Commentary Lord Of The Flies

Commentary on the themes of “Lord of The Flies” by William Golding.

In the novel entitled “Lord of The Flies” written by William Golding there are many themes that can be discussed according to the novel’s subject matter. First of all, I would like to discuss about the theme of civilization versus savagery. This theme can be categorized as the social and psychological theme. This is because it discussed the conflict between two competing impulse that exist within all human beings. This theme can be seen through characters and events in the novel. From the novel, we can see that being civilized is the only way to connect with the outside world, when Ralph order the boys to set up a signal fire so there is a chance for them to get rescue and

However, living in savagery will only lead to evil power and destruction. This can be foresee in the novel when Jack’s tribe, Ralph and Piggy killed Simon in impulsive manner. Savagery way of life lead the boys to become primitives as Jack’s begin to obsessed with hunting and he sacrificed the pig’s head known as “The Lord of The Flies” to the beast due to the boys fears toward the beast. The reality is the “beast” does not exist and the “beastly” behaviour lies within them. Jack’s tribe also manhunt Ralph after Piggy’s death by setting up fire in the jungle.

Besides that, the theme about the nature of evil also can be seen from the novel. The theme is categorized as psychological and spiritual theme. This is because evil lies within ourselves and what remains it at bay is our rational and logical thinking of the world. In the beginning of the story, a littlun explained to the group that he saw the “beast” in “snake – thing” shape, gradually, it turned out that the “beast” does not exist and the “beast” exist within themselves. The boys who stranded on the island joined Jack’s tribe even though they unanimously elected Ralph as the leader. They joined Jack’s tribe because of their fears toward the “beast”. Jack has used their fears as a tool to manipulate them to

Doing his best for community, Ralph shows everything that he does is for the best of the group not to satisfy his own needs. He tries every possible way to get rescue and stay alive in the island. From Chapter 2, Ralph as the leader starts to think for the group when he suggests building a signal fire to let any ships that pass by see the smoke from the signal fire. This suggestion is highlight by Ralph, in his dialogue, “We can help them to find us. If a ship comes near the island they may not notice us. So we must make smoke on top of the mountain. We must make a fire.” The boys agree with his suggestion and begin to collect woods for the fire. He also suggests building huts for their shelters and giving Jack the authority to hunt as the leader for hunters group for some meat. In contradiction with Ralph, Jack only focuses the important to satisfy his own desire. In the beginning of the novel, he wanted to be the leader however, the boys elected Ralph as the leader. His desire for power enhanced more after he become the leader for his hunters group and later become the “chief” of his own tribe. He leaves Ralph group and influenced the boys to be in his tribe by using “beast” as his subject matter. Last but not least, we can also see the negative consequences of war. From the novel, we can see that war lead to destruction and evil power domination. War is able to have the higher capacity to harm their