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Lord Of The Flies Critical Analysis

Decent Essays

It is easier to destroy than it is to create. Humans operate by destroying and rebuilding the same way—born inherently evil, but society molds them to be good. People always find a way to demolish the righteousness of humanity. William Golding expresses this idea throughout his novel, Lord of the Flies. As a group of boys crash land on a deserted island, they must fight for their lives and values. Though the children try to cooperate as a monolith, they face difficulties in keeping their sanity safe from savagery. They face the challenges of pushing away evil, but the boys waver from civilization. Golding’s sole purpose of composing the Lord of the Flies is to capture the idea that society suppress the true evil nature of people using the characterization of the stranded boys.
With so much freedom from society, the boys are tempted to disband all of their rational thinking. Society ingrains the idea of always pursuing what is just, yet without its limitations, the boys are allowed to do so as they please. Most of them abuse this lack of civilization—especially Roger. In the old world, the boy would have acknowledged the risk of chastisement. Conversely, on the deserted land, no adult could punish Roger for any misbehaving. Golding displays this as Roger attempts attacking Henry with a ambush of rocks. “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...Roger’s arm was conditioned by a civilization that knew nothing of him and was in ruins” (67). Roger’s behavior shows that he knows that it is not right to bully the younger boy, but the twistedness inside him says otherwise. Still, the nagging of the old world is constantly in Roger’s head, causing him to not directly hit Henry with the stones. However, Roger’s tolerance for the old world’s rules is fading the longer he is on the island. Furthermore, Roger’s savagery is proved to be enhanced especially since he is the cause of Piggy’s unfortunate death. Whereas Roger lost his control, the little bit of society the other boys still have is also crumbling away too. The boys are indeed aware of this though, causing them to wear masks to cover up their guilt.

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