitive personality, it is no question that the first level of the hierarchy of ethics is run by the tyrannical Jack. It is quickly learned early on that all of Jack’s actions are motivated by his lust for power. However, he holds the knowledge that his persona doesn’t possess the trait of being an honorable leader for the people. As a result, he reverts to force and violence to achieve his needs, often with no regards to how consequential his actions may be. During the first meeting, Jack attempts to establish his sense of power by introducing his entitled self to the island as the “chapter chorister and head boy” (Golding 29). Furthermore, when he realized that he would not be voted as the superior of the island he resorted to violence. While the boys’ stay on the island is prolonged, Jack begins to take advantage of the lack of authorities from civilized society on the island. Golding captures this escalation from a destructive, thrill-seeking schoolboy to a killing savage by expressing through the mask how, “He began to dance and his laughter became a bloodthirsty snarling. He capered toward Bill, and the mask was a thing on its own, behind which Jack hid, liberated from shame and self-consciousness.” (Golding 89) Throughout the novel, the only emotion Jack feels is anger… for getting punished. When confronted by Ralph and Jack for letting the fire go out, Jack reacts angrily and it “drove Jack to violence. The bolting look came into his blue eyes. He took a step, and able at last to hit someone, stuck his fist into Piggy’s stomach.” (Golding 100). Jack blames Ralph for any scenario possible because he knows he could never be the leader Ralph is and that sparks a flame in him. The second level of the hierarchy of ethics consists of more static characters like Samneric. These characters undergo little to no development throughout the novel, but are rather a way to identify which way the balance is tilted towards in scenarios between Jack vs. Ralph, savagery vs. civilization, and evil vs. good. Numerous times throughout the novel, Samneric tether their loyalty between two positions on a subject not only for the sake of fitting in, but for fear of their lives. For example, after Simon and Piggy’s deaths, Ralph learns in disappointment that, “Samneric were part of the tribe now. They were guarding the Castle Rock against him. There was no chance of rescuing them and building up an outlaw tribe at the other end of the island. Samneric were savages like the rest.” (Golding 268). It can be concluded that Samneric’s loyalty only lied upon themselves. The most fitting character on the third level of the hierarchy of ethics is Piggy.
Piggy is known for being the most intellectual and reasonable out of the boys. While the other boys are off fooling around and dreaming about their next adventure, Piggy is using reason to plan an organized method of survival on the island where everyone is satisfied. For example, while the other boys were exploring the island, Simon came up with an idea and said, “‘I’ve been thinking,” he said, “about a clock. We could make a sundial. We could put a stick in the sand, and then—’” (Golding 90). Although the boys can rule using any form of government on the island, Piggy attempts to create a civilized and orderly environment by advising Ralph to implement a democratic state. Despite his weak appearance, Piggy has a very strong moral compass and sense of self assurance, meaning, he’s very confident in the moral choices he makes. Since he bases his actions and way of thinking on reason and justice, he has a tendency to believe everyone should follow and share his methods because “rules are rules.” As seen when electing a leader, Piggy believed that because the conch and name system were his ideas, he should have been voted as leader, resulting in “Every hand outside the choir except Piggy’s was raised immediately. Then Piggy, too, raised his hand grudgingly into the air.” (Golding 29). Due to his strong confidence, Piggy is not afraid to act upon his beliefs and what is right, even if it may not be a popular
opinion. The only character on the heroic level of the hierarchy of ethics is Simon. Unlike the other characters, Simon’s actions were all committed out of the purest of intentions, rather than in hopes of receiving something in return. For example, Simon was one of the only characters that made an effort to care and watch over the Littluns. Additionally, he took up tasks to improve the island that no one else was willing to do. Ralph complains to Jack that when it comes to building shelter “They’re hopeless. The older ones aren’t much better. D’you see? All day I’ve been working with Simon. No one else. They’re off bathing, or eating, or playing.” (Golding 69). Sadly, his kind heart was the reason that eventually led to his death. Simon’s soul was so pure that he had no regards for evil or fear, as personified through the character of the Beastly. He even encouraged the others boys to face their fear by traveling up to the mountaintop. By definition, a hero is someone who does extraordinary things. To describe Simon, being a hero would be an understatement. Lord of the Flies has grown to be an important book in mirroring the true colors of mankind. Through analyzing each character's’ flaws and weaknesses, we are able to better understand people today and how their morals relate to the hierarchy of ethics. Hopefully, this will serve for generations to come as a lesson to modern civilization on our true forms behind the layers or “normality” we have been assigned to.
William Golding, the author of the novel The Lord of the Flies, lived through the global conflicts of both world wars. World War II shifted his point of view on humanity, making him realize its inclination toward evilness. His response to the ongoing struggle between faith and denial became Lord of the Flies, in which English schoolboys are left to survive on their own on an uninhabited island after a plane crash. Just like Golding, these boys underwent the trauma of war on a psychological level. Ralph, one of the older boys, stands out as the “chief,” leading the other victims of war in a new world. Without the constraints of government and society, the boys created a culture of their own influenced by their previous background of England.
After being marooned on an unknown, uninhabited island and desperate to survive, the characters in William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies are pushed to the limits of their humanity, and no one is safe from the atrocities from within, not even the seemingly innocent littluns. In an environment where civilization does not exist, the boys of the story attempt to form a society among themselves. Among the group of boys is a young boy who stands out from the rest. Jack Merridew, the leader of the choir boys, strives to take the role of leader of the boys, and he appears to be completely competent. In the beginning, Jack seems to be innocent and civilized. Jack is the cultured leader of the boys’ choir. Although the reader’s first impression of Jack Merridew may be one of an innocent leader eager to be rescued, his true, truculent nature manifests with the development of the novel, and the reader is gripped by Jack’s true schismatic, belligerent, and iconoclastic nature.
The book Lord of the Flies by William Golding is an exhilarating novel that is full of courage, bravery, and manhood. It is a book that constantly displays the clash between two platoons of savage juveniles mostly between Jack and Ralph who are the main characters of the book. The Kids become stranded on an island with no adults for miles. The youngsters bring their past knowledge from the civilized world to the Island and create a set of rules along with assigned jobs like building shelters or gathering more wood for the fire. As time went on and days past some of the kids including Jack started to veer off the rules path and begin doing there own thing. The transformation of Jack from temperately rebellious to exceptionally
A plane abruptly crashes into an abandoned island, risking the passengers in the plane. Luckily, the boys in the plane survive this devastating event. These boys, isolated from the supervision of adults, cooperate for rescue. A particular boy, encouraged that he can lead the boys successfully, instructs the others. Unfortunately, this responsible boy disguises himself with a mask, which brings a major transformation. For this boy, Jack, a major character in William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies, his desire for power is greater than his hope for rescue. By Jack putting on the mask, Golding displays a responsible British boy, who focuses on survival, transform to an irresponsible, aggressive human being who is consumed by violence.
Piggy, who represented clear conscience or brilliance in mankind had no respect or say over much things on the island from the others. Piggy thought it was a bad idea and indeed, it was:
The novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding is about a group of boys that were on a plane crash in the 1940’s in a nuclear War. The plane is shot down and lands on a tropical island. Some boys try to function as a whole group but see obstacles as time goes on. The novel is about civilization and social order. There are three older boys, Ralph, Jack, and Piggy, that have an effect on the group of younger boys. The Main character Ralph, changes throughout the novel because of his role of leadership and responsibility, which shapes him into a more strict but caring character as the group becomes more uncivilized and savage
Piggy's literal function in this novel is to be the intellectual and logical thinker to counteract the emotional thinking of the other boys. From the beginning, Piggy viewed everything logically. He quickly came to the realization that the boys may be on the island for a long time, when he told Ralph "Nobody don't know we're here. Your dad don't know, nobody don't know" (9), contrary to Ralph's assumption that his father, who happened to be a naval officer, would simply come and rescue them. While Ralph became the natural leader based on his charisma, "what intelligence had been shown was traceable to Piggy" (18/19). However, it is unfortunate that this intelligence eventually led Piggy to his demise. Piggy's direct way of analyzing a situation and voicing his opinion tended to make him quite un...
William Golding’s novel ‘The Lord of The flies’ presents us with a group of English boys who are isolated on a desert island, left to try and retain a civilised society. In this novel Golding manages to display the boys slow descent into savagery as democracy on the island diminishes.
Throughout the novel several different characters are introduced to the reader, such as Ralph, Jack, Simon and Piggy. With all these characters presented to the reader, one can get to see into their minds-eye, which allows the reader to analyze their character. In this case one could examine their basic morals and distinguish between the person’s natural instinct to rely on civilization or savagery to solve their problems. The author of the novel, William Golding, had a “first-hand experience of battle line action during World War II” which caused him to realize, “[that] The war alone was not what appalled him, but what he had learnt of the natural - and original- sinfulness of mankind did. It was the evil seen daily as commonplace and repeated by events it was possible to read in any newspaper which, he asserted, were the matter of Lord of the Flies” (Foster, 7-10). This being said by Golding leads one to the central problem in the novel the Lord of the Flies, which can be regarded as the distinction between civility and savagery. This can be seen through the characters that are presented in the novel, and how these boys go from a disciplined lifestyle, to now having to adapt to an unstructured and barbaric one in the jungle.
( Golding, 87) When everyone else was afraid, he just thought that " if there's something wrong, there's someone to put it right". ( Golding 87) This shows that Piggy was levelheaded and he knew that the only thing to fear on the island were themselves. This is like he knew that the cause of breakdown in the society would be from themselves. While piggy and Ralph were able to keep order almost successfully, others would leave because they were in to not having rules and just having fun without actual work and effort being put in to help them along. Ralph says, "Piggy, are you the only one left? No there's Samn'Eric." This is later in the book and it shows how people are able to ignore the rules. Only the moral and honest people stayed with Ralph and Piggy To try and be saved. The rest were bloodthirsty savages and left with Jack to hunt and Kill. Piggy also really respected Ralph. When Ralph was upset with the "accident" that happened with Simon, Piggy knew that even though Ralph was doing wrong things, he would work things out. Piggy helps to show how unnecessary it is to dwell on these matters saying "What good're you doing talking like that". (Golding, 156) Piggy knew no one would listen to himself, so he
Piggy is mentally resilient; he has the ability to think things through with the clear mind even during times of crisis. He is the true voice of reason. “‘I got the conch! Just you listen! The first thing we ought to have made was the shelters down there by the beach…But the first time Ralph says ‘fire’ you goes howling and screaming up this mountain. Like a pack of kids!’” (Golding 45). Piggy has the capability to let his voice of reason run unbridled because he tends to think before he leaps. Because of this, he is able to vocalize his morals proudly and never stray from his own beliefs.
Good leadership qualities are based on intelligence and patience. Piggy is enormously significant to the evolution of Lord of the Flies. Piggy has a poor eyesight, weight problems and asthma. Piggy is one of the best leaders on the island because he is the most sensible and cautious amongst the boys on the island, and he demonstrates his sagacity and cautious attitude many times in the book. Piggy’s existence on the island is a continuous reminder of the necessity for order and knowledge in society.
Lord of the Flies is a novel written by William Golding in 1954 about a group of young British boys who have been stranded alone together on an island with no adults. During the novel the diverse group of boys struggle to create structure within a society that they constructed by themselves. Golding uses many unique literary devices including characterization, imagery, symbolism and many more. The three main characters, Ralph, Piggy, and Jack are each representative of the three main literary devices, ethos, logos, and pathos. Beyond the characterization the novel stands out because of Golding’s dramatic use of objective symbolism, throughout the novel he uses symbols like the conch, fire, and Piggy’s glasses to represent how power has evolved and to show how civilized or uncivilized the boys are acting. It is almost inarguable that the entire novel is one big allegory in itself, the way that Golding portrays the development of savagery among the boys is a clear representation of how society was changing during the time the novel was published. Golding is writing during
Much of history’s most renown literature have real-world connections hidden in them, although they may be taxing uncover. William Golding’s classic, Lord of the Flies, is no exception. In this work of art, Golding uses the three main characters, Piggy, Jack, and Ralph, to symbolize various aspects of human nature through their behaviors, actions, and responses.
As much as everyone would like to believe that all people are inherently good, the illusion of innocence that is often presumed throughout childhood makes the revelation of human nature especially hard to bear. Arthur Koestler said, “Nothing is more sad than the death of an illusion”, and this one is certainly a very hard reality to cope with. In the novel Lord of the Flies, the author William Golding tells the story of a group of British schoolboys who crash land on an uninhabited island in the midst of a world war, and how they regress from civilization to savagery. By conveying Ralph’s reactions to the deaths of Simon and Piggy, providing detailed, symbolic imagery of the cliffs and the lagoon, and showing Ralph’s despair at his new understanding