Brutality In Lord Of The Flies

Every human’s life revolves around a set of rules, laws, and guidelines that states how one should behave and act. From a young child to an adult, these rules are maintained throughout one’s life. Society’s rules are a shield protecting humans from their inner self which only holds barbarity. When all civilization is taken away what is left is the heartlessness of mankind. Author William Golding uses his real-life experience of war to write Lord of the Flies, in which he expresses the idea that humans are fundamentally corrupt. In the novel, a bunch of boys from England are deserted on an island where there is no sign of adulthood and rules. Through the actions of characters Roger and Jack, Golding evidently proves when all civilization is

Jack’s dictator qualities make everyone listen to him out of fear. Although Jack develops into a savage later on in the book, he first started off hesitant to express his true self. The first time Jack goes on a hunting voyage, he comes across a piglet and is unable to kill it. The civilization restrained Jack from showing his true passion of kill and lust. After three chapters, Jack turns into a full savage, sniffing the ground for pigs, thirsty for blood (Reilly 86). Once the shadow of society’s rules is lifted, Jack develops an obsession with killing. Civilization haunts Jack as he tries murdering the pig. Quickly, he lets go of society’s impact and pursues his love of murdering creatures. During one of his hunting expeditions, Jack finally kills a pig. He made the littluns carry the carcass on their shoulders as he chanted, “‘Kill the pig. Cut her throat. Spill her blood’”(Golding 68-69). Jack has an over obsession with slaughtering pigs. He throws aways society’s rules and exposes his genuine savagery. The disregard of society’s guidelines leads Jack to evolve into a killing, crazed lunatic. To reiterate, Jack has a deep regard for killing, regardless of whom or what he is hurting. Furthermore, Jack not only assassinates many pigs but at the end of the novel his next target is Ralph. Jack’s ruthless and fiendishness qualities result in Jack setting the entire island on fire in effort to murder Ralph. Author and critic Andy Koopmans elaborates on Jack’s actions stating that, “In his final act of destruction, Jack burns the island, while Ralph hides...Meanwhile Jack is so short-sighted and obsessed with the idea of ridding the island of his former rival for power that he is willing to destroy everything and everyone to do so” (Koopmans 79). Jack changes drastically as the novel progresses. In the beginning of the book, a civilized way of life, where everyone