Lord of the Flies Final Essay Themes presented in our most beloved novels and books reflect our culture and society, and William Golding’s Lord of the Flies establishes topics that have been beneficial in understanding the human condition. However, his writing also serves a specific purpose in the assessment of modern youth culture. The motifs Golding presented in his novel that are of utmost importance in the reflection of youth culture are loss of innocence, identity, and dehumanization of relationships. Those concepts will be evaluated to comprehend their importance in both the youth and the book. Loss of innocence is a recurring aspect of Lord of the Flies and a chief facet in the youth community. From a personal standpoint, I am always told by adults about the vice and vulgarity that I will encounter as I grow up. My experiences will widen my awareness of the suffering and hardships that people have endured. Carl E Pickhardt, Ph.D, article, “Adolescence and the loss of innocence,” illustrates the significance of the transition from a mere boy or girl to an adult. Pickhardt affirms the importance of this transition in a piece from his article: “They can never ‘go home’ to childhood again. They can never return to that simpler, sheltered, and supportive time. Growing up requires giving up because necessary losses must occur if necessary gains are to be made” (“Adolescence and the loss of innocence”). With that being said, Lord of the Flies emphatically
Within Lord of the Flies, we see firsthand the tendency toward violence and destruction that lies within humanity, and boys in particular. Without society, they fell apart. They committed atrocities that go against every rule, every social expectation, we see in humanity. Although Lord of the Flies shows important ideas about boys’ place in society, it also allows the reader to form unrealistic views on ideas such as death, violence, and conflict.
All that children want to do is grow up. No person likes to go through the pecking order or be told to do this and not do that. In Lord of the Flies Golding is able to portray the boundary of freedom being broken. The boys “freedom” is something for them to celebrate. “This is our island. It’s a good island. Until the grownups come to fetch us we’ll have fun” (Golding 35). The set up that Golding has created for the reader; shows every child’s dream, the dream of freedom. But yet this celebration of freedom, wears off quite quickly and Golding brings reality into the story of adventure.
In the beginning of the novel the boys were portrayed as young and innocent children, curious and fond of their surroundings. As the story continues, we can witness the boys going through a survival phase, according to what they witness and feel they react accordingly. They become savage and give into the evil inside of themselves, and follow no of the rules that were set. The plot later reveals that the boy’s in fact are not innocent at all. They are not even close to being innocent. William Golding does a very good job when laying out the habits and the traits of the boys.
Throughout one’s childhood, a parent serves to their kids as role models, and they lead by good example. When a child start to become older, a person is mainly influenced by friends, more than their family, especially in the adolescence period. This is called a society. However, what happens when a person is disconnected from their society? Will they keep their core values within them, or will they let their inner evil emerge? Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, writes a tale of a group of boys isolated on an island, left to survive on their own. This book perfectly exhibits in an interesting way, what can truly happen when one is left disconnected from his own society. In the novel, William Golding’s view of humanity
In Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding, childhood and adolescence can be interpreted as a time of not being in full control of your instincts and barbaric impulses and not being mature enough to be civilized. Golding achieves this by using symbolism in his characters and showing the consequences of the boys making an impulsive decision.
Fragile. Naive. Innocent. These are all characteristics of children. Adolescence is a time to develop character, and learn valuable life lessons. However, when children do not have guidance from adults, these lessons are not learned. Lord of the Flies, by William Golding focuses on children, and the effects isolation has on them. In the novel, a group of schoolboys are stranded on a desert island after a plane crash. Shortly after, they elect a leader and attempt to survive. The boys are faced with many challenges, both internal and external. These hardships and the lack of structure caused the boys to revert to savage behavior. At first, being on the island seems like all fun and games, however, the boys come to realize the only beast was inside themselves. Golding’s depiction of childhood being a time of tribulation and terror proves to readers that without society to set rules in place, people will eventually regress and act savagely, because of lack of regulation, the pressure to conform, and the selection of Jack as the new leader.
Similar to most literary classics, William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies contains allusions to the Christian Bible and character archetypes that convey universal ideas. Golding’s story focuses on a group of British schoolboys who are stranded on an island and ultimately succumb to their innate savage tendencies. Literary analysts often compare components of Lord of the Flies to various aspects in the Christian Bible. For instance, the setting in Lord of the Flies is often linked to the Garden of Eden, and some characters are thought to have religious-inspired names. Critics believe Simon’s name originates from Jesus Christ’s disciple, Peter, whose name was originally Simon. Biblical allusions exist throughout the novel associated with
William Golding’s modern classic, Lord of the Flies showcases a group of boys stranded on an island, in hopes of rescue and survival. This depicts how a society of boys would function if civilization had not been forced on them. Moreover, this novel shows us Golding’s inner kept judgement of the function of society. The boys first meet together on the island by using what later becomes a symbol of law; the conch. It is first used as an object to keep order amongst the boys, but later becomes the center of conflict between two clashing tribes. It represents the battle between order and chaos, and the outcome is Golding’s view of which rules in society. A constant occurrence in the book is the bullying of the characters, Simon and Piggy. Although these characters contributed greatly to the development of the group, their actions were never appreciated. They were both outcasts in the tribe, never listened to, nor included in any conversations. Golding represents these characters as religion and intelligence, and so the outcast of these boys gives us a window into which parts of society the author deems are valuable and unnecessary. Jack, the antagonist in the book is portrayed as a vile, aggressive creature. He and his hunters become obsessed with bloodshed and macabre, and so they kill to satisfy their needs. What starts as killing pigs for meat as a means of survival, soon turns into an addiction for blood leading to a bloodbath between the boys. The constant hunger for
In William Golding’s, Lord of the Flies, a few dozen boys are stranded on an island after a plane crash. The six to twelve year old kids turn to savages under the lead of the older males, and ultimately cause their own deaths. However, the smaller boys, such as Piggy and Sam and Eric, are the hope and reason of the group. Golding’s purpose of writing the book was to show that the defects in society originate at the defects in human nature. Golding allows the little ones to have no identities or personalities. This is symbolically showing that in society, the ignorant and innocent children are the only hope to a humane society. Innocence is purity, and the innocent children, in which are not corrupted by the bad people and things in the
wrote this after publishing Lord of the Flies. It is our world, in the form of a story. The two leaders in the story are Ralph and Jack. Ralph starts off a comfortable leader of the boys, but by the end of the book, Ralph and his companion Piggy are alone facing Jack and the rest of the boys. As the novel progresses and the society on the island starts to change, so does Ralph. He begins thinking he has all the answers, but comes to realize that without Piggy he would have never gotten this far. By the end of the book, Ralph and Jack are complete opposites. Jack is about savagery and fun while Ralph is holding on to society, rules, and civilization. Appearing to be a weak leader due to defection of his followers, Ralph is actually dedicated and insightful, only loosing his followers because he could not compete with one category that attracts nearly everyone in the world: fun.
William Golding’s Lord of the Flies is a gritty allegory of adolescence, innocence, and the unspoken side of human nature. Countless social issues are portrayed, however one of the most reoccurring is the nature of man. Throughout the novel there is an ever-present focus on the loss of innocence amongst the boys, shown by the deterioration of social skills and their retrogression into a barbaric form of society. Also portrayed is the juxtaposition of a cruel, evil main character and a more classically good counterpart, and their eternal rivalry for power and authority over their younger subjects. Does society or the lack thereof create evil in human nature, or simply magnify a pre-existing
more of what is going on. He says, ‘If only they could get a message
In William Golding’s novel, The Lord of the Flies, a large group of privileged English schoolboys are stranded on an island in the Pacific with no adults after the plane they were on crash-landed. The boys are brought together by the Conch that is blown by Ralph in the beginning of the book. The conch is symbolic of order and authority in the book. The boys go under a transformation of these privileged schoolboys to a group of rag tag savages trying to kill each other for power throughout the course of this book. This essay will be outlining the transition from good boys that listen to authority, into boys that rely on their id of savagery, and the descent to evil, destruction and panic through the journey and
Any created society has rules to stay mobile. Within this informative selection of words you'll see examples of how a society was and how it should be based on the novel "Lord Of The Flies" and how they fell apart within the journey. The examples are their rules and the other is unstable relations of the inhabitants, these cause the hindsight score to be perfected on the backtracking of the lost sensibility. Now follow the tale of words that give the sight of how this society should've rolled on with.
In 1954, the familiar book titled ‘Lord of the Flies’ was published. Over the decades, there have been countless arguments about what the true theme of the book is. This book is normally a required reading book for high school students. Most classes that experience the opportunity to study this fantastic book are required to identify a theme. A 9th grade class at Flathead High School faced the same question: what is William Golding trying to tell us with this book? As stated above, innumerable arguments have been made about Golding’s true theme. However, after studying the book closely, the process in which the boys’ group evolves over time demonstrates Golding’s theme that stresses the importance of control.