Examples Of Savagery In Lord Of The Flies

How Savagery Takes Over
George R.R. Martin once said, “There is a savage beast in every man, and when you hand that man a sword or spear and send him forth to war, the beast stirs.” William Golding demonstrates that every person has savagery inside of him in his novel, Lord of the Flies. In this novel, Golding shows us that civilization is lost and savagery begins when the urge to kill takes hold of us. William Golding’s character development of Jack and motif of weapons help develop his point. As Jack’s moral character deteriorates, it brings his savagery to the surface, allowing the remnants of civilization to be forgotten. In the beginning of the novel, a group of young boys find themselves alone, without any adults, on an island after

He goes to share his hunting story to Ralph and a boy named Piggy. On page 69, the narrator shares, “I cut the pig’s throat,’ said Jack, proudly, and yet twitched as he said it.” This quotation shows us that civilization is lost when the urge to kill takes over because it shows the stage where Jack is proudly killing animals, but still feeling a little bit uncomfortable with it. In this example, Jack proudly shares that he has killed, but still twitches after saying he did. Jack is still hanging onto the little bit of civilization that is left on their island. Lastly, in the end of the book, Piggy, Ralph, and Sam and Eric, a set of twins, are the only ones who have not joined a new tribe created by Jack. The other older boys raid what they have left and leads Ralph, Piggy and the twins to confront Jack. While Jack and Ralph are yelling at each other and fighting, a large boulder rolls down a hill and strucks Piggy, who falls off of a cliff and quickly dies. On page 181, the narrator states, “Then the sea breathed again in a long, slow sigh, the water boiled white and pink over the rock; and when it went, sucking back again, the body of Piggy was gone. This time the silence was complete. Ralph‘s lips formed a word

To start, when the boys first arrive on the island after the crash, Jack had a knife that he carried around with him. He constantly hits it into nearby objects to instill fear in the other boys. For example, during a meeting the boys are all talking about what their plan should be while they are on the island. Jack suddenly stands up. On page 33, the narrator says, “Jack slammed his knife into a trunk and looked around challengingly.” This quotation shows us that Jack used the knife to look intimidating. This piece of evidence shows us that Jack used his weapon as a tool to get respect and attention. Golding uses the knife in the beginning because it is more civilized than any other weapon that they have access to on the island. Later on, there is tension with the boys on the island as the two groups of boys begin to form. Jack and his hunters begin to use spears made of wood they found on the island. These spears are not the least bit civilized; the boys used them to throw at animals while on hunts. The boys have been hunting a lot more and have grown to be comfortable with the feeling of killing animals with no regret. An example of this is found on page 134 when the narrator says, “The drove of pigs started up; and at a range of only ten yards the wooden spears with fire-hardened points flew toward the