Who needs rules

William Golding’s novel “Lord of the flies” is a good representation of the inner evil within most humans. From day one we are told what is right and wrong, and our actions are governed by the general public and social norms that are expected to be followed. Golding shows the reader’s the outcome and the complete chaos that occurs when people stop living by the system. Through characters, symbols, and setting, Golding makes it clear that without the rules and regulations of society people turn to savagery.

To being with, Golding uses characters to represent good and evil, right and wrong, and civilization versus savagery. It is evident through the actions of the characters the gradual changes that occur due to the fact that there is no one to enforce rules. The most compelling evidence of this change is during the course of Jack’s stay on the island. Although from the beginning all the boys are civilized, Jack and some of the other boys start adapting to the wild life. When Jack kills his first pig, instead of feeling guilt or regret, he seems to enjoy it. This initial incident is what leads to his barbaric ways. His “mind [is] crowded with memories; memories of the knowledge that has come to [him] when [he] closed in on the struggling pig, knowledge that had outwitted a living thing, imposed their will upon it, taken away it’s like a long satisfying drink”(70).

On the other hand, Ralph attempts to keep the island under control with laws and rules. He tries to maintain a civilized life style even though he fails to gain some followers who are in too deep with the survival lifestyle. Ralph who is also the first elected leader tells the boys "We've got to have rules and obey them. After all, we're not savages. We're English, and...

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...place and when it’s set on fire, the "smoke [sweeps] through the branches in white and yellow wisps, the patch of blue sky overhead [turns] to the color of a storm cloud"(233).

Golding is warning readers by using symbols, characters, and the setting that without the governed rules of civilization the world would turn to complete chaos. Golding uses naive school boys to demonstrate that even the young can fall for the traps of living without rules which does not lead to a happy ending.

Works Cited

Carter, Ron. "Lord of the Flies." Masterplots, Fourth Edition (2010): 1-3. Literary Reference Center Plus. Web. 21 May 2014.

Dickson, L.L. "Lord of the Flies." The Modern Allegories of William Golding Literature Resource Center

K.G, Jubimol. "Subverted Motifs of Culture and Natrie a Derridian Study of William Goding's Lord of the Flies." Literary Reference Center Plus.