“What are we? Humans? Or animals? Or savages?” This is one of many quotes from the novel, Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding. This quote demonstrates the boy's behavior as savage-like and animalistic. These actions are due to the environment the boys were instilled in. Due to the boys landing on the island unexpectedly, they were left with little to no resources. Prior to arriving, the pilot had died during landing, leaving the boys with no adults. In addition, the boys needed to survive, forcing them to do whatever it took to stay alive. Readers believe the characters from the novel are not to blame for their savage behaviors, due to the lack of resources, along with no adult supervision, and the need to survive.
The lack of supplies on the island is one major component to the boy's actions. In chapter 6, the author introduces the island, "There's no food here and no shelter. Not much fresh water"(Golding 106). This quote is said by one of the main characters, Ralph, confirming that the boys were left with nothing. Going back to chapter 3, Ralph said,“If it rains like when we dropped in we’ll need shelters all right”(Golding 50). This shows how when the boys arrived, there was no shelter. They had to come up
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They were taken from their strict boarding school, and placed in an unforgiving environment. This change forced the boys to adjust to being alone, causing them to do whatever it took to live. Another example from that same article is as follows, “we have had to become who we are not”, supporting the fact that the boys were only products of their environment. Throughout the novel, the boy's action progressively got worse. This proves that the boys were only doing what they needed to