Analysis, Themes and Issues - Lord of the Flies
Uploaded by Homework on Jun 22, 2004
Themes and Issues
Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work. Lord of the Flies is a thought provoking novel, the main theme being the fact that men are inherently bound to law/moral society and without the influence of morality and the basic consensus of right and wrong we would slowly regress to our primitive and savage instincts. This essay will analyse the novel giving evidence to support the theme as well as discuss issues that may arise from it.
Mr. Golding writes to show us that within every human there is a primitive evil that will break loose if it is not curbed by the strong order of civilisation. This theme is promoted strongly throughout the book using both the actions and the personalities of Ralph and Jack and the other boys. Mr. Golding slowly unfolds a sequence of events that will gradually lead us to understand the meaning of his writing.
In the novel, the main characters are Ralph and Jack. Ralph represents civilisation and order while Jack stands for savagery. However, the decline of Jack into the darker side of human nature is a gradual one and not instantaneous. In the beginning of the book we see that Jack is still bound by the rules and laws of his old world. He concedes to the election and even though unwilling he accepts Ralph as the leader. Jack was even enthusiastic when Ralph decided to introduce rules into the assemblies (page 44).
Everything at this part of the book is so far contained within the law: the sense of the wrong and the forbidden is strong inside everyone including Jack. At first, Jack could not bring himself to kill the piglet entangled by the creepers because of “the enormity of the knife descending and cutting into living flesh; because of the unbearable blood”. Roger threw stones at Henry, but he threw to miss because of “the protection of parents and school and policemen and the law”. (Page 78) The restrictions of the cultivated world are still heavy upon them.
With the lack of enforcement, the world of cultured rules soon fades into the distance. The ‘beastie’ takes its place and disaster strikes (Page 46-p60. The first death occurs. The littleun with the mark on his face disappears.) The ‘beastie’ can be interpreted as evil, but it is more accurately the sinister side that is...