The Contrasting Elements of Civilization and Savagery in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies

Modern events, such as the recent chlorine gas usage in Syria, shows that even with civilized culture not too far away, people can still revert to savage, primitive desires for power and authority (Hubbard 1). William Golding portrays these same ideas in his novel, Lord of the Flies, only Golding portrays these natural desires with english schoolchildren stranded on a tropical island paradise. In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, civilization and savagery take contrasting roles and are represented by a number of different symbols including people, places, and objects (Koopmans 70).

William Golding was born on September 19, 1911 in St. Columb Minor in the United Kingdom. His parents were Alec Golding and Mildred Golding. Alec Golding was an educator and had written many textbooks on a variety of different subjects. His mother, Mildred Golding, was a women’s rights activist. Golding grew up fascinated with literature and he became a teacher in 1939 at Bishop Wordsworth School. Golding went on to serve in the Royal Navy in World War II, where he discovered the evil that lives within the heart of man, one of the main topics found in his most successful novel, Lord of the Flies. William Golding died on June 19, 1993 (William Golding).

In Lord of the Flies, many symbols portray the ideas of the contrasting roles of civilization and savagery. In this allegory, William Golding uses Ralph to portray the idea of law and order, and he uses Piggy to portray rational thought and adult-like judgement (Koopmans 75-76). These two roles are very important in the story because by the end of the book, Piggy and Ralph are the only boys that still behave in a civilized manner, and they are the only hope for the boys to return to the c...

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