Order Versus Chaos in Lord of the Flies

“Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart, and the fall through the air of a true, wise friend called Piggy” (Golding 225). In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, he uses the theme of order versus chaos to show that good has the capacity to become evil. It starts with the boys’ beginnings on the island, to the breakdown of their society, to the tragedies that unfold their civilization. The boys are victims of a deteriorating civilization that turns them into ruthless and more animalistic characters without any law, order or control.

The boys’ beginning on the island starts with a very positive and playful atmosphere. To begin, Ralph and Piggy find a conch shell that they think will help call the others to bring them together and keep them safe before they get lost and hurt. Piggy says, “We can use this to call the others. Have a meeting. They’ll come when they hear us” (Golding 12). Once they all gather together in their first group meeting, they start to feel safe and relieved that no one is hurt and they are together as a whole. They will always stay together while they hunt and play. Next, the boys come to a conclusion that they have to build some sort of signal fire to help indicate that they are on the island and get everyone off it so they do not eventually die there. They work together as a group to get it done by some little boys going to get some dead wood. The rest help to build the fire up high to get enough smoke to eventually signal a nearby ship. Jack has the idea to start the fire and uses Piggy’s glasses against the light to spark a flame. As it lights, the boys excitedly run to get more fire wood as the hope of rescue lurks the air around them. No fights happen as they...

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...nd evil in them just like Jack and his hunters have done.

In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, he portrays the theme of innocence to evil to prove that everybody has the potential to release the savagery within them. The boys lose their sense of control from their beginnings on the island, to the breakdown of their society, to the tragedies that unfolded their civilization. A final thought on why it gets as chaotic as it does is that they had no grownups around them to keep order safe and sane, and to protect them. Also every single argument they had never got resolved which makes matters much worse. William Golding uses the murders of all the pigs, Simon and Piggy to show how different the boys have become since they landed on the island. A few words to describe the boys throughout their progression on the island is either savages or barbaric.