Dialectical Journal For Lord Of The Flies

I picked this passage to represent the beginning of the book because it shows the awakening of the darkness in the boys’ hearts and their realization of the power they hold. This fits into the theme because it is when the boys realize that they can have power over themselves on this island and start to ignore the rules of the conch. The fire they unleashed represents the chaos that the society will eventually fall into. Piggy, as he represents law and order, glances into the fire and foreshadows what is to come. I really like the use of describing the noises of the fire as “a drumroll that seemed to shake the mountain.” I can picture the awe the boys must have felt once realizing that they can do what they want and hold power in their hands

First, Percival Wemys Madison forgot his own name that was previously so important to him. I found this heartbreaking in a way because it shows how each of the boys has lost something dear to them. Percival lost his name, Jack lost his empathy, and Ralph lost his friends Piggy and Simon. Just pages before this passage Ralph is being brutally chased through the forest with the intentions of being killed. The savages are not longer acting like humans until all of a sudden they are all standing together on the beach by the officer. This sudden unity of the boys is startling and really made the passage stand out. Furthermore, Ralph has just had to mentally endure being hunted and seeing his friend murdered. He has kept his tears to himself until this last moment when he should be happy to be saved. Instead, he lets the burden of everything come crashing down upon him. When Ralph weeps for “the darkness of man’s heart”, It made me wonder whether the author was expressing his own emotions through Ralph. He may have been trying to show that he was saddened by the evil actions done by mankind and how in the end it is still man who pays for them. It does a great job of showing the damage that the evils of human nature can do and clarifies the theme of society degenerating because of human flaws. While reading this, I thought about all the awful

The entire conflict of the book centers around the evil in oneself breaking out and taking control. In this passage, Piggy and Ralph are the better and more sensible qualities of humans while the savages are human flaws struggling to break through the typical law and order. Law and order struggle to be heard as lust for power breaks free and overpowers the other voice. In Lord of the Flies, the boys struggle to decide what they want to live by until their society is corrupt and spiraling downward. The evil aspects of human nature are shown dominating over sense and reason as the conch becomes powerless and honor no longer has any meaning. Instead of responding to Piggy’s arguments, the savages use violence and noise to drown out any opposition with no real reasoning to back them up. The main theme emphasized in Lord of the Flies is that humans are by nature corrupt and evil. This passage embraces that theme because the savages make immoral decisions to gain power and silence the voices projecting against them. It is a turning point in the book where the darkness in the boys’ hearts wins over their compassion and empathy. The real struggle for power is over and hatred has proved to be stronger than kindness and