Beowulf And Lord Of The Flies Quote Analysis

As part of human nature, we’re accustomed to following a set of rules to have an orderly and peaceful lifestyle. Usually, if those rules are disobeyed, destruction and disorder are bound to come our way. This act is prevalent in two stories, Beowulf and The Lord of the Flies, that were written centuries apart, but yet the concept of how ignoring rules can lead to the downfall of societies is common in both. Usually, a well-built society derives from a strong leader who has the characteristics of guiding people to do the right actions. Such an example would be Beowulf who is viewed as a God-like hero and is highly respected. Throughout Beowulf’s stay at the Dane’s place, he had portrayed the qualities of being generous and loyal, which

His qualities of showing strength along with intelligence sets him apart from the rest of the characters, leaving him to develop essential rules for the group to follow, since it’s the only thing that’s holding the boys back from anarchy (Goulding 91). Such rules were keeping a fire going on the mountains, using the rocks beyond the bathing pool as a lavatory, shelters needing to be built, and keeping water from the stream in coconut shells under fresh leaves. All of these rules ended up being broken by the group and Ralph addressed them during a solemn meeting (Golding 79-81). Their one and only chance to get off the island turned out to be when Jack and the rest of the group disobeyed about keeping the fire lit on the mountain for ships to see the smoke. The “little uns” had started disappearing and without any rules being followed, they were never found. Soon, a downfall of their society had come to play when Jack had separated with his group of boys from Ralph and his group. Instead of coming up with a plan to get off the island together as a group, the group itself divided and fought amongst each other leading to nothing but despair, as Piggy was killed during it all. The little spark of hope that they had was now ruined, with no way to build back up again to a decent society where rules were