In The Hunger Games and Lord of the Flies, there is a mutual theme of survival. It might not be only about survival of people, as much as it is survival of their minds, their identities. Many characters, in both The Hunger Games and in Lord of The Flies, are desperately trying to keep their humanity intact, as well as their philosophies, such as Katniss and Peeta, and Ralph and Simon. Some seem to lose it along the way such as Cato and Jack, and some seem to have no mortality in the first place. This is shown in people such as Roger, who only seemed to be bound by the rules of society and has now broken free and able to do whatever he pleases without the fear of adult chastisement. This is shown in the quote “Roger gathered a handful of stones and began to throw them. Yet there was a space round Henry, perhaps six yards in diameter, into which he dare not throw. Here, invisible yet strong, was the taboo of the old life. Round the squatting child was the protection of parents and school and policemen and the law.” This shows us that although Roger feels the urge to torment Henry, by bombarding him with stones, but the remainders of socially required standards of behavior are still too strong for him to give in completely to his savage impulses. Peeta shows that he is unwilling to play in the hands of the capitol and to die on their terms. “I want to die as myself. I don't want them to change me in there. Turn me into some kind of monster that I'm not." This quote shows us that even though Peeta could be dead the next day, he is still worrying and struggling with how to preserve his identity. It shows us how greatly he cares about not losing one’s self, about not feeling as if he were just another pawn in their game of chess. Jack... ... middle of paper ... ...ally it shows us that this was not a place intended for human life. By the end of the novel they have set the entire island on fire. Piggy’s glasses breaking means that he cannot see the world as he once did, and that his insight is slowly fading. Piggy however remains himself until his death. These two stories show us that survival not only happens when they are on a deserted island, or when they are competing in The Hunger Games but always for people such as Katniss who was forced to supply her family with food after the death of her father by hunting and for Piggy as being constantly bullied for wearing glasses, being overweight and having asthma. While both of them show how far humans can go for survival Lord of the Flies shows us that the perception of human civilization is nothing more than a brittle delusion, where everyone is struggling to survive every day.
Yamato, Jen. Burning Questions.“The Hunger Games and Real World Parallels: “Can kids all become Katniss Everdeen”. Movie Line. March 13, 2012. Web. May 04, 2012
When Piggy’s glasses break in half, it symbolizes the boy's descent into savageness. Glasses, by definition¹, are “a pair of lenses used to correct or assist defective eyesight for an individual with vision problems.” Obviously, these glasses are only effective when the lenses are not broken, and this principle also applies in The Lord of the Flies. In The Lord of the Flies, the goal of the boys is to survive, and get rescued off of the island. To get rescued off of the island and therefore survive, Ralph decides that the boys need a fire, to make a smoke signal so passing ships or planes can spot them. They use the lenses of Piggy’s glasses to start this fire. When Jack lets this fire go out when he is out hunting for a pig, Ralph gets very angry, because the passing ship could have rescued them. This leads to the first fight as a result of the boy's’ newfound savageness. This fight leads to Piggy’s glasses breaking for the first time. Piggy’s glasses break again when Jack’s group steals them in a bid to start a fire of their own. “I just take the conch to say this. I can’t see no more and I got to get my glasses back.
Piggy is the only one on the island who can see clearly, his glasses portray that for him. Piggy’s glasses do not only help him literally see, but they also help with clarity and staying focused on the task at hand, “Ralph remember what we came for. The fire. My specs” (Golding 177). Piggy is reminding Ralph of their task at Castle Rock, to get the specs and the fire back. Piggy is focused on the task at hand and wants to get the job done the way he in visions it. He wants to get the job done and he wants to get out of there. Piggy is bringing clarity to the boys, “Which is better-to be a pack of painted indians like you are, or to be sensible like Ralph is? ...rules and agree or hunt and kill? ...law and rescue or hunting and breaking things up?” (Golding 180). Piggy is trying to talk sense into the savages and he is making them reflect on their actions comparing them to both camps. He is trying to bring common sense back into the boys. He is helping them see what they have done because their vision is a little blurred from being on the island for so long. Piggy realizes the situation is getting tense and tells his camp and Ralph that it is time to take care of the situation. Piggy takes over at the assembly and puts jack in his place , “I just take the conch to say this. I can’t see no more and I got to get my glasses back. Awful things has been done on this island. I voted for you for chief. He’s the only one who ever got anything done. So now you speak, Ralph, and tell us what. Or else –” (Golding 170). The da...
Towards the end of the eighth chapter it became very apparent that Piggy and Jack both had two very different ideas on how they would survive. Jack thinks that hunting and having fun is key, Jack is more worried with instant gratification and doesn’t worry about what will happen off the island he worries about having fun and living on the island. Piggy is only concerned with keeping the fire lit and getting off the island. Unlike Jack, Piggy believes more in thinking about the future, how they will be saved and how they can endure the time they are on the island. When the fire goes out Piggy cries out at Jack, who was in charge of the fire, “ You and your blood, Jack Merridew! You and your hunting! We might have gone home.” This shows the extent of Piggy’s will to be rescued.
Once this happened Piggy started to care less and less about the boys and more about his own safety and getting himself off the island with or without the boys. Jack had taken Piggy’s glasses to start his own fire and Piggy was very upset and he took Ralph and the twins over to Jack’s tribe and demanded his glasses back, but Ralph got a little sidetracked so Piggy brought him back. “‘Ralph remember what we came for. The fire. My specs’”(177)
One night Jack and two of his tribe members raid the huts of Ralph, Piggy and Samneric. They stole Piggy's glasses, which only had one glass anyway, now making him blind in both eyes. The next day Ralph, Piggy and Samneric travel to the other side of the Island to get the glasses back.
In life today, society holds many expectations of its people. Members of society are expected to behave in a civilized manner; conforming to law, following social norms, and acting with dignity and without violence. When the boys became marooned on the island, they were forced to question the expectations they had always observed. This brought about a large battle between those who decided to remain civil and those who would rather rebel. Civilization is pitted against acts of savagery in a plethora of ways in Lord of the Flies when determining who had the right to speak during assemblies, when the group hunted pigs, throughout the struggle over Piggy’s glasses, and finally with Simon’s death.
The novel Lord of the Flies was full of challenges that the boys overcame in order to survive. Conflicts within themselves, with nature and with each other constantly test the children’s ability to endure. Struggles against the natural elements of the island, rival groups or fear of the unknown continually appear throughout the story. Some of the boys on the island did not survive the quarrels that they faced. They perished because they were lacking something that the surviving boys did not. The survivors had a natural primal instinct or a physical or mental advantage over the boys who did not make it. ‘Only the strong survive’ is an important element that runs through the novel Lord of the Flies because in order to survive the boys must turn to their primitive instincts of physical strength and savagery.
Throughout the novel several different characters are introduced to the reader, such as Ralph, Jack, Simon and Piggy. With all these characters presented to the reader, one can get to see into their minds-eye, which allows the reader to analyze their character. In this case one could examine their basic morals and distinguish between the person’s natural instinct to rely on civilization or savagery to solve their problems. The author of the novel, William Golding, had a “first-hand experience of battle line action during World War II” which caused him to realize, “[that] The war alone was not what appalled him, but what he had learnt of the natural - and original- sinfulness of mankind did. It was the evil seen daily as commonplace and repeated by events it was possible to read in any newspaper which, he asserted, were the matter of Lord of the Flies” (Foster, 7-10). This being said by Golding leads one to the central problem in the novel the Lord of the Flies, which can be regarded as the distinction between civility and savagery. This can be seen through the characters that are presented in the novel, and how these boys go from a disciplined lifestyle, to now having to adapt to an unstructured and barbaric one in the jungle.
Stranded on the island, with the vast ocean separating them from civilization, the boys are free of restrictions from their old life. Although at first, some characters recall the protocols they were taught previously, manners are gradually forgotten. Numerous times, Piggy remembers his aunt, and says, “My auntie told me not to run,” as if even from miles away, Piggy had to abide by her commands regardless (Golding 9). However later, he acknowledges his freedom from authority, pausing mid-sentence at “My auntie—” (12). Piggy then stripped off his windbreaker, a significant act of defiance of authority in his perspective. Golding also portrays the lack of constraints on the boys by referring to the island with negative connotations. Despite its external beauty, he calls the island a ‘scar’ to represent the patch created when the plane tore through the forest. This
Two important symbols of civilization, the conch and the glasses, are closely followed throughout the action. As the civilized life breaks up on the island, the glasses are broken and stolen, and the conch is crushed. Piggy, who wears the glasses and carries the conch, is killed.
... expected, is the idea that survival can in turn lead to dehumanisation and can act as the stem for savagery. In desperation, characters in both novels have dangerously become more animal than human when considering the lack of resources to stay alive. However both novels can be contrasted when considering the effect that survival has had on the relationships of the main characters – whereas, in general, Golding aims to portray the breakdown of relationships in Lord of the Flies, McCarthy uses this theme in The Road as an opportunity to show the close relationship between father and son, which in turn results in the novel being more touching than it is intense. Both Golding and McCarthy have effectively used language, a balance between emotions and action, and excellent thematic elements to create two novels which remain two of the most respected of the modern age.
He believes that society is doomed to a constant cycle between destruction and reconstruction because of the battle between the ideals of civilization and the impulses of man. Without proper law and order people whose right and wrong as a question of will I get into trouble or not, begin to do terrible things; they know now there will not be punishment for their actions. In Lord of the Flies these people are represented by Roger, who in the beginning of the story doesn’t hit a littlun with a rock when he could have. “Roger stooped, picked up a stone, aimed, and threw it at Henry- threw it to miss.” (Golding, page 64). This action shows that Roger was still afraid of getting into trouble. At the end of the novel, however, it is shown that he has changed when he kills Piggy. “Roger was dropping them, his hand still on the lever. Below him, Ralph only a Shock of hair and Piggy a bag of fat.” (Golding, page 199). Roger has now gained the ability to murder because he knows he won’t get punished for doing so. Furthermore without proper leadership irresponsible leaders will come into power; which is shown by Jack’s tribe. However because this kind of government is built on the leaders promise to protect its people from the danger of the unknown it is weak. A responsible government will be able to take power back when people begin to realize that they can also protect them from the danger. This is shown in the novel when the navy officer shows up on the island because he will take of power from the kids. Throughout the story Golding shows that people must be consistently told to do good or primal instinct will take over and they will do terrible things to obtain and maintain what they want to
In conclusion the topics that have been stated are good examples of why a person should read this book. Death, Society, and murder can be hard topics to talk about. People may not think about the meaning behind a book. Some just read and know the plot but do they really know the meaning behind the story? Most likely the do not. People should read books that give them something to discuss with other people. By reading more interesting books a person will have more to talk about with people in general.
Lord of the Flies, which was written by William Golding, and The Coral Islands, which is written by R.M. Ballantyne were two books about British boys who were stuck on an island. Lord of the Flies is an imitation of The Coral Island. In Lord of the Flies the scene is set up with two boys stranded on an island from a plane crash, in which all the adults died. These boys were schoolboys that later found more boys that were stranded on the island by blowing on a conch shell. They all get together and they all decide to make their own society with a chief or leader. In The Coral Island we experience the adventures of three boys, who were the only ones that survived from the shipwreck on a Pacific Island. These two stories show that, like all great power, some wanted it for good and others for evil and authority. In these books there are many meanings that are shown out through the characters actions and their personalities. The characters that depict these meanings the most are Ralph and Jack. They both have many different opinions and beliefs more than they have similarities. The reason these play such an important role in these two books is that it represents the world today and what they were, which is savage. These two books have an important theme that relates to both of these books, which is that society holds everyone together, and without specific conditioned our deals, values and basic concept of right and wrong are eventually lost to poor authority and selfishness.