Lord of the Flies

April 16, 2005

What would happen if the world had no laws, no punishment, and no structure? William Golding answers this question by framing his views on the taunting subject of “civilization vs. savagery.” Lord of the Flies centers Golding’s thoughts by focusing on its serious minded characters, open-ended symbols, distinct settings, and masterful plot. This award-winning novel is an eccentric story of how human nature erupts into chaos and reveals the evil within.

Lord of the Flies takes place on an uninhabited island in the middle of nowhere during a war in the early 1950’s. The war plays an important role in the novel because it is a time where societies fight for a title, as do the boys on the island. The island’s mountain is a crucial place in the novel because it borders the boundaries between good and bad and “civilization vs. savagery.” One side of the mountain maintains a cast of light, representing good, and the other side remains dark, representing evil. Golding makes the mountain the most sacred place in the story because it is where good contrasts evil, as it does in life within a respected community. The forest is a place of darkness and fear where all the hunting and killing occurs. It is here where both Simon and Piggy die, as well as all the hunted boar. Golding uses the forest to establish symbolic meaning connecting its evil surroundings to the lack of civilization, resulting in savagery. Golding also makes the forest the place where “the beast” lives to create a distinct image of fear and terror representing the evil in savagery.

Ralph is the forward and charming protagonist in Lord of the Flies. He displays civilization and stability while being the chosen leader of the boys. However, as time on the island progresses Ralph’s devotion to morality starts to weaken. With the instinct of evil in the air, the boys are split into two groups. One group represents civilization (which is lead by Ralph and Piggy as a friendly side kick) and the other represents savagery (which is lead by Jack). Jack is the blood thirsty, barbaric leader of the hunters. His need to hunt and kill embraces his followers to express the power within. Jack soon realizes that he can use the boys’ fear of the beast to control them, making him the most dominant of the two leaders. Simon is a spiritual and thoughtful boy who has a profound connection with nature. Even though Simon dies in the story, his death reaches the novels all time climax. Although Simon discovers that the true beast is within, he symbolizes the concept of human grace.

William Golding expresses his thoughts on the destruction of human behaviour by telling a story of how no discipline and no structure brings out the evil in us all. To create somewhat of a structural environment in the story, Golding creates a number of useful symbols. The conch, being the call of the wild, was like a parent. The conch called like a parent and when the conch was blown, the boys knew it was time to gather and behave. The conch symbolizes the theme of a civilized society for the boys. To further expand responsibility in the boys’ given society, Golding uses the signal fire as a great sign of structuralism. The fire put responsibility into the boys’ hands and Ralph knew this was a way of order, unlike Jack. “ The fire’s the most important thing. Without the fire we can’t be rescued” (pg. 175). Piggy’s glasses not only represent vision and a strong upheld civilization, but they symbolize leadership qualities. This is most clearly demonstrated when Piggy's glasses are used to light the fire, making them a symbol of leadership, as the holder has the power to create fire, and also to destroy. “The beast” is the most powerful and significant symbol in Lord of the Flies. Unlike the conch, the fire, and the glasses, “the beast” represents the fear of hate in a society. Golding uses “the beast” to truly underline how the people perceive fear and anxiety as one. How some of the boys thought that “the beast” was a physical part of the island and how others believed it was only a concern of the fear within clearly demonstrates this.

In the beginning of the novel the boys are curious and skeptic of their situation. However, as time goes on certain events change their outlooks and behaviour. When the boys elected Ralph as their leader and not Jack, Jack became frantic. This is how the two groups were formed. Jack thought that if he couldn’t blow the conch and be the chosen leader, then he’d form his own group. Golding makes this central conflict and theme of the story “civilization vs. savagery.” The competition for leadership and the outbreak of anarchy both support Golding’s theme of “chaos vs. structure.” These factors support the theme because they signify the fact that if the two groups weren’t competing then perhaps a civilized and structured environment could have been withheld. The falling action was clearly after both Simon’s and Piggy’s deaths. After the two deaths all structure was lost and every boy was for himself. A symbol of the boys being submitted into further chaos is when the conch shell was broken and all the boys had abandoned their leaders. This supports Goldings theme that a society needs structural support, meaning laws and punishment, to maintain its standards. In the end it was only after the customs to society were completely lost that a naval officer was spotted on the beach and the boys were safely rescued. What happened after the rescue is in the imagination.

All civilizations become savage-like, because people cannot control their inner instincts. Without laws, punishment, and structure the world would be a jungle of chaos, misfortune, and murder, or so Golding thought. In the end it’s nothing but a decision between right or wrong, it’s up to the person to make the right choice. Contrary to the belief that humankind is innocent and society is evil, Golding points out that humans are the ones who make up society, and thus humans are the ones who are inherently evil.