Naturally, people portray freedom as a good thing, but is it really good? In “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding, the theme of civilization and savagery is discussed and it becomes clear that rules and laws restrict human behavior, without it humans take advantage of freedom. In this book, young boys are evacuated from Britain in World War II. Their plane gets shot down and they all become stranded on a desert island. On this island they have lots of freedom but it affects them negatively, they become estranged from civilization. Firstly, at the beginning of the story, the boys start to get down to work and split up responsibilities. Quickly it becomes clear that Ralph, Simon, Jack and Piggy are the only ones doing work. Ralph displays his frustration and says “All day I’ve been working with Simon. No one else. They’re off bathing, or eating, or playing.” (Golding,51) This quote shows how the littleuns are not doing anything and Jack and Ralph are frustrated because of it causing him to argue with Jack. The boys have so much freedom …show more content…
Originally it goes smoothly but over time it starts to crumble and collapse. Arguments and fights occur more frequently and eventually Jack decides that “I’m not going to be part of Ralph’s lot-” (Golding,140) This quote shows how Ralph tries to be civilized but over time the more freedom the boys have endured, the quicker their version of civilization crashes. Jack and Ralph both want different things but their ideas clash. Like how in the real world we have different political parties with different beliefs behind them. Perhaps if there were adults on the island doing what Ralph was trying to do, the boys would listen more because society represents grown ups a bit more and grown ups are better at establishing a civilized presence. Adults would control the boys easily and not let the boys be as free as they