Conformity In Lord Of The Flies

When people spend time away from civilization and society they forget what the normalities of that society are and begin to create their own. “Lord of the flies” by William Golding is a gothic horror style novel written about a group of english school boys who find themselves deserted on an island after a major plane crash. The boys who age from as young as six to as old as twelve find themselves on the island alone with no adults and are essentially left to fend for themselves. After spending so such a long amount of time away from civilization has led them to forget how to act in an way that would fit the idea if norm in an english society and instead slowly begin to make their own societal norms on the island. A character who embodies the

Slowly as time passes Jack begins to forget how to live in a civilized manner, going to show that many individuals are unable to maintain the societal norms they grew up in for a prolonged time period. Factors such as isolation from society, the arise of rebellion against authority and the rise of ones primitive nature all can play a role in the loss of societal norms and values when faced in a situation of total freedom. Jack is a character who embodies all these ideas well as in the beginning he is still seen as proper english gentleman but by the end of the book is described as “a savage”.(pg 160) When Jack and his tribe break off from Ralph and Piggy’s group, he and his tribe paint their faces with war paint and begin to do ceremonial dances. Thus showing the loss of what he and the other boys would have considered socially normal.

In the context of the novel the makeshift social hierarchy consists of obeying the Ralph, the leader and respecting who ever has hold of the Conch shell at the time. A structure similar to how the English government and society is structured, one ruler who must be obeyed and an equal opportunity to voice their concerns as well as an equal opportunities to listen to the opinions of others. The structure was what they knew would work, because that is how they grew up. Later on Jack leads the other boys away from that structure of government as he establishes himself as a ruler after overthrowing Ralph. This goes to show how he has forgotten his original way of life after spending time away from the society he lived