Individualism In Lord Of The Flies

“Kill the pig! Cut her throat! Spill her blood!” (72). The chant is sang multiple times, and various versions throughout the novel, representing the cruelty the boys develop on the island, which proves that humans are essentially evil. William Golding is widely known author of Lord of the Flies in which tells a story of British schoolboys who are stranded on an island in the middle of the sea. Published in 1954, the boys attempt to deregulate themselves which has fatal results and displays how corrupt humans can become when left to their own devices. The allegorical novel Lord of the Flies proves that humans are essentially bad through the themes; the nature of evil, individualism vs. community, and civilization vs. savagery. Through the theme

Community. For starters, Jack’s goal in the novel is to steal the power over the boys that Ralph has. Jack successfully does so by the use of fear on page 177 when Jack speaks to his tribe: “‘-the beast might try to come in. You remember how he crawled-’ The semicircle shuddered”. Despite Ralph being the best fit for a leader, Jack does not care for that he wants all the power for himself. In the beginning of the novel, Ralph establishes that the only way to get rescued is for there to be a signal fire going at all times. Jack later volunteers to keep the fire going, but for the sake of hunting lets it go out: “[Ralph’s] voice shook. ‘There was a ship. Out there. You said you’d keep the fire going and you let it out’” (74). Jack does not care that he let their only source of being rescued go out, he is happy that he finally caught a pig. To conclude, a great example of individualism vs. community within history is Imelda Marcos. She was the first lady of the Philippines, which is a country that lives in poverty, and is known for her collection of more than a thousand shoes. Her country was in need of financial help, yet she did nothing but buy more luxurious things for herself. Through this theme it displays how humans rather indulge in their selfish needs

Savagery. Residential schools is a subject in Canadian history that many citizens pretend never happened. Starting in the 1870s, residential schools were created to ‘take the Indian out of the child’ by teaching them the white ways, but many survivors suffered physical, sexual, emotional, and spiritual abuse during their time at the institutions. What happened inside the schools was barbaric and malicious. As well as, the boys arrive on the island civilized British citizens but turn into savages that enjoy killing. While Jack’s tribe is celebrating the kill of a boar, they spot movement in the woods and immediately assume it the beast:
At once the crowd surged after it, poured down the rock, leapt onto the beast, screamed, struck, bit, tore… Only the beast lay still, a few yards from the sea… Simon’s dead body moved out towards the open sea. (169-170)
Those proper English boys are no longer on the island, instead replaced with uncivilized animals. Finally, Ralph despite being seen as civilized, is also lured into the thrill of savagery. After going on his first hunt, Ralph is “-full of fright and apprehension and pride”(124) for aiming a stick and hitting a boar on it’s snout. Ralph taking pleasure in the act of hurting an animal is a display of cruelty and inhumanity. Without the presentence of structure in our society everyone would resort to