Summary Of The Play The Curious Savage

I read chapter 1 of the book Savage Inequlities where the author Jonathan Kozol explores the city of St. Louis Illinois. The author describes the city as one of the poorest cities in America with a population of almost 100% black people. Jonathan Kozol, emphasizes that the poverty of the city is so bad that there is no garbage pickup, sewages in the streets and in the schools, hazardous waste and no waste management system. Moreover, the city is surrounded by chemical plants that contaminate the air and soil which leads to sickness and death. High rate of unemployment cause 75% of the population living under welfare.

I watched this production on Thursday, March 9th, at 7:30 p.m. In this paper, I will address three topics of interest to me after seeing this play. My personal reaction to how seeing this play was different from watching movies, television, or videos, the major strengths and how this play is responding to life today.

Lucy had heard stories before, about the pillaging the "savages" would do in a town after exacting vengeance. The newspapers loved to exaggerate moments like these to sell and try to find people to give "first hand" accounts, but she also knew that many of these reports had some truth to them.

The sympathy is heightened by the Inspector’s use if emotive language once again, this can be seen once the Inspector states, “her burnt out insides on a slab.” This macabre account of her demise is intended to increase the audience’s sympathy for Eva Smith. Not only is this a use of emotive language, but also a use of structure, as by creating this sympathy from the audience, Priestley then later on in the play, post conveying his political and moral standpoints on the viewers, then makes the viewers comprehend their collective responsibility. Not only does this affect the audience but also the characters; Sheila says she feels “rather distressed” by the Inspector’s language and “can’t help thinking how the girl – destroyed herself.”

“We are all ready to be savage in some cause. The difference between a good man and a bad one is the choice of the cause.” -William James (https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/w/williamjam157170.html?src=t_savage)

Men, without rules, can be led towards destruction. Lord of the Flies depicts at first a group of boys trying to maintain order, and a later descent into savagery. One of the most direct, apparent examples of this is through Roger. Through the contrast of the self-restraint Roger has at the beginning of the novel and the murder he absentmindedly commits at the end, Golding illustrates how man’s desire for savagery is restrained only by the enforced civilization of society.

Lord of the Flies by William Golding is an allegory in regards to the generalization that when man wants power, man loses empathy. When empathy is lost, humanity is also lost and hopes for civilization vanish. Jack’s hunt for power and his willingness to take control any way he can shows the lack of humanity within him. Roger starts off as an innocent boy, but when no consequences are displayed for his actions his inner sadist reveals itself. Jack and Roger’s decline of empathy during their hunts reveals the inner savagery of man when power becomes the priority over a return to civilization.

In William Golding's Lord of the Flies the central and recurring theme, civilization vs savagery, is very evident and obvious. Throughout the novel, Golding associates civilization with good, while associating savagery with dark and evil. Due to the intense and driving force of the novel, civilization and savagery clash against each other as the novel progresses. Golding also lets the two main characters represent this theme. Ralph, the protagonist, represents leadership and has a civil wellbeing, while Jack, the antagonist, stands for the desire of power and savagery. “We’ve got to have rules and obey them. After all, we’re not savages. We’re English, and the English are best at everything” (Golding 42). Jack agrees with Ralph in this statement about how the boys must obey and follow the rules given, however, as the novel progresses, Jack starts to become a savage and butts heads with Ralph. Nonetheless, the novel moves forward and the boys still retain their civil sides. In Chapter 3 the main conflict intervenes and the first verbal conflict takes place. As Jack and Ralph argue it is apparent on which side each of the boys take and the division of the boys starts to take action. Ralph advocates to build huts, while the bloodthirsty Jack, demands that the boys hunt for food. But because Jack and Ralph are children they are unable to successfully express their feelings and ideas during the debate. Chapter 4 and Chapter 5 present a new challenge that the

Lord of the Flies by William Golding shows how the world is man eat man. Golding

“There is a savage beast in every man, and when you hand that man a sword or spear and send him forth to war, the beast stirs” ― George R.R. Martin, A Storm of Swords. Once a man is placed into the wild, he is soon to turn savage to gain power and thrive through uncivilized situations. They will do barbaric actions when left from civilization. In the book, Lord of the Flies By William Golding, he uses the group of boys to illustrate that while one may start as a civilized human, when there is a chance to seize power, he will turn savage to take and keep that power. At first, the boys remain calm and work together, until Jack moves to a more savage state making him do inhumane actions. This idea is also stressed in an article analyzing people without civilization.

Dictionary.com defines a savage as someone who is cruel, barbaric, untamed and ferocious. With this in mind, William Golding, the author of Lord of The Flies, depicts a world where civilization and savagery collide. While stranded on an island, a band of boys must decide if they can come together as a civilized group or if they will be torn apart and made savages of the island. Golding conveys civilization versus savagery through the decision making process of his characters, the remote island setting of where the boys are and through the idea that every human has an inner savage.

Lord of the Flies, an allegorical novel by William Golding, holds truths about mankind’s true nature of existence. The novel explores the savagery in all men that lies dormant, yet when society’s rules cease to exist, the boy’s innocence perishes along with it. The boys attempt to band together and mock the society that they came from, but not understanding the complexity of the situation, results in their society falling into ruins. On the island the boys are returned to man’s primitive nature, without rules or discipline, and they slowly drift into anarchy. Without proper guidance, the boys resort to cloaking their innocence with body paint to survive. With the body paint coating their skin, the boys bury their old personas within and allow themselves to commit acts that society would frown upon. When Jack’s tribe uses the facade of body paint to dissociate themselves from civilization’s morals, they denote that hiding one’s true identity liberates them from the constraints of society.

4. Bobby Smith was the leading man in the play and he played a geeky journalist named Paul Friedman. Bobby was an unique actor who had the ability to switch emotions very quickly during scenes.  For example, Paul could be having a serious conversation with Anne one moment and then he could switch his emotions to be a hilarious person. Kadedra Dobyne was the leading lady in the play and she played Anne Miller a stay a home mother of two small children.  Kadedra showed her true colors in Act 2. She seemed more relaxed with the audience, had more confidence in her role, expressed more emotions and was more interesting

“There are too many people, and too few human beings.” (Robert Zend) Even though there are many people on this planet, there are very few civilized people. Most of them are naturally savaged. In the book, Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, boys are stranded on an island far away, with no connections to the adult world. These children, having no rules, or civilization, have their true nature exposed. Not surprisingly, these children’s nature happens to be savagery. Savagery can clearly be identified in humans when there are no rules, when the right situation arouses, and finally when there is no civilization around us.

Throughout Lord of the Flies, we see savagery growing inside the boys making them lose their civil state of mind and afterward, their humanity. William Golding represents the transformation from human to savagery between the two main characters Ralph who represents law and Jack who is willing to keep representing barbarism. Some examples that show that savagery wins include the cannibalization of Simon, the rapings of their friends, and the cruel deaths of Simon and Piggy, as well as the Birthmark Kid who went missing in action.