The Rundown Of The Lord Of The Files
The experiences and evil carried out through the Second World War resulted in an immense impact on society, significantly affecting humanity and the modern world today. Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding and published in 1945, is a classic novel that revolves around a group of schoolboys who are left stranded on a deserted island after an unexpected attack on their plane. Without rules imposed on the boys and any means of communication with the rest of the world, they are forced to work toward their own form civilisation or descend into a chaotic and anarchic society. Golding’s view of human nature depicts the idea that all humans, including the young and innocent, have a primitive instinct to become savages once being challenged by the harsh desire for survival. This has been expressed throughout the novel with the use of narrative conventions.
Throughout the novel, Golding highlights the idea that civilisation can mitigate but never wipe out the innate evil that exists within all human beings, portraying that all children lose their innocence. The schoolboys gradually evolve from orderly children, awaiting to be rescued from the island, to merciless hunters with values only for power and survival. During the orientation, Ralph “leapt to his feet and trotted back to the pool,” calling out to Maurice as he shouts, “‘belly flop! belly flop!’” Golding conveys the fact that towards the beginning of the novel the children are innocent and naive, oblivious to the reality of being stranded on an island. Instead, they swim in the lagoon in a nonchalant manner and explore the area with childlike wonders as if it was an adventure. Through the course of this time, the boys were able to establish rules and order as an attempt to create civilisation with the support of their educated upbringing. As hunting becomes a key factor for survival, the children revert to bloodthirsty savages with hopes of finding a creature to kill in order to satisfy themselves. Jack and his hunters develop ritualistic habits as they cover themselves in war paint and chant “Kill the pig! Cut his throat! Spill the blood! Bash him in!” By the end of the novel, the children are savages who chant and participate in rituals such as the killings of animals and humans. As the schoolboys realise that they have been rescued and are due to return to the world of civilisation, Ralph weeps “for the end of innocence [and] the darkness of man’s heart.” This conveys the idea that by experiencing the actions of men who live in a broken society, Ralph was able to identify the evil that lurks within mankind. The children are unable to escape the “darkness of a man’s heart,” portraying that at the core, all humans are innately savage. Despite being raised in a civilised society, humans are not capable of subduing their savage instincts. As the children hunt and kill, the decisions and actions taken during this time represent a loss of innocence of these once refined boys.
As the novel further unfolds, Golding’s view of human nature displays that the desire to satisfy basic human needs will prevent humans from rebuilding a structured society. As time progresses on the island, the schoolboys begin to forget the importance of rescue and lose interest in civilisation. The children divide into separate groups as Jack declares himself chief of a new tribe. He offers appealing factors to the boys to “hunt and feast and have fun.” With these alternatives in place, “being savages” is seen to be “jolly good fun” as the boys are now placed with a decision to decide which tribe to follow. Initially, Ralph appeared as a strong leader and appealed to the children as calm and fair. However, as time progresses, the boys cannot resist the temptation of Jack’s offer to “hunt” and “have fun.” Ralph holds an assembly as an attempt to reinstate civilisation however, Jack takes advantage of the situation to degrade him and proclaims, “bullocks to the rules! We’re strong, we hunt!” This highlights the idea that Ralph aims for long-term goals such as shelter, safety and rescue and values factors including the signal fire. On the other hand, Jack’s goals are short-term as he offers more exciting options such as hunting and fun, forgetting the importance of rules, the fire and any form of a structured society. When the boys track a large boar, “the desire to squeeze and hunt” heightens and the thrill of the chase becomes “over-mastering.” This conveys that as the boys express their violent nature they become more reluctant to form a sustainable society after a taste of savagery. The “desire” to hunt blurs the children’s sense of rationality, making it more difficult for them to find motivation in maintaining civilisation. The instinct to become savages ultimately overrides the idea of civilisation once humans are faced by the basic needs of survival.
As the novel progresses, Golding conveys the idea that by acting as one group, humans are able to commit worse and worse crimes; when motivated by a shared irrational fear, they can justify their violence. Throughout the novel, the children become aware of a possible threat, referred to as the “beast”. By sharing a similar fear, they boys were able to justify their crimes with mob mentality. Towards the beginning of the novel, Jack attempts to hunt a pig as he is alone and hesitates, allowing the pig to escape. He “drew his knife and raised his arm in the air,” then there came a “hiatus” and the “piglet tore loose.” Without any motivation from his peers to carry through with the murder, Jack did not feel much pressure from the other children or have a reason to kill the pig. However, as the novel unravels, Jack and his hunters find multiple other chances and succeed in killing the pigs as a group. Golding portrays the idea that by acting as an individual there is a struggle to fight human morality. In contrast, by acting as a group with the same motive, it is more accepted to go against moral instincts. As there is a shared fear of a “beastie” present on the island, the boys are aware of a dangerous threat that they may face. With this in mind, a plan was taken into action to hunt down the beast. The “crowed surged after it,” as they “leapt onto the beast, screamed, bit [and] tore.” However, with the misunderstanding of the situation, the boys come to terms with the fact that they spontaneously murdered their friend Simon instead of the beast itself. This highlights that due to mob mentality of the group, the boys broke into a frenzy and their sense of reason was blinded as they could not distinguish the beast from one of their own. After feeling guilty of the murder of Simon, Piggy attempts to comfort and reassure Ralph. He states that “it was dark,” they were “scared” and “anything might have happened,” portraying that Piggy uses their fear as an excuse to justify their actions. Ralph believes that Simon’s death from the previous night is considered murder whereas Piggy insists that it was just an accident that was out of their control. Golding conveys that when committing crimes with an irrational fear, it can be justified. As the boys take part in the ritualistic killing of Simon, savagery is portrayed. Mob mentality encourages violence between the children as they disregard their human moralities and act as the others do.
