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"Corruption vs. Civilization in Lord of the Flies" is a novel that delves into the inner being of a group of young British boys who find themselves stranded on a deserted island. William Golding uses the motifs of the pig dance, the conch, and the masks to convey the theme that man becomes a corrupt and savage being without a strict system of order and civilization. The boys' belief that the lord of the flies, or the symbol of the "beast," is something they can hunt and kill is challenged when they realize it is a spirit that dwells inside a soul and slowly seduces one into complete and utter savagery. Ralph finds himself in a much more complex and compromising battle, one that takes place inside the mind. By dancing and singing to celebrate the brutal murdering of a pig, the boys enter into a society surrounded by sadistic and brutal thoughts. The first time the boys perform this ritual, Golding describes their actions as "relieved and excited...making pig-dying noises and shouting" (81). Clearly, the boys feel a rush of exhilaration and excitement when they escape their civilized manner and become a member of this vicious sacrament. These feelings serve only to propel them deeper into this cult, as one can see in their future "pig dances." Later in the novel, Golding describes Ralph's feelings during the next pig dance, writing that "the desire to squeeze and hurt was overwhelming" (130). Here, it is obvious that even one of the most civilized boys on the island can still be overcome with this "desire." The reader can see that the young boys are slowly becoming more savage and drifting further away from their civilized norms. During one of the last "pig dances" mentioned in the novel, one can see that the experience has become much more atrocious and brutal: "There were no words, and no movements but the tearing of teeth and claws" (175).
Like Jack, the boys no longer value kindness, compassion, or empathy, Instead, they resort to violence and force. This is shown when the boys do their dance and chant “kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!” (Golding 168) This chant is one of violence and savagery. When the boys see Simon crawling out of the jungle, they don’t care if it’s a human or a beast, their first instinct is just to kill. Another example of the boy’s lack of compassion and empathy, is when they participate in tying up Wilfred and allow Jack to beat him for no apparent reason. Jack’s tribe continues to slip further into savagery. They rebel against, and destroy everything that represents kindness, order and civilization. This is evident when Jack, Roger, and Maurice go to Ralph’s camp, taunt Piggy, steal his glasses to make a fire, and beat up the civilized group. Piggy’s death and the breaking of the conch also represent the group’s disintegration of humanity. Piggy says while holding the conch: “Which is better-to be a pack of painted niggers like you are, or be sensible like Ralph is?” (Golding 200) The tribe chooses savagery over order when Roger releases the boulder that kills Piggy, and shatters the conch. The evolution of savagery is complete when the group’s morals and values become the laws in which they abide
When we hear the word “beast,” most of us will immediately think of some enormous hairy creature with razor sharp fangs and massive claws coming to kill and eat us. Although these types of beasts do exist, the boys in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, show that a different, much more sinister beast is present in all of our everyday lives, and, like the boys in the book, most of us don’t even know about it. Throughout the book, the existence and meaning of the beast go through significant changes. In the beginning, the boys believe the beast to be a substantive being. At first no one believes it, but later they begin to believe its existence. Later though, the beast reveals itself as an internal flaw within everyone on the island, and slowly begins to take over the children’s free will. As the belief in the beast goes up, its manifestation as the “typical beast” that we all think of goes down, which is ironic because they are creating the beast in their minds, while also living it out in their actions.
William Golding’s novel ‘The Lord of The Flies’ tells the story of a group of English boys isolated on a desert island, left to attempt to retain civilisation. In the novel, Golding shows one of the boys, Jack, to change significantly. At the beginning of the book, Jack’s character desires power and although he does not immediately get it, he retains the values of civilized behaviour. However, as the story proceeds, his character becomes more savage, leaving behind the values of society. Jack uses fear of the beast to control the other boys and he changes to become the book’s representation of savagery, violence and domination. He is first taken over with an obsession to hunt, which leads to a change in his physical appearance This change of character is significant as he leads the other boys into savagery, representing Golding’s views of there being a bad and unforgiving nature to every human.
This scene described the rabid behavior read as, “...tearing of teeth and claws” (Goulding 153). I felt a wave of terror go through my body as I read that line. Just the image of it in my head, I felt violated. The image of boys ripping their friend to bits and pieces terrifies me. The boys were turned into savages at this point of the novel and the only person who slightly seem to have realization of what just happened was Ralph when he stated, “That was murder” (Goulding 156). I’m sure that Ralph felt guilt and shame of the people the island has morphed him into. If I were Ralph I would feel shame of practically murdering a person who showed me nothing but kindness. Goulding including Ralph’s realization it showed the readers that he wasn't completely lost and he still had a small part of his human self within him. Next, the death of Piggy brought tears to my eyes. Piggy’s dead body was described as, “Head opened and stuff came out and turned red” (Goulding 181). My favorite character had to die in such a painful and terrifying way and I felt great amount of sadness and especially because I related him the most than the other
In the end, they are being rescued, but too much is lost. Their innocence is forever lost along with the lives of Simon, a peaceful boy, and an intelligent boy, Piggy. Throughout the novel, Golding uses symbolism and characterization to show that savagery and evil are a direct effect of fear. Initially, the boys carried on about in a civilized, systematic and fearless manner when first landing on the island. Ralph has just blown the conch and some small children responded to the sound by gathering at the source of the sound.
Momentarily after Piggy was killed, his limbs “twitched” like a “pig’s after it has been killed” (181). Comparing Piggy to an actual pig reveals how the savages are beginning to hunt and kill each other like they are pigs. Additionally, having Piggy’s name be Piggy was a foreshadow to this moment, where there was no difference between him and an actual pig prey. Likewise, the tribe “watched Ralph to see what he would do next” after the twins were tied up (179). Here, Ralph is portrayed almost as a wild animal that the savages are observing and just waiting when to pounce on him. In addition to this, after the conch was smashed, Jack “viciously” hurled his spear at Ralph “with full intention” (181). This implies that Jack is hunting Ralph, like he is the new pig. Ralph is his next prey, now that Piggy, his last prey, is dead. Lastly, through all of his frustration, Ralph accused Jack of being a “beast and a swine,” suggesting that through trying to stop and kill the beast, he has let out his inner darkness and become the beast, yet developed the qualities of a pig at the same time (179).
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
Circumstances which occur in particular are when Ralph mindlessly attacks Robert and foolishly joins into the dance. Having had a taste of meat, the pack of boys decide to hunt once again. As stated previously, things go awry as the group reenacts the hunting of the pig. Robert becomes the mock pig and the once noble Ralph is overcome with the “desire to squeeze and hurt” (Golding, 115). The boy appears eager to harm his fellow friend because it is a quality and want ingrained in him from birth. Subsequently, the celebratory dance turns into a cannibalistic murder. The seemingly innocent dance takes a dark spin as Simon enters the circle, unknowingly becoming the substitute pig. Ralph begins to feel the pull of evil once again, this time “thick, urgent, [and] blind” (Golding 152). The once pure boy has tainted his hands with the cruel ways of humanity and murdered. In brief, Golding has depicted a more accurate picture of mankind and given his audience a glimpse of their barbaric
Golding has a rather pessimistic view of humanity having selfishness, impulsiveness and violence within, shown in his dark yet allegorical novel Lord of the Flies. Throughout the novel, the boys show great self-concern, act rashly, and pummel beasts, boys and bacon. The delicate facade of society is easily toppled by man's true beastly nature.
Numerous times in the book, this was acquainted with the characteristic of savagery. After failing to kill his first pig, and soon experiencing the rush of trying to catch another, the thirst for it began to become exposed. " Rescue? Yes, of course! All the same, I'd like to catch a pig first-" He snatched up his spear and dashed it into the ground. The opaque, mad look came into his eyes again” (Golding 53). Highlighting the mad look in his from this quote, really draws the attention towards the evolving butal nature inside of him. Almost paying no mind to this at the time, Ralph and the other boys let is roll of their shoulders. “‘You wouldn't care to help with the shelters, I suppose?’ ‘We want meat - ’ ‘And we don't get it.’ Now the antagonism was audible. ‘But I shall! Next time! I've got to get a barb on this spear! We wounded a pig and the spear fell out.’” (51) Each time he goes out, the frustration of his neglect rises from others especially Ralph, and his inhumanity
Apparently, there are various boys with flourish personality on the island but it only takes a common trait for them to get together “Social identities researchers have argues that personal and social identities are normally like oil and water—if one is activates, the other is not, and the more one prevails in the individual’s social life, the less prominently the other features” (Whitehouse 676). It does not matter before the boys are good or bad, when the restriction of civilization disappear, it is their determination to maintain the moral before the savageness take advantage of their personality. Nevertheless, the ritual is not the blame for why the boys become vicious, in fact, it connects the boys by their similarity and creates the environment for them to unveil their brutal temptation. In Chapter seven, Ralph and Piggy participation in the dance reflects the need of belonging into a society “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 hemmend in the terror and make it governable.”
The Lord of the Flies by William Golding is tale of a group of young boys who become stranded on a deserted island after their plane crashes. Intertwined in this classic novel are many themes, most that relate to the inherent evil that exists in all human beings and the malicious nature of mankind. In The Lord of the Flies, Golding shows the boys' gradual transformation from being civilized, well-mannered people to savage, ritualistic beasts.
Inherent Evil of Man Exposed in Lord of the Flies & nbsp; The novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding used a group of British boys beached on a deserted island to illustrate the malicious nature of mankind. Lord of the Flies dealt with the changes the boys underwent as they gradually adapted to the freedom of their society. William Golding's basic philosophy that man was inherently evil was expressed in such instances as the death of Simon, the beast within the boys, and the way Ralph was fervently hunted. & nbsp; Through the story, Simon acted as the Christ Figure. The death of Simon symbolized the loss of religious reasoning.
They learn how to fend for themselves and make responsible decisions on their own. While the officer came to rescue them, he said, “I should have thought that a pack of British boys -- you’re all British, right? -- would have been able to put up a better show than that” (Golding 201-202). However, while the officer is joking around with the actions of the boys, Ralph thinks back to a major conflict in the book: Simon’s death. Going back to this scene, the schoolboys let the society influence their fear of “the beast”, which caused them to essentially kill Simon. From an outside view of the scene, it can be described like so: “The beast [Simon] was on its knees in the center, its arms folded over its face. The beast struggled forward, broke the ring, and fell over the steep edge of the rock to the sand by the water. At once the crowd surged after it, poured down the rock, lept onto the beast, screamed, struck, bit, tore. There were no words, and no movements but the tearing of teeth and claws” (Golding 153). For the boys to go from civilized with a leader and guidelines to barbaric with no structure or protocol, is certainly a change for the
... cooperation. The civilization starts to deteriorate as distrust propagates, mainly between Ralph and Jack, the need to survive develops, and tribal alliances finally occur. The novel stresses the worries one may have regarding the fall of a structured society from children’s points of view – the point of view of innocence. Lord of the Flies is a very descriptive and monumental book that has been studied and treasured for decades, since it is an extremely convincing story regarding the breaking of civilization, and will linger as one of the most treasured novels for a myriad of years to come.