Anonymity In Lord Of The Flies

Anonymity and Its Effect

People have many different sides to them; some that they’re proud of and consistently show to the world and others that they’d rather keep hidden. These concealed, darker aspects are locked away due to morals and society, but in certain situations, those traits can rise to the surface. Anonymity can provide a sense of security for people to let their civility slide away resulting in them committing actions that might otherwise be unthinkable. In the novel, Lord of The Flies, by William Golding, a group of British boys crash on an island and slowly lose sight of logic, rescue and civility. Many of the boys hide behind anonymity, whether it’s provided from masks, the dark, or being consumed by a group, resulting in savage

Of course people aren’t always horrible when they are untraceable online or surrounded by people in both figurative and literal masks. There are many accounts of good deeds being done by people with no intention of getting credit. There are hacker groups out there that that attempt to take down racist, homophobic, and overall offensive websites. An example of that would be the group Anonymous but they technically break the law while doing these actions. These online vigilantes can do some good but that still doesn’t diminish the large number of statistics of people who get anonymously attacked online. According to the article In These Days of Bullying, Words Can Actually Hurt, from Reporter.net, Jane Mikesell writes that “About half of young people have experienced some form of cyber bullying, and 10 to 20 percent experience it regularly”. That’s an extremely large portion of young teenagers who are personally affected in negative ways by others who are hidden away from guilt and shame due to their screens. Ralph from Lord of The Flies could be another example of someone remaining good while surrounded by anonymity. He is the ideal, perfect British boy on the island and remains logical, civil, and focused on survival even when most of the others decide to ditch the idea of rescue for hunting and fun. On the other hand, even Ralph eventually gives in to his desire to join in with a group during the bonfire when both Piggy and him finds himself “eager to take a place in this demented but partly secure society. They were glad to touch the brown backs of the fence that hemmed in the terror and made it governable”(Golding 218). Even the most logical boys on the island felt the pull of the being one at that moment and therefore being hidden from all actions they committed. Hiding from responsibility can be an easier alternative that even the most civilized people can be drawn too when it’s the easier