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Dehumanization In Lord Of The Flies

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The Lord of the Flies by William Golding connects to the quotation “Make people take a small first step toward a harmful act with a minor, trivial action and then gradually increase those small actions.” from the article What makes good people do bad things? This quote deepens my understanding of the novel because it accurately represents how Jack and his tribe turned savage from the first killing of the pig to the hunts of the humans. Jack’s hunting progressively grew more violent because trivial steps made him feel powerful. At first, Jack was unable to kill a pig, symbolizing that he is still an innocent child. “They knew very well why he hadn’t [killed the pig]: because of the enormity of the knife descending and cutting into living flesh.” …show more content…

A moment of true uncivilization is when Jack gets truly excited to kill the “Beast.” “Jack leapt on to the sand. ‘Do our dance! Come on! Dance!’” (Golding 151) Jack’s excitement shows us how the power is controlling him. He feels the need to kill and the other boys are catching onto the unfortunate “trend.” Even though Jack and the boys weren’t aware that the beast was actually Simon, the way they were killing him was brutal and inhumane. Although not everyone was as wild as Jack, they all participated in the murder of Simon. Everyone participating in the circle is becoming savage because they are murdering an innocent boy. They had the opportunity to stop, especially once the beast was portraying human-like traits, but no, the boys felt so powerful and uncontrollable, so they continued the monstrous actions. Unlike the first hunt where the boys kill Simon on accident because they thought it was the beast, they plan a second hunt for Ralph, but this hunt is completely intentional. “‘They hate you, Ralph. They’re going to do you.’ ‘They’re going to hunt you tomorrow.’” (Golding 188) The boys are planning a hunt to Ralph, so that way Jack can be the sole leader. This is the biggest step that relates to the original quote about the inconsequential first harmful steps and how they increase and turn violent and ugly. The twins Samneric tell Ralph about how they are going to hunt him, and they say that Roger has a stick with both ends sharpened, showing not only that Jack enjoys having power, his beliefs have spread to the rest of the tribe. Therefore, the boys on the island in Lord of the Flies are uncontrollably savage and past the point of no

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Here we see that the hunters have already forgotten about the importance of life, and just went on to do what they do best-- to kill. They are even willing to burn the whole jungle down in order to kill Ralph, which is insane. Even as Ralph struggled to fight for his life just like the other preys that the boys used to hunt, he was still able to retain his civilized self and think rationally, unlike his predators who will kill him the moment they got a hold of him. In times of desperation, finally, an adult appeared. For me, it’s cliche, just like in the movies where police comes after everything is done, but I saw it coming.

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Once they kill Simon it explains deeply about how they kill him and how cruel and brutal it was. They kill him by biting and clawing and acting like savages. Simon says that it's themselves that is the beast and it shows in the part of the story how they act savage and

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After this tragic event, everyone but Sam and Eric and a few littluns join Jack’s tribe and they fight. Jack, “made a rush and stabbed at Ralph’s chest” (177). He is challenging civilization, represented by Ralph. With no rules, Jack becomes more violent and tortures Sam and Eric into joining his tribe and makes them tell him where Ralph is hiding to hunt and kill him. While Ralph is hiding from Jack’s tribe, “another double cry at the same distance gave him a clue to their plan” (195).

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1453 Words | 6 Pages

The beast was on its knees in the center, its arms folded over its face. It was crying out against the abominable noise something about a body on the hill. The beast struggled forward, broke the ring and fell over the steep edge of the rock to the sand by the water. At once the crowd surged after it, poured down the rock, leapt on to the beast, screamed, struck, bit, tore. There were no words, and no movements but the tearing of teeth and claws” (152) demonstrates that the fear of the beast controlled the boys, and influenced them to kill Simon.

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1276 Words | 6 Pages

Also, Fear turns human into their primitive form. In chapter 6, Jack is quoted saying, "Bollocks to the rules! We're strong--we hunt! If there's a beast, we'll hunt it down!...." (Golding, 91).

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841 Words | 4 Pages

In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, a group of stranded boys survive on an island with no adults, soon their sense of morality falls apart and violence takes place. The loss of morality causes the boys to break the rules and become violent. Eventually, the boys become uncivilized and stop caring about their actions. They get to a point where they disregard logical thought and resort to violence without reason. As the story progresses, the absence of morality causes violence to reign among the boys.

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582 Words | 3 Pages

Ralph and all the boys were deciding who was going to be in jack and ralph's tribes when simon came to tell them the beast wasn't real. “the beast broke the ring, struggled forward broke the ring and fell over the steep edge of a rock by the sand on the edge of the water. at once the crowd surged after it, poured down the rock, leaped onto the beast screamed struck bit tore there was no words, no movements but the tearing of teeth and claws” (pg 152) this scene depicted the murder of simon. Even though the kids knt was simon they still tricked themselves into believing that it was the beast. They did this so that they could give themselves a right for “mistakenly” killing simon so they didn't seem so barbaric.

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813 Words | 4 Pages

During the novel, Jack goes from a well-spoken, intelligent boy, into a violent savage, which leads the boys into fear. The moment Jack painted his face really shows how he turned to evil, and when Jack’s tribe saw it, they turned to it with him. Ralph is very smart and a great leader, but when you go to Jack’s tribe, it’s almost like he’s a dictator, going as far as suggesting killing you if you stand in the way of his plans. He also makes the boys realize they haven’t been eating, “Has everybody eaten as much as they want?” (Page 215) as a way for them to be nervous about food and for them to join his tribe.

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1156 Words | 5 Pages

Cut his throat! Spill his blood! Do him in!’(152). But then they see Simon but confuse him for the beast and kill him. The boys act in an animal-like fashion when they act on their

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951 Words | 4 Pages

Jack explains how killing the beast is more important than the rules and if there is a beast they will hunt it down “and beat and beat and beat” it (Golding)! Jack’s declaration that they will abandon the rules and hunt the beast reinforces the idea that fear can cause individuals to embrace violence and cruelty in the pursuit of power and control. The boys’ violence towards each other ultimately results in the loss of innocent lives. Ralph is devastated about Piggy’s death and weeps “for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy” (Golding). Ralph’s realization of the darkness of man’s heart and the loss of innocence further emphasizes the destructive power of fear in dire

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1702 Words | 7 Pages

Jack’s hunters follow his every demand and now the tribe has inherited a part of evil in as followed by the quote, “Boys armed with sticks” (Golding 157). Jack has trained his tribe to be armed at all times and he even refers to the boys as “hunters.” Hunting with his followers gives him a rush of adrenaline and he thrives off the power. Jack uses his surroundings as an advantage to him in order to control, which corrupts innocence. In response, Woodward adds, “This is evil, an action, like Jack’s, so reprehensible that we cannot imagine a punishment for it” (Woodward 60).

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901 Words | 4 Pages

We can find an example of this when Jack is on one of his first hunts and he is down on all fours like a wild animal "Then dog-like, uncomfortably on all fours yet unheeding his discomfort, he stole forward five yards and stopped. " Page (50). This moment is one of the first that we see one of the boys being changed by this island that has no adults or laws to keep them in line and away from a primitive nature. The discomfort Jack feels in this moment is not affecting him at all and it really shows that he is letting this wild side of him out and he's not afraid of it.

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583 Words | 3 Pages

Lastly, Jack is known as the rebel of the story who disagrees with the leaders, and is pure evil from middle to end. Although Jack is evil, his bad character trait ensures his survival and alliance with the boys. The first example of when Jack’s evilness is shown in the story is when Jack hunts the pig and puts its head on a stick, the line says “ Jack held the head up and jammed the soft throat down on the pointed end of the stick which pierced through into the mouth. He stood back and the head hung there, a little blood dribbling down the stick” ( Golding, 150). This shows Jack’s evilness because instead of fearing the beast he is offering him the head of the pig that he just brutally murdered.

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1125 Words | 5 Pages

Did you know that there is numerous species that are endangered and becoming extinct? One terrestrial mammal that is experiencing threats to their extinction are lemurs, this jeopardized spices' is most common in our zoos today then in the wildlife. African islands including Madagascar is their natural habitat, and studies demonstrate that is their only home in the world because the geographical location is isolated. There are different kinds of lemurs and some of the most common ones that we know today are: the ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta) , silky sifaka, mouse lemurs. The scientific name for lemurs is “Lemuroidea”.

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1127 Words | 5 Pages

However, Jack and his tribe are eager to hunt Ralph down. In this final scene, it is clear that savagery completely took over civilization on the island. “Fun and games,” said the officer. (Golding, 181). The naval officer correctly identified the hunt, because the boys allowed the inner evil dominate themselves.

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