Jason Kramer Mr. McCarthy and Miss Foresman Honors English 10 7 February 2024 Lord of the Flies: The Necessity of Social Contracts on Societal Order. Invisible boundaries structure society and keep the community in order. When these invisible restraints are lifted, society is bound to collapse, as demonstrated in Lord of the Flies. William Golding, a World War 2 veteran, has seen at first hand the inherent savagery within humans in times of war where order is dissolved. Due to Golding’s past experiences, he knows personally the result of the social contract being lifted, and the horrid outcomes that come of it. The social contract is extremely fragile, as demonstrated by the conch shell shattered, representing a collapse in societal order. The contract conducts society as seen with the boys …show more content…
Literary critic Ryan Neighbors in his text “Cruelty in Lord of the Flies” discusses how corruption “ seems to be the central point of the story—cruelty is a basic aspect of human nature. The island does not make the boys barbaric. They are naturally that way. The island only provides an environment, away from societal norms and values, for its true nature to manifest itself. That is why the descent into cruelty progresses as it does in the novel. It takes time for the societal values to wear away, leaving behind the boys' true selves, ending with terrible consequences.” Neighbors discusses how the true nature within humans surfaces as societal values disintegrate. As time passes on the island, the corruption within the group becomes more apparent as the kids slowly transition into savages. Golding’s depiction of the boys’ change into savagery shows how anyone can be influenced by corruption, proving that humans are savage by nature. Violence is inevitable when the social contract no longer exists due to the inherent savagery
real life scenario of William Golding’s novel, “Lord of the Flies” showing a decay and failure of traditional rules and morals; distracting exactly how people should behave toward one another. This research, known more commonly now as the Stanford prison experiment, has become a classic demonstration of situational power to influence individualistic perspectives, ethics, and behavior. Later it is discovered that the results presented from the research became so extreme, instantaneous and unanticipated