Lord of the flies essay
Savagery vs Civilisation
In the novel, Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding, there is a large proportion of savagery versus civilisation. He uses symbols and characters to look at the decline of civilisation the longer the boys are on the island. Golding suggests that all people are capable of evil. The novel uses experiences from the outside world to represent the circumstances of the boys stranded on the island. He uses the character of Jack and the symbol of the face paint to represent the sliding into savage behaviour. Golding uses Piggy and the conch to symbolise the rules and order.
Everybody has a ‘beast’ inside of them that is buried by society. When removed from society and its restrictions to do evil, few can control their inner beast. Golding shows the effect of anarchy on British school boys and displays the individual changes when the consequences are taken out of cruel decisions. Jack, the main antagonist, is the leader of the choir/hunters and at the start of the novel, he was first perceived as a “creature” made of shadow and dark clothing. Jack does not start off in the best light. The first interaction between Jack, his choir and the other boys begins with Jack shouting at his choir to “Stand still!” despite the heat and the choir wearing robes with clothing underneath. A boy in the choir eventually faints and Jack, instead of helping, ignores and tells the other boys that “He’s always throwing a faint”. Jack later insists that he should be chief but Ralph is chosen making Jack irritated and jealous. Jack starts to become savage when given the opportunity to kill a pig. He fails the first time because he couldn’t do it and announced that “Next time there will be no mercy”. Jack, over the course of the novel becomes increasingly savage. He decides to remove himself from the tribe to create his own so he can change the …show more content…
The biggest symbol in The Lord of the Flies is the pig’s head, referred to as the Lord of the Flies – to which the novel borrows its namesake from. The Lord of the Flies is described as "dim-eyed, grinning faintly, blood blackening between the teeth," and the "obscene thing" is covered with a "black blob of flies" that "tickled under his nostrils". The detailed description of a dark and sinister creature makes the reader aware of the great evil of the Lord of the Flies. When Simon talks to the seemingly lifeless, devil-like object, the source of that wickedness is revealed. Even though the conversation may be a complete illusion, Simon learns that the beast, which has been feared by the other boys is not a physical threat, instead a mental and emotional threat. The pigs head tells him, “Fancy thinking the beast was something you could hunt and kill! … You knew, didn't you? I'm part of you? ... Why things are what they are?” This shows the reader proof of mankind’s essential illness and the evil that manifests itself when removed from rules and the consequences of breaking the rules. The conch represents democracy and civilisation. It is first blown for Ralph to call all the boys to form a civilisation on the island. Golding uses symbols as a way of conveying his ideas about mankind’s essential illness and how we all need rules to keep us
Savagery vs Civilisation
In the novel, Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding, there is a large proportion of savagery versus civilisation. He uses symbols and characters to look at the decline of civilisation the longer the boys are on the island. Golding suggests that all people are capable of evil. The novel uses experiences from the outside world to represent the circumstances of the boys stranded on the island. He uses the character of Jack and the symbol of the face paint to represent the sliding into savage behaviour. Golding uses Piggy and the conch to symbolise the rules and order.
Everybody has a ‘beast’ inside of them that is buried by society. When removed from society and its restrictions to do evil, few can control their inner beast. Golding shows the effect of anarchy on British school boys and displays the individual changes when the consequences are taken out of cruel decisions. Jack, the main antagonist, is the leader of the choir/hunters and at the start of the novel, he was first perceived as a “creature” made of shadow and dark clothing. Jack does not start off in the best light. The first interaction between Jack, his choir and the other boys begins with Jack shouting at his choir to “Stand still!” despite the heat and the choir wearing robes with clothing underneath. A boy in the choir eventually faints and Jack, instead of helping, ignores and tells the other boys that “He’s always throwing a faint”. Jack later insists that he should be chief but Ralph is chosen making Jack irritated and jealous. Jack starts to become savage when given the opportunity to kill a pig. He fails the first time because he couldn’t do it and announced that “Next time there will be no mercy”. Jack, over the course of the novel becomes increasingly savage. He decides to remove himself from the tribe to create his own so he can change the …show more content…
The biggest symbol in The Lord of the Flies is the pig’s head, referred to as the Lord of the Flies – to which the novel borrows its namesake from. The Lord of the Flies is described as "dim-eyed, grinning faintly, blood blackening between the teeth," and the "obscene thing" is covered with a "black blob of flies" that "tickled under his nostrils". The detailed description of a dark and sinister creature makes the reader aware of the great evil of the Lord of the Flies. When Simon talks to the seemingly lifeless, devil-like object, the source of that wickedness is revealed. Even though the conversation may be a complete illusion, Simon learns that the beast, which has been feared by the other boys is not a physical threat, instead a mental and emotional threat. The pigs head tells him, “Fancy thinking the beast was something you could hunt and kill! … You knew, didn't you? I'm part of you? ... Why things are what they are?” This shows the reader proof of mankind’s essential illness and the evil that manifests itself when removed from rules and the consequences of breaking the rules. The conch represents democracy and civilisation. It is first blown for Ralph to call all the boys to form a civilisation on the island. Golding uses symbols as a way of conveying his ideas about mankind’s essential illness and how we all need rules to keep us