Analysis of Lord Of The Flies Essay

Lord of the Flies Essay

William Goldings Lord of the Flies reflects upon the modern society through the exploration of human psyche. It demonstrates that when taken away from civilised society people can turn primitive and savage. Thus a persons lust and greed for power can cause inevitable destruction which causes self-corruption.

Golding highlights that anarchy arises with the absence of law and order. The boys establish simple democracy with a leader chief, where society was civil and their behaviours were highly regarded. We cant have everybody talking at once. Well have hands up like schoolthen Ill give him the conch, this rule is exceptionally important as it gave everyone the right to speak and given the conch mean given power and authority. Consequently the evil within the little boys escaped and rules are broken without a punishment to follow. Smaller rules were first broken but as time increased the crimes committed grew of importance. When the boys begin to neglect their tasks civilization began to collapse, jack was the first to be heard but he had not got the conch thus spoke against the rules, but nobody minded, symbolizing the breaking of society and democracy

When taken away from civilized society we turn primitive and savage. Golding expresses his thoughts on the darkness of mankind in this novel showing the transformation from an innocent child into a savage. This became evident when Ralphs power began to fail; Jack overthrows him and is able to persuade the rest of the children to join his tribe. Slowly his laughter became a bloodthirsty snarling which symbolizes the beginning of savagery and their violence, aggression and animalistic that the humanity within them was lost. As Jack leads his hunters on more hunts, they begin to express their primitive behaviour with painted faces, sharpened spears and a chant that is manipulative, repetitive and controlling while hunting the beast. Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood, this shows their humanity to be declining as they make violence seem fun and entertaining. The scale of decline was presented when Piggy lost his tempered and asked the boys, What are we? Humans? Or animals? Or savages? Whats the grown up going to think? this shows they were worse than animals and had turned barbaric. Although Ralph was rescued he knew he would not be the same again, the loss of innocence and the learning of savagery instincts lurking within each human being Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of mans heart, and the fall through the air of a true, wise friend called Piggy. The evil that comes along with the darkness of human nature and the deaths of Simon and Piggy resulted in the loss of humanity as well as empathy and sympathy.

Furthermore Lord of the flies demonstrates that a persons lust for power can cause inevitable destruction. Jack Merridew, a power hungry individual with his desires to become chief was the first to be recognised I ought to be chief confirming his desire for authority, exploiting the attitude towards life shown by many that succeed as well as the approach in which people with these characteristics take advantage of their followers. When Ralph became chief he asks jack They can be- what do you want them to be with Jack replying Hunters this highlights Jacks desire for power in relation to the theme savagery and hunters are regarded to be savages. His crave for power also leads to the collapse of society his constant need for power and his attempts to overturn Ralph. He believes the strongest should rule using authoritarian power to gain control. The leads to an individuals corruption for example, when Jack discovers the power of the mask his laughter became a bloodthirsty snarling, he was overtaken with the power of the mask and turned helpless against it. His power was so great that he manipulated the boys to believe that it was the beast that killed Simon, nor did he care when a big rock squished Piggy and at worse tried to murder Ralph. This resulted in self-destruction due to crippling force of greed and power.

To end off with, the craving and struggle for power ultimately lead to the destruction of society created on the island. Even the purest of all children can turn barbaric and vicious.