Lord Of The Flies Instinctual Influence

The Instinctual Influence of the Lord of the Flies

In the midst of political turmoil and social backlash, individuals of the twenty-first century have continued the work of ancient philosophers to question the morality of the omnipresent and instinctive force known as human nature. The tendencies of humans to desire power by executing their own agendas, to prove economic superiority in the form of materialistic items, and to act out of fear from those racially or ethnically diverse from themselves have fueled speculation as to whether the animalistic instincts from centuries before still shape the motives of humans today. In William Golding’s 1954 novel Lord of the Flies, a group of British schoolboys are victims of a plane attack and are left

As demonstrated by the slow deterioration of civility and order while the male adolescents are stripped down to a primitive state of being on the island, the human tendencies of bloodlust, fear, and megalomania regulated previously by societal and parental guidance cause the breakdown of the supposed utopian society, revealing how the absence of civilization exposes the darkness of human nature.

Conscious of the lack of adult presence on the island and in an effort to establish a systematic approach to survival, a juvenile named Ralph finds a cream-colored conch and sounds it to call an assembly. As a symbol of civilization, the power of the conch to

When Simon runs into a feast hosted by Jack’s savage tribe, he is mistaken as the beast and beaten brutally until death. Golding reveals how fear collapses logic as the primitive survival instinct causes the boys not to recognize Simon as human. This drives them to act out of bloodlust in the hopes of gaining security and control, as reflected in Golding’s explanation of Piggy and Ralph’s involvement in the murder: “Piggy and Ralph, under the threat of the sky, found themselves eager to take a place in this demented but partly secure society. They were glad to touch the brown backs of the fence that hemmed in the terror and made it governable” (Golding 152). While the boys fear an external threat that would challenge the stability of their society, the decline of social order occurs due to the internal flaws of humanity. The victimization of Simon is foreshadowed by the words of a sow head, mounted by Jack’s hunters to serve as a gift to the beast. As a symbol of the apparent savagery of the tribe, the Lord of the Flies shares with Simon that he is the beast devastating civility on the island, the text reading, “‘Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill!’ said the head… ‘You knew, didn’t you? I’m part of you? Close, close, close! I’m the reason why it’s no